Camouflage Tiger Inspired by Rousseau

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Starting Class on the Right Foot with Middle School Artists

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Someday I want to see a scan of the pre-teen brain during a class transition.  Want to bet it lights up like fireworks?  But whatever is going on in there, my bouncy kids need help to focus their bodies and minds after all the super exciting things that happen in the 3-minute walk from their classroom to my STEAM art room. I learned a new procedure for starting class in a PD last year and tried it super quick... darn if it didn't work better than anything I've done so far (like everything plus the kitchen sink).  Here are the ABCs of the procedure step by step.  (This sequence was created based on the work of Hyde and Charles, Sequoia Union High School District. 2016.) A)  S cout for Respectful Behaviors.  Invite 2 reliable students into the room to tally respectful behaviors they see as the class enters. They're the kids who can stand on the line with their arms down, their bodies calm, and their voices off modeling appropriate line behaviors and this...
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Cleaning Brushes Using the 3 Bucket System

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The students in my elementary art classes all want to clean brushes -- and they usually do it badly--each one making a different kind of mess in their own special way.   Not to mention all the water they wasted.  Without a sink in the room that means wasting water hauled in buckets across campus from the sink in the teacher's room. One day, while hauling water and dreaming of being a child again under the free and open skies of summer camp, a solution popped into my head.... how simple! (Note to parents: summer camp really does prepare a child for life).  At camp each camper washed her own dishes -- rinsing, washing and rinsing again down a conga line of 3 buckets. In the art studio it goes like this: Line up the early finishers with brushes in hand.   Set the pace with a quick round of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (it takes about 20 seconds). Students sing again while 1-2 kids move down the line swishing their brush in each bucket along with the song. ...
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Studio Hacks: Free Drying Racks, Paint delivery, and more

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  Recycled nursery racks are free and make wonderful drying racks for the days when I run out of space on the regular drying racks. These racks store pretty flat when they aren't needed and even kinders can handle them. To handle about 800 art servings a week, my students are using a lot of markers, pencils, paper, and paint. Here are some of the hacks I've been using this year to manage markers and paint. Four paint wheels fit on a microwave plate from the dollar store. Students sometimes use the plates as palettes.  When the plates are stacked they keep leftover paint fresh overnight. Sharpie caps glued into a toner cap. Those toner caps again.  This time Sharpie caps are hot glued into the sections.  I have only lost one sharpie all year.  Mr. Sketch markers.  Caps are hot glued into the holes.  I drilled them into 2 x 2 redwood and it took me about an hour to make 6 trays like ...
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