I've spent the last four weeks attending two college courses that I thoroughly enjoyed far beyond my initial expectations. I learned how to work with another colleague to develop an interdisciplinary unit. A task that I knew was possible as I already do a bit of it in my 6th grade art classes with their social studies units. I learned many content area literacy strategies to incorporate into the Art room, yes I said it the Art room! I have been a little weary of incorporating reading and writing in my room beyond the, "there's art magazines over there you can read when you're finished with your work" and "here's a self-critique tell me what you liked about your work and what you didn't like".
But I had a professor change all of that for me. I found that you can sneak it in, here and there and the kids will probably not even notice that you are doing it! You can also differentiate your readings too! How might you ask? It's simple take an article you find online, copy and paste into a Word document. Save it twice, one you can leave as is and then change the second copy by eliminate the harder words to make it easier for those who have a difficult time reading. You can label the normal one PG-13 and the other easier one PG, and let the kids gravitate to the ones they feel more comfortable with. How novel right?! No kid wants to be put into groups where they clearly know who has a higher reading level than the other. Kids aren't dumb, they know when they are being singled out. I have a notebook filled with ideas of how to meet reading and writing across the curricula. I know it will take some time out of making Art, but I was truly inspired by my professor Dr. Bickford at Eastern Illinois University. He made me a believer that you can easily add in higher order thinking tasks beyond the just create/make in Art class. Sentence scramble is another group task that is a deciphering activity. Print out the directions to say how to build a clay vessel. Cut up each task and scramble them up and place in an envelope. As a group they have to work together to figure out the proper order to build a successful vessel. What a great way to have the kids work together to get to an end conclusion and learn visually and through reading directions on how to do the piece. You can sentence scramble anything, even a primary source letters or journal entries. Making connections is another task where students writing questions or comments about artwork, artist, careers, etc. on post-it notes and apply them to the posters. Then each group is given a poster and they have to research to find the questions that are asked and present their findings to the class. They have to use primary sources, cite them, and work together to get to the final answer. Many many more are out there, I can't wait to do more research on it.
I'm learning they are indeed needing to be 21st century learners, prepared even at the junior high level for future college education and careers. I can't wait to try out the things I have learned over the last few weeks and to share all of this with my colleagues in the other vocational subjects as well. They have to know that it doesn't matter what class they sit in, they should be creating art like artists, looking at artwork like art historians, learning about science like a scientist, reading about history like a historian, cooking in home ec like a chef, and realize that you do have to write and read in all these subjects. You can just make art, you can't just cook and consume food, you have to do the rest of the "work" like us adults do in our real life jobs, what a difference this perspective will have in the classroom.
Body By Vi
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Bowl for Kids' Sake 2012 - Team Statistics
Bowl for Kids' Sake 2012 - Team Statistics
The CJHS teachers at my school are Bowling for Kid's Sake on Friday, March 2, 2012. Our goal is to raise $600 and we are almost halfway there. Please click on the link above if you would like to donate to this great cause.
Thanks for helping us give back to our community through Big Brothers/Big Sisters!!!
The CJHS teachers at my school are Bowling for Kid's Sake on Friday, March 2, 2012. Our goal is to raise $600 and we are almost halfway there. Please click on the link above if you would like to donate to this great cause.
Thanks for helping us give back to our community through Big Brothers/Big Sisters!!!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Snowman Teachers!!
I got this idea from another awesome art teacher blogger on the internet, Art with Mr. E, who got his idea from another teacher who blogs as well. Here's the link to his blog about his snowman teachers: http://artwithmre.blogspot.com/2010/12/snowmen-st-at-tge.html
I decided to do this in both the junior high and elementary school I teach at. My initial thoughts on this project was just to get the staff involved in a group project and show the students that it doesn't matter who you were everyone has a little creativity in them to create even a simple snowman. The teachers could create the snowman themselves or they could have some students help them create their snow teacher. I never thought it would take on such a life of its own with the staff members competing in a sense with how creative they could make their snow teacher. I gave each teacher an outline tracing of a snowman on 12 x 18 piece of white drawing paper. ( A few teachers came back needing it on heavier paper so I traced the template I made on to tagboard for those teachers.) The only other directions I gave them was to cut out the snow man and use whatever supplies you wanted to create the snow teacher into the likness of them or something that interested them. Boy what I got back was a variety of snowman in all levels of creativity. Some had their spouses help them out, others their children at home, and but many pulled all the creativity they could muster out of their imaginations and went to town.
I'm very proud of the staff for being so willing to create a snow teacher, even though this is one of the most busiest times of year for us.
Take a look at how great they turned out. :) Happy Holidays Friends!!
I decided to do this in both the junior high and elementary school I teach at. My initial thoughts on this project was just to get the staff involved in a group project and show the students that it doesn't matter who you were everyone has a little creativity in them to create even a simple snowman. The teachers could create the snowman themselves or they could have some students help them create their snow teacher. I never thought it would take on such a life of its own with the staff members competing in a sense with how creative they could make their snow teacher. I gave each teacher an outline tracing of a snowman on 12 x 18 piece of white drawing paper. ( A few teachers came back needing it on heavier paper so I traced the template I made on to tagboard for those teachers.) The only other directions I gave them was to cut out the snow man and use whatever supplies you wanted to create the snow teacher into the likness of them or something that interested them. Boy what I got back was a variety of snowman in all levels of creativity. Some had their spouses help them out, others their children at home, and but many pulled all the creativity they could muster out of their imaginations and went to town.
I'm very proud of the staff for being so willing to create a snow teacher, even though this is one of the most busiest times of year for us.
Take a look at how great they turned out. :) Happy Holidays Friends!!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
School Supply Shopping!!
Yes friends it is that time of year, if you haven't already done so, you will be school supply shopping in the next week or two. I love this time of year, because the prices for these must have items are fairly cheap. However, here's a tip or two from the Art teacher regarding your child's art supplies. 1st- Don't think that their markers, crayons, colored pencils, or any other drawing tool is still "good enough" to make it through this school year. If you really look at your child's set of these supplies you will probably find that they are short a few colors or sticks are broken. 2nd- This is a great time to buy not only 1 set of each of the above mentioned supplies, but possibly even a 2nd set. It may seem crazy but if your student is like my students at school it only takes about a week before someone is missing something, and then they will be out of luck for that color the rest of the year! Send 1 set to school with your child and hold the 2nd set at home til the start of 2nd semester and send it with them when they go back from winter break. A refresh of supplies 2nd semester will help them get through the remainder of the year. 3rd- Do go for the more name brand supplies like Crayola and Elmer's. I know its great that the RoseArt is cheaper than Crayola by only a few cents, but you are getting what you paid for a CHEAP supply. These markers always run out within a few weeks of school and the colored pencils always break in the sharpener. The glue isn't very sticky and the glue sticks are even worse. They are not high quality items and trust me you will be buying another set of these supplies after school has started to replace what you already sent and that price will not be the awesome back to school price. Spend a little extra if you can on the name brand supplies, they do last longer and with places like Wal-Mart putting these supplies at less than $1, its worth the extra cents. 4th- I know the kiddos love mechanical pencils, I don't know what it is with that clicky thing that makes them go gagga over them, but sure enough the always seem to wonder in my art room. I very much dislike them for this purpose: they always run out of lead when they need it the most and they are always taking the lead out, playing with it, and then putting it back in if they haven't lost the eraser to it first! If you must buy these pencils for your kids, please buy replacement lead for them so they always have pencil lead. It wouldn't hurt to send them to school with some great #2 pencils as well as a back up.
Last but not least, 5th- Don't go overboard on buying school supplies. I've watched kids every year during locker clean out at the end of 9 months throw away notebook after notebook, folder after folder, binder after binder, pencil after pencil.....you name it, I've seen it go into the trash can. It wouldn't hurt to ask your child if they have anything in their locker at school that isn't getting used and bring it back home or donate it to a teacher. There's no sense in buying tons of notebooks, folders, and all the extras if you're student is going to pitch them at the end of the year because they didn't get used. Great prices are Great, but adding to a landfill at the end of the year is just that. Only buy what you need, don't buy extra just because its cheap. You probably won't find it anyways when you need it.
None the less, this is my favorite time of year. I am pretty excited to head back to school in a week and half. I didn't get as much accomplished this summer as I had hoped. But my studio is ready to have art made in it when they weather cools off. I moved into a great new apartment with one of my best friends. I met some great people this summer in all my adventures, especially going back to work at the grocery store for a part time job. I am looking forward to going back to unpack all the art supplies that are waiting for me on my desk at school. I can't wait to see all my co-workers, us teachers go on quite the summer hiatus from each other. Most of all I can't wait to see my kiddos and I am definitely sure they can't wait to see me. :)
Last but not least, 5th- Don't go overboard on buying school supplies. I've watched kids every year during locker clean out at the end of 9 months throw away notebook after notebook, folder after folder, binder after binder, pencil after pencil.....you name it, I've seen it go into the trash can. It wouldn't hurt to ask your child if they have anything in their locker at school that isn't getting used and bring it back home or donate it to a teacher. There's no sense in buying tons of notebooks, folders, and all the extras if you're student is going to pitch them at the end of the year because they didn't get used. Great prices are Great, but adding to a landfill at the end of the year is just that. Only buy what you need, don't buy extra just because its cheap. You probably won't find it anyways when you need it.
None the less, this is my favorite time of year. I am pretty excited to head back to school in a week and half. I didn't get as much accomplished this summer as I had hoped. But my studio is ready to have art made in it when they weather cools off. I moved into a great new apartment with one of my best friends. I met some great people this summer in all my adventures, especially going back to work at the grocery store for a part time job. I am looking forward to going back to unpack all the art supplies that are waiting for me on my desk at school. I can't wait to see all my co-workers, us teachers go on quite the summer hiatus from each other. Most of all I can't wait to see my kiddos and I am definitely sure they can't wait to see me. :)
Happy Back to School Friends!!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Studio is Almost Ready!!
Flamingo Rose Studio is almost up and running!! I ranaround Saturday after getting back from Art camp and moved out the things I was storing and brought in my kitchen table, chairs, and loveseat to the space. All this got set up just in the nick of time before my studio friend Darby had her open house. All of us at The Factory Art Studios were there to support and celebrate with her. It was a very fun evening, lots of old and new people visited us up on the 2nd floor. If you don't know where it is, we are located at 321 S. Hamilton in Sullivan, IL. The building used to be the Old Brown Shoe Factory and now is home to AbSeals on the 1st floor, and us, The Factory Art Studios, on the 2nd floor. Each of us have our own studio names, mine being Flamingo Rose Studio. There is also John McDevitt's Yellow Dog Studio, Mark Seeley's Old Man & His wood, Darby Harden's Underground Vintage Studio, and new artists are adding studio and shop space each week it seems. There is usually someone around the building Monday-Saturday during the day. I create ceramics and paintings. Darby creates all kinds of items out of vintage fabrics. Mark creates lamps out of all kinds of different found objects, from beaver chewed wood, sink plungers, tricyles, wooden boxes...all kinds of things. John creates furniture out of reclaimed wood from barnes, houses, etc. He also creates modern wall art as well. If you are ever in Sullivan, stop by and see us at the studio we love having visitors. Our next open house will be in October, there will be lots for sale!! Check us out on facebook at The Factory Art Studios!! :)
Monday, July 11, 2011
ART CAMP WEEK!!!
It's the best part of my summers off from teaching...its ART CAMP WEEK! This is my 8th year being a camp counselor and its the best camp around the central Illinois area. Eastern Illinois University offers this program for 8th grade to just graduated high school students. They come and spend a week taking art classes all day long and then in the evenings there are different activities planned for them to do as group. This year the students can take any of these 3 classes- Sculpture (cold casting with clay, flexwax, and plaster of paris), Exploring Media in Drawing (exploration in dry and wet drawing medias), Color Monotypes, Abstractions from Life (learning about monotypes and creating colorful abstracts), and Altered Books (create a sculptural book using the interior spaces and pages of hardbound books). The classes change from year to year as we have lots of repeat students each summer. Its $460 per student, but that not only includes your fees for supplies, but room and board in the dorms, 3 meals a day, night activities like tye-dying, build your own sundaes, pizza party, movie night at the local theater, bowling at the campus bowling alley, arts and crafts where the highlight activity is making your own buttons, swimming, and lots more. Many of the students that come to camp, come on scholarships from local civic organizations. They spend all week creating these great projects and then on Saturday we have an art show to highlight what they have made all week. It's a great program, we have kids from all over the state. This year we have 61 high schoolers, I can't wait to see what they can do!! If want more information on the camp, let me know, and we will get a mailer to you next spring.
Friday, June 3, 2011
BODY BY VI- 90 DAY CHALLENGE!
Hello Friends!
Yes school has officially came to a close this week and now I am embarking on two things this summer. 1st getting the groove back and working in my studio that should be up and going in a week or two and selling and promoting this new awesome nutritional shake. I just started a few weeks ago drinking this great shakes from the Visalus company. It's the shake mix that tastes like cake mix! It truly does smell and taste like vanilla cake mix. I was on a peanut butter chocolate shake kick for a while but now with all the fresh fruits in the stores and farmers markets I'm drinking strawberry cheesecake shakes, orange/strawberry/bananan shakes, and well yes chocolate fudge shakes. It's a really simple product, 2 scoops of the Body by Vi Shake mix to 8-12 oz. of skim milk, light orange juice, light juices of any kind, coffee, almond milk, soy milk- practically any drink you can think of, then the extras - fresh fruits, sugar free fat free pudding mixes, fat free yogurt...etc. The combinations of different shakes you can create is totally up to you. Of course you just have to remember whatever calories you are mixing in the shake you will have to burn off- don't expect to over load a shake with an extra 300 calories and wonder why you're not loosing weight. :) Remember the rule KIS- Keep It Simple- here's mine current favorite shake- strawberry cheesecake. 8 oz skim milk, 2 scoops of the shake mix, 1 spoonful of sugar free, fat free cheesecake pudding mix, and a handful of fresh strawberries. Blend it up and drink it up. If you don't want to always be having a shake, you can mix it in oatmeal, yogurt, and cottage cheese as well. Add a couple 100 calorie snacks in between your shakes to help keep your blood sugar steady and high and you'll start loosing weight the easy way.
The product is very cost friendly- less than $2.00 a shake. You can buy 4 different kits from the company- Balance Kit is 1 shake a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix which is good for maintaining weight in a 30 day supply is $49. The Shape Kit is 2 shakes a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix which is good for weight loss is $99. The Core Kit which comes with 2 shakes a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix as well as extra products like vi-pak of essential vitamins and nero energy drink mixes is $199 all for a 30 day supply. Last kit that is offered is the Transformation Kit, this comes with 2 shakes a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix; an assortment of our Health Flavors, to add flavor variety, and added health benefits to your shake,1 bottle of Vi-Slim™ Metab-Awake Tablets; 1 box of Vi-Trim™ Clear Control Drink Mix; 1 box of each flavor of ViSalus NEURO™ Smart Energy (Lemon Lift and Raspberry Boost flavors); and 1 bottle of our Vi-pak Omega Vitals capsules all in a 30 day supply.
The best part is after you make your initial invest of the kit you want to use to transform you and your body, you get this automatically shipped to you every month. And if you refer 3 of your friends or family and they buy your kit or higher- you get your product ship to you every month for FREE! Who can say no to FREE PRODUCTS! As long as they are getting their product shipped to them, you will continue to get your product shipped to you for free.
Its a great product, you can visit their website www.visalus.com/bbvi/home/ for more information. I am a distributor as well my website is http://www.katievoegel.myvi.net/. You can send me questions or if you want to be enrolled in the program you and I can enroll you right away and you can get your product in 4-5 days to start getting healthy!
Believe me the product is good, the way it works is great, and there will never be a dull day of eating and getting healthy with a product that is so versitile.
For a an easy $49 dollars you can also become a basic distributor and sell the product and have a great home based business that will always have a paycheck to you every month. That's what I did and its been the best investment yet! I can set you up to become a distributor as well.
If you want more information you can send me an email on my website and we can get you started on your 90 day weight loss challenge!
Yes school has officially came to a close this week and now I am embarking on two things this summer. 1st getting the groove back and working in my studio that should be up and going in a week or two and selling and promoting this new awesome nutritional shake. I just started a few weeks ago drinking this great shakes from the Visalus company. It's the shake mix that tastes like cake mix! It truly does smell and taste like vanilla cake mix. I was on a peanut butter chocolate shake kick for a while but now with all the fresh fruits in the stores and farmers markets I'm drinking strawberry cheesecake shakes, orange/strawberry/bananan shakes, and well yes chocolate fudge shakes. It's a really simple product, 2 scoops of the Body by Vi Shake mix to 8-12 oz. of skim milk, light orange juice, light juices of any kind, coffee, almond milk, soy milk- practically any drink you can think of, then the extras - fresh fruits, sugar free fat free pudding mixes, fat free yogurt...etc. The combinations of different shakes you can create is totally up to you. Of course you just have to remember whatever calories you are mixing in the shake you will have to burn off- don't expect to over load a shake with an extra 300 calories and wonder why you're not loosing weight. :) Remember the rule KIS- Keep It Simple- here's mine current favorite shake- strawberry cheesecake. 8 oz skim milk, 2 scoops of the shake mix, 1 spoonful of sugar free, fat free cheesecake pudding mix, and a handful of fresh strawberries. Blend it up and drink it up. If you don't want to always be having a shake, you can mix it in oatmeal, yogurt, and cottage cheese as well. Add a couple 100 calorie snacks in between your shakes to help keep your blood sugar steady and high and you'll start loosing weight the easy way.
The product is very cost friendly- less than $2.00 a shake. You can buy 4 different kits from the company- Balance Kit is 1 shake a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix which is good for maintaining weight in a 30 day supply is $49. The Shape Kit is 2 shakes a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix which is good for weight loss is $99. The Core Kit which comes with 2 shakes a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix as well as extra products like vi-pak of essential vitamins and nero energy drink mixes is $199 all for a 30 day supply. Last kit that is offered is the Transformation Kit, this comes with 2 shakes a day of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix; an assortment of our Health Flavors, to add flavor variety, and added health benefits to your shake,1 bottle of Vi-Slim™ Metab-Awake Tablets; 1 box of Vi-Trim™ Clear Control Drink Mix; 1 box of each flavor of ViSalus NEURO™ Smart Energy (Lemon Lift and Raspberry Boost flavors); and 1 bottle of our Vi-pak Omega Vitals capsules all in a 30 day supply.
The best part is after you make your initial invest of the kit you want to use to transform you and your body, you get this automatically shipped to you every month. And if you refer 3 of your friends or family and they buy your kit or higher- you get your product ship to you every month for FREE! Who can say no to FREE PRODUCTS! As long as they are getting their product shipped to them, you will continue to get your product shipped to you for free.
Its a great product, you can visit their website www.visalus.com/bbvi/home/ for more information. I am a distributor as well my website is http://www.katievoegel.myvi.net/. You can send me questions or if you want to be enrolled in the program you and I can enroll you right away and you can get your product in 4-5 days to start getting healthy!
Believe me the product is good, the way it works is great, and there will never be a dull day of eating and getting healthy with a product that is so versitile.
For a an easy $49 dollars you can also become a basic distributor and sell the product and have a great home based business that will always have a paycheck to you every month. That's what I did and its been the best investment yet! I can set you up to become a distributor as well.
If you want more information you can send me an email on my website and we can get you started on your 90 day weight loss challenge!
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