Reclaiming Clay

As a potter and as an art teacher, it was inevitable that some day I would discover a box or more of dried up clay.  This summer I wanted to get back into my throwing because I have been so busy with school stuff that I have neglected it.  I used to make a lot of pottery and go to art shows.  I haven't done that in a few years.  Wouldn't you know it, just when I finally get into the mood of getting back into clay, I have discovered brick after brick of dried up clay.  What to do?  Naturally, being the computer geek that I am, I hunted for ideas online.  I knew I didn't want to do the hard work of breaking up that clay and putting it into garbage cans to recycle it.  Eventually, I came across a forum that didn't really help but I saw a comment in the forum, that made me think.  I decided to take the guy's idea because it sounded plausible, and give it a try.  Lo, and behold, I have something that works beautifully and I just have to share it with other art teachers and potters.  If you have a box of dried up clay just follow my directions and you will be pleasantly surprised!

First:
 Take clay out of bag.
 Here is my clay and I must say it is hard as a rock!

Second:  Get a large heavy bath towel and soak it in water.

Third:  Wrap the bath towel around the dry clay.  Yes, I know this is messy!  Then bag it air tight into another plastic bag.  I just used good, strong garbage bags.

Fourth:  Patiently wait one whole week!

Homer Twiddling His Thumbs for Excitement!

Fifth:  Take clay out of bag.  It may be a little softer on the outside but it will be perfect once it is pugged or wedged.

Sixth:

Pug the clay or have your students wedge it as they get it.  Just cut it like you normally would.

Seventh:  Enjoy your freshly pugged clay!

Eighth:  Now go out and throw pots!

This really works and that is why I am sharing it.  Thank you wonderful commenting guy on the Internet somewhere, where every you may be!

2014 Sturgis Middle School Art Show

Now that school is out I have more time to post some of the things I haven't had time to do in the past.  The annual art show was held two weeks in May at the Sturgis Young Civic Auditorium.  I took pictures of each board and finally have the time put them into a video to share.  This is the result.

Paper Cranes

This spring I learned that our ESL aide recently found out that her sister has cancer.  Many of us at Sturgis Middle School were very concerned.  Money was collected, pop was sold, and all of this really helped as the aide's sister lives in Texas.  I wanted to do something with my students that would be special, involve art, and teach a lesson about working for a larger, greater good.  I lost my sister, Colleen, to cancer and this touched me personally.

Over the past year, many people in Sturgis have become familiar with Lily, our school secretary's granddaughter and the 1000 Cranes for Lily Facebook page.  Many of us have followed her on Facebook and learned more about Fanconi Anemia as we have witnessed her struggles and triumphs.  Last year a friend of hers folded 1000 cranes for Lily and sold them at  a fund raiser.  Over spring break, I started folding cranes to see if maybe I could do some kind of project with my students.  I first had to figure out how I could teach it to all of my sixth through eighth grade students, regardless of ability.  Folding cranes, like anything else, gets easier once you fold one.  As you fold more, they become easier to do. Once I had my planning figured out, I came up with the idea to have the students make the cranes into mobiles.  Some students worked in groups but most worked on their own.  The goal was for each student to make at least 10 cranes for their project.  I sent out an email for broken jewelry and twigs. Our school interventionist brought me jewelry and one of my teacher friends supplied me with twigs.  I had some basket rings, some plastic light fixtures, as well as general junk that students used to develop their mobiles. Two eight grade girls told me they wanted to do something different.  I gave them a canvas and a very original project was born.  The cranes they used on the canvas had been made with paper some of my students had marbled.  

When this project was originally began in the spring, I was thinking of it as a general fund raiser for cancer awareness.  It became more personal when we found out there was a need in our own school.  It was at this point that I dedicated the project to our ESL aide's sister.  I talked with her and made sure she understood why we wanted to do this for her sister.  She is a very private person or I would share her name here.  Most people that know her will know who I am speaking about.  I know that she was touched and since all of this we have shared stories with each other about our sisters.  We raised a little over $400 for here sister.  We also gave her, her sister, and her mother each a crane mobile. This way they can think about each other whenever they look at their cranes.

When I set up the display I had each mobile numbered.  This way I could post which students created them.  These are the numbers you see on the ceiling next to each crane mobile.  The larger mobiles were made by groups of students.  The mobiles sold for fifty cents a crane or best bid.  Some of the larger crane mobiles were real bargains as they had many cranes on them.  I also posted the story about how the idea for the cranes came about.

As the cranes were put up on display, the space became magical.  I wondered if the students would leave them alone and for the most part they did.  We actually had the cranes up for a whole month with very feel problems.  We put them up on Friday, May 16th.  I told our school secretary that it would be nice if Lily could see them.  I knew she couldn't be around people, so she would have to come in when the building is empty on the weekend.  Lily came in and her mother took this awesome picture.  She is looking at a large branch full of cranes made by several girls in my advanced art class.  When they saw this picture, they were tickled to see her looking at their mobile!

Finally, since school is out, I have had the time to put together a video showing the cranes.  I hope they can help spread some additional joy.  It was a magical time walking down this hallway for a good month.  I will never forget how beautiful the cranes looked and what a peaceful feeling I got every time I went out into the hallway.  I know other people felt the same.

2013 Partners in Art

I am always amazed at the end of the year when I have to make selections for the annual middle school art show, the St. Joseph ISD, and Partners in Art.  My students are so talented and truthfully the art program at Sturgis Public Schools is top notch.  All of the art teachers, at every level, are so dedicated to their profession and craft.  The other night I had the pleasure of attending the Partners in Art celebration held at the Sturges Young Civic Auditorium.  I hadn't been to the party for three years because we had parent teacher conferences on the same night, so being able to attend the exhibit was just wonderful.

Partners in Art is a program put on by the Sturgis Arts Council.  Area art teachers select artwork from their students.  These are matted and framed and then area businesses can rent them for a year.  The rental cost is basically to pay for the framing.  Students get their artwork back with the frame a year later.  It is a wonderful program and a huge honor for any student that is fortunate enough to get selected.

I have put together a little video of the event so I hope you enjoy it.

New School Year

I have been meaning to post pictures of my classroom and explain what I did to get ready for the school year.  However, I have been so busy that I haven't had time.  Tonight I'm going to share some of the things that I have done to get ready for the new school year.  I'll follow up with more over the next week or so.  My focus has been on classroom management and creating an environment that is fun and organized.  I spent quite a bit of time this summer stealing ideas from Pinterest and creating my own ideas to make my classroom a wonderful place to be.  You might like to know that I had the opportunity to help design my classroom several years ago when we were building our new middle school.  Most of the design of the room is mine.  There were some changes made with placement of the storage, kiln, and office rooms, and electricity hook up for the pottery wheels.  However, for the most part, it is largely my design, minus the color choices.  They didn't go for my colors, but I can't complain as I'm happy with my room.

As you enter my art classroom this is what will greet you.

The painting says it all for me.  I created this painting several years ago to showcase the concept that it takes a village to raise a child.  I believe in this 100%.  We all must do whatever it takes to help get students to become positive, intelligent, caring people that are our future.  Over the years it has been damaged by students that lack self esteem and hurt.  I don't take it personally.  I just repair it and put it back up.  In the painting I have included my little MSU (Michigan State University) person to represent my alma mater.  When you walk into my room there is a bank of computers.

The door is actually to the left of these computers.  As you look at the pictures to follow remember that the trash hasn't been dumped and you might see a knife out because I was unpacking a lot of things.  I don't normally have a knife sitting around my room.  Here are some pictures from around the room.

The next pictures are of some display boards that I am using this year for bulletin boards and also to block out my pottery wheels.  These display boards I purchased for my advanced art class to put up their annal art show.  I have 15 of these that are shared by two students to create their own special display.  I had never thought of using these to block out an area in my art room.  However, when the administration took them and used them in our in school suspension room I thought it might be a good idea for my own classroom.  Over the years, I have discovered that middle school boys like to fool around with pottery wheels at any time.  They are fascinated by them.  The electicty hoses hang down from the ceiling which are also fun to play with, so I decided to hide these this year.  (This was not my choice but it was a safety issue.)  When we use the wheels, I can wheel my display boards out of the way easily and put them back when we are finished.  That whole back area is off limits to my students.  I have a sink back there that I am keeping for my prep area.  My room is quite large.  I wanted to make it smaller because middle school students need to be confined a bit or they will run through the room.  There is plenty of room for them to work and I have actually taken over about a third of the room with my computer area, prep area, and "chill zone" area.

The next pictures are of the area I created for my computer, projector, document camera, and other some other organizational features.

Here are a few more pictures.  In my next post, I will explain some of the organizational things I did this year to create a better managed classroom.  I am excited about this new school year and I am loving how my room is working out.  The kids are enjoying it and all of the new paintings and posters I put up this year.  They aren't even missing the sink as I have three other ones in my room!

I will close with a picture of my old, ugly stool.  I should say it is cute now as I painted it this summer!  I put the words, "Be creative and inspire others." just to remind me of why I am a teacher.  I am not here to make some kid miserable.  My goals are to help kids reach for the stars and discover how art has made the world a better place, and can have a great impact on their own lives.  Have a great school year!

Inspiring a School

I believe the art room is a great place to inspire other people.  For the past two years on our end of the year activity day I have invited students to come to the art room and paint pieces that will be installed around our school.  This past spring I decided to paint core subject artworks for their individual wings at our school.  At the end of the 2011-2012 school year the administration decided to change the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade wings or hallways of our school into Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies, with Science having a lab located midway down each wing.  This involved massive moving of many teachers' classrooms.  The plan was to allow core teachers to work with each other to plan curriculum across grade levels to teach the common core.  When we first got back to school a fellow teacher and friend asked me if I could have my students paint paintings to designate each new wing.  I was extremely busy and just didn't have the time to do it but it stayed in my head, like most things do, festering, until I decided I would indeed do something about it.  I had some of my advanced students work on these at the end of the school year.  They came in for a couple of weekends before the end of the school year and some came in on the activity day.  In addition to this, I decided I couldn't leave out the exploratory teachers.  We worked on a piece for the music wing and just before school started, I called a few of my students and they came in and worked on a piece for the art, technology, wood, and metal wing.  I probably should create two more paintings to make everyone happy, but I am out of time.  They would be for physical education and one for the home economics and life skills teacher.  I need to let them know that I haven't forgotten about them. They are included on a special piece which I will share at the end of this post.  Here is the result of our effort.

My students were so proud of their artwork.  We went online and got inspiration from images we saw and combined those with other ideas we had.  Then the students painted these on their own asking for advice as needed.  I think my students are awesome.  These were 7th and 8th grade students.  They painted on large 24 inch by 30 inch stretched canvas with acrylic paint.

During the school year, teachers have PLC (Professional Learning Community) meetings every Thursday morning from 7:00 until 8:30.  Students have a delayed start at this time.  During my meeting time one morning, I had a great idea and so I sketched out a plan for my students to make a large painting at the end of the school year to motivate our school.  We are the "Trojans".  I took our Trojan symbol and put it with puzzle pieces.  Into the puzzle pieces are all of our classes and sports.  I decided to ask everyone who looks at it a question?  How do you show your Trojan Pride?  Of course this is symbolic and we are all part of the puzzle that makes up our wonderful school.  My students made all color decisions with help from me to make sure the colors were balanced and on the activity day many students came in to paint.  After the activity day, my advanced students that had been working on the painting, took ownership and fixed anything they didn't like, and added all of the lettering.  I think this turned out fantastic and I know they are so proud of it.  This was made up of four stretched canvas paintings that are 20 inches by 30 inches.  We also painted with acrylic paint.  Check it out and I hope it inspires everyone that sees it!  This was put at the top of the stairs and I have received wonderful comments from people that have seen it.

Thinking About Going Back to School

It is getting close to the time when classes will start up again.  Some states have already started.  I have spent a fair amount of time already planning for this next school year.  I have placed my orders and some are starting to come in, so next week I will start getting my classroom ready.  I decided it might be fun to share a couple of videos that some of my 8th grade students made about bullying.

We all know that bullying can be a problem at school.  Last year I challanged my students to create an anti-bully message with animation.  The students were asked to use simple construction paper in the style of South Park.  Beyond that, I let them come up with their own ideas.  I just helped them with the technical aspects of video production.  This first one has a technical issue with the voice not be alligned properly.  I think they added a slide at the beginning and forgot to move their audio over.  It still is pretty funny and clever.

 
In the next video the students created nice art but I think it would have been better if they had different students doing the voices.  The students in this group chose to have a narrator which makes it a little less exciting.  If you decide to create animations with your students, I would suggest trying to get them to be silly and create the voices much like the first video.


I don't know if this next video solves the bullying problem but the kids had fun making it.  It appears that Timmy looks a little different with legs coming out of his head.  It has a point but I'm not sure in the end if they really get along.

You can see other animations and films that my students have made if you go to Youtube and type in ksvoboda100.  I have the students work with Sam Animation software and a document camera.  It is easy and works great.  Editing is done with Videopad editor software that can be downloaded online.  We use an Ipevo camera.  I highly recommend Ipevo because the camera is just $69.  Sam Animation used with Ipevo is so easy to teach students.  We have also used the iPad Sam Animation App.  It is less complete but works well and is easy to learn.  If anyone needs any advice about all of this feel free to contact me.

Sturgis Middle School Art Show

This is video from the Sturgis Middle School annual art show held at the Sturges Young Civic Auditorium.  It was up for two weeks in May.

The MEAP and My Animation/Film Class

My new 8th grade animation/film class students were challenged to have some fun creating motivational videos for the MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program).  The students absolutely hate MEAP time because it's a series of tests.  Everyone gets stressed out about testing and most students would rather do without it.  I have six groups of students in this class.  They had just under two weeks to complete their videos.  One group was ready to quit my class on day one because they HATE the MEAP.  I went home and brainstormed how to use that negative energy.....Hence the "Ten Things We Hate About the MEAP" was born.  The boys ended up having so much fun and I think they learned to trust their teacher.  It wasn't difficult for them to come up with ten things they hate about the MEAP.  Another group created a rap which I think is totally clever.  The videos range from animations to film.  Have fun watching them.