I absolutely love my job, but I am seriously ready for a break. I have so much that I want to do and so much that I want to share but simply do not have time to do so!
25 student days and 30 teacher days to go!
Apr27
Author Archives: mrssami
Apr18
Art Festival 2014
Today we celebrated with 4 stations.
African Masks, that was me of course and the masks turned out fabulous!
African Dance/Music – the kids enjoyed dancing and playing the drums.
A safari talk from a local man who has recently been on safari.
And a petting zoo! The zoo did not have African animals, but the kids still loved it. It consisted of a horse, dog, rabbit, duck and chicken. Honestly it made me think of the Little Bear show!
The kids and teachers had a great time! Only a few more weeks and this year is in the books!
Apr16
Luxury or Building Block?
What is your opinion of Art Education? Is it just a luxury and not important to development or is it a building block for children? As an Art Educator I of course believe it is a building block. After all everything you need to know in life is learned in the art room!
Check out this article on PBS.org
Dec8
Snow Days
Snow days have come early to Northeast Arkansas.
Normally we do not miss school for inclement weather until after the New Year. Instead, here we are a week and a half past Thanksgiving and NO SCHOOL.
If you haven’t been to Arkansas, it is a place where you can literally wear shorts and flip flops one day and be sledding in the snow the next. Last Monday, it was in the upper 60’s, no jacket required. Today it is 16 and we are bringing all the dogs in so they don’t freeze!
I have had amazing ideas for Christmas ornaments for all of my students that are not getting done! We only have 2 weeks before we are out for Christmas break. We are out again tomorrow so I will only have 1 day with my Monday students before the break. Oh well, that’s just how the cookie crumbles or maybe I should say how the snow falls.
Below is a picture of my side yard. It is much worse than in looks, that is a layer of ice, then snow, then more ice! Going to be here for a few days!
Dec7
An Art Teachers Bestfriend!
Recently I began working with our after school program. My job is to do printmaking and ceramics. I am lucky enough to have access to kilns and a light table.
We wanted to create t-shirts for our students. One problem….no t-shirts. A friend of mine introduced me to a website www.donorschoose.org. All I can say is WOW!
I created an account and followed the simple instructions to post my needs. Within a couple of weeks, I received 3 boxes of t-shirts in the sizes I requested for my students! And it didn’t cost me a dime! All I have to do is complete our project. Once finished, I simply complete the Thank You section. It is wonderful!
Everyone is on a budget, especially the art department. I am only allowed $500 per year! That is about $2 per student! Although I am very good at stretching the dollar, that just doesn’t go very far. Thanks to www.donorschoose.org I am able to provide for my students the art experience they deserve!
It is not only for art teachers, any teacher that needs something can apply. I encourage all teacher to check it out!
Dec6
Glitter Snowflade Ornaments!
What FUN we had in 2nd grade this week! Glitter, Glitter and more Glitter! Unfortunately we are out for snow today so I am missing one of my 2nd grade classes 😦
I started with only a few supplies!
Wax paper (I bought the cheapest)
Popsicle sticks (4)
Glue
Ribbon
Glitter
I have the children work on wax paper to prevent a great mess. Have the children write their names on the wax paper with a marker so the ornaments can dry and you won’t forget whose is whose.
Step #1
A drop of glue is all it takes!
Place one drop of glue in the center of two of the popsicle sticks.
Step #2
Making plus signs or “T’s”. Glue 2 popsicle sticks together.
Step #3
Another drop of glue in the center of one (1) T.
Step #4
Place T’s together making a star shape.
Step #5 OOPS! We should have been doing all of this on a piece of wax paper! Please add it now!
Press them together and cover each leg of the star with glue!
Step #6
Sprinkle with lots and lots of GLITTER!
Step #7 Keep these in classroom to dry then add ribbon.
Teachers only! Use a hot glue gun to attach ribbon to the back for hanging!
It takes a long time to attach each ribbon, but it is worth it because the kids love their ornaments so much! Each of my students made 2 ornaments so that was double duty for me! After I attached the ribbon, I labeled a zip-lock bag with their names on it and delivered them to their rooms so they could take them home to put on their tree! Merry Christmas!
Bags of ornaments!
Dec1
Second In The Series!
Oak Leaf #2 for another silent auction. Yes I do occasionally sell some work, I don’t donate everything!
Nov29
Christmas Is Coming!
I absolutely LOVE Christmas time! Not because of getting gifts, but just the whole season, snow on the ground (maybe), trees decorated, fudge, wrapping presents, seeing the kids open their gifts and most of all making Christmas crafts with my students!
I am planning Santa ornaments for 2nd grade.
Tree ornaments for 3rd grade.
Snowflake ornaments for 4th grade.
Of course we will be making more than one thing! Lots of snowflakes and lots of glitter in the next 3 weeks of school! Woo Hoo! Mrs. Sami ROCKS!
Nov23
Fall Leaves!
I was asked by my principal to do a painting for a silent auction. Inspired by the fall leaves, I have decided to do a series of paintings of large leaves. This is the first in the series and was sent to Little Rock to the Arkansas Reading Association conference.
Nov23
My Top Ten Supplies!
All you really need to create fabulous elementary art!
- Paper
- Pencils
- Black Sharpie Markers
- Crayons
- Scissors
- Glue
- Construction Paper
- Watercolor Paint and Brushes
- Markers
- Glitter
Scribble Scrabble 