What Mr Sands Did On Summer Vacation

Tomorrow, June 25th, I (ian sands) will be presenting at the Art Of Education 2013 Online Conference.. How very exciting! Yes, I know! And not only presenting but I'm first! Feeling pretty good about being the opening act :)

There are two parts to this conference.  The first part is a pre-recorded video that goes live for attendees tomorrow at 11am EST. The second half is a live chat during the same time where I will try to answer questions. It should be fun! 

So what's my presentation about? Well, here is the intro...

Art Vs Education!

Art teachers are creative beings. We teach a creative subject with creative materials. However, the bureaucracy of education; pacing guides, standards and even the curriculum can jab, punch and often KO an art teacher’s creative endeavor. In this presentation we’ll toe the line with the issues that put art teachers up against the ropes and we’ll learn how to knock those concerns out of the ring. Let’s get ready to rumble!

It's Like our Work is Your Work

An art teacher posted on Facebook, Last year one of my 5th graders said to me, 'Wow, Mrs. M, it's like our work is your work!'...

Aka, How to sneak your student's artwork into an exhibit ...

New ideas but for now... Summer!

Back in March, Mr Sands had the opportunity to meet with many outstanding art educators at 2013 NAEA National Convention in Fort Worth. The exchange of ideas was fantastic and it really got us thinking ahead for the 2013-14 school year.

From those talks, our crack team of educators here at Apex HS developed a new set of goals. We will spend the summer devising a new approach to teaching and learning art. In fact, you can tell we already started. Just look at the board!

So go to the pool, sit back in your lounge chair and soak up the sun. Be well rested. You're gonna need it!

Till then... Have a Great Summer!!

Doodling in the Class!

This year, instead of taking notes in Art History, I wanted the students to create visual journals. I thought the addition of their own drawings along with any notes would be more beneficial, especially to the visual learner. Then I saw a video by Rachel Smith at TEDxUFM titled Drawing in class. That confirmed everything I was thinking. I played this for my students on the last day of school. They yelled at me, "Why didn't you show this at the beginning of the year!"



A first, some students had trouble with the concept. They were still stuck on taking notes. Their journals looked more like they were taking notes in history class than art. As the year progressed, they loosened up more and more. Here are some of the pages from this year’s class.

25 Talking Tigers Singing!

25 Talking Tigers Singing from iansands on Vimeo.

This is the full version including all 25 Singing Tigers!!

Seven Talking Tigers Singing!

Seven Talking Tigers Singing from iansands on Vimeo.
I received an email from Jordan Lane, a kindergarten teacher at Douglas Elementary Arts and Science Magnet in Raleigh. She asked if our class wanted to collaborate with her class. She had some tigers that needed animating. We pounced on the opportunity.

Soon we were dropboxed a folder full of tiger paintings. Our animators went to work, learning about dialog, selecting songs and setting the tigers to music.

Here are Seven of the Talking Tigers Singing!

It Must Be Friday in Art

You can tell its Fridy in Art when?? 

This is our video submission. 

Enter your Friday in the comments!

Beautiful Landscapes from Art 1

Hannah Siegel, Art 1 2013

Our Art 1 students studied color theory, painting techniques and composition to create these acrylic masterpieces. Each student brought in their own photo as a reference and had fun creating a representational painting.  Just look at all the colors!

 Claire Veeder, Art 1 2013

 Devin Campbell, Art 1 2013

 Luke Kiper, Art 1 2013

 Jessica Bowland, Art 1 2013

 Nina Owens, Art 1 2013

Nicole Karam, Art 1 2013

Corn Starch Stencils

Our Art History class took a look at street art this week. After viewing work by Peter Gibson Roadsworth, I gave them the optional assignment of testing out stencils on the street using baby powder... only we were out of baby powder so we used corn starch instead. Corn starch and powered cleanser.

We tried a few different methods to see which would work best. Hope you enjoy these photos cause I just heard thunder. I don't think our stencils will be there in an hour from now!

G