Art Walk

Last year my super-husband, Jeff, organized a school-wide Art walk that was a big success. 
Basically every class made and displayed some artwork.
It was up to the teachers to come up with the project.
Everyone was so creative!
Parents took guided tours with our high school student-guides.
Everything looked so great up on the walls that they decided to do it again.
Here's some of the great work around the school this year!

Oil pastel with water colour - grade 2

Outline chalk flowers - grade 2

2D cities - grade 1

Tessellations - "School of fish" - grade 1

Van Gogh water colours - grade 2

Van Gogh pastels - grade 2

We also create a collaborative piece as a fundraiser for the school.

These get framed and are auctioned off to parents during our Spring Concert.

Kandinsky - grade 2

Self Portraits - SK

Balloons - grade 1

Cityscape - my favourite!

Hot air balloon - SK

I didn't get around to every hallway, so most of this is just from my primary end.

Pretty great stuff!

Some "Smart Art" holiday projects

This cute penguin pattern came from Amy Lemons. 

I made a simple glyph for the students to personalize the penguins.

I whipped up a simple measurement page and then students measured them in centimeters and converted that measurement to millimeters. This worked perfectly with our current Math unit!

Next up:

This snowman idea comes from here.

We created them after reading this cute story.

Actually, we read it on our SmartBoard - thanks to We Give Books, which is a really great resource.

Apparently I live in a desert community where students don't see much snow...haha!

After cutting and gluing they drew some snowflakes, then they drew some more, and then they added the two amounts together to create a snowy word problem. Ta-da!

Tomorrow {our last day!} we have my Oh Christmas Tree! craftivity on deck.

Happy crafting!

- Amanda

Last week fun

Fun or pandemonium? Hmm... Let's just say I'm gearing up for both with some hands-on activities. One I am sharing with you today is a Christmas tree craftivity that can be adapted for a Math or Language Arts extension - a "Smart Art" project. I have included some differentiated activities - story starters, addition and subtraction word problems, and colours practice. Feel free to download it from Google Docs by clicking below - I'd love to see if your students create these :)

It's funny - living in a Muslim country we aren't supposed to really "do" Christmas, but all of the malls here are playing festive tunes and have decorations to the max. Also, every time I say "winter break," my kids say "Christmas holiday time," so I though I'd make it all a wee bit educational :)

- Amanda

PS - Also available here on TpT and here on TN.

Learning about teaching

So how was my first year of teaching? Well, I survived and I think it was fairly successful! As I reflect, I realize it really was a good year - a great year, actually, in terms of how much I've grown as a teacher. I had a tough class and I clearly wasn't prepared for them. But, with a lot of hard work, I implemented tons of classroom management "systems," made mistakes, and learned a bajillion things about being a teacher. 
There are so many people to thank for inspiration, encouragement and love this year. I won't bore you with a list of people you don't know, but I will tell you about one because it comes with a free little gift :) My VP this year has shown a ton of encouragement, and sadly she is leaving our school next year. For her, I wanted to make a simple keepsake to show how much I truly appreciate her support this year. I came up with this:

It's a collection of words and phrases that she really helped me see as so important and that kept me going all year long.

I simply printed it to a half sheet {select 2 pages per sheet in printer properties - don't worry, it will only print one copy}, framed it, and voila. I love it and think it turned out really well! If you need a last minute gift idea, I have this print listed in my TpT store for FREE :)

On a related note, I've decided to use this summer to delve into the world of Whole Brain Teaching and my first order of business has been creating my own rules posters. I've tried some tactics in April/May with my class and it was well-received by my grade twos with some really positive learning outcomes, so I'm extra excited about next year now! I did change the rules from those used in WBT, because there were a few things I wanted to address straight away next year based on some issues I dealt with this year. Click the images to download {for FREE again!} if you please. Of course, I'm thinking of making a circus set to add to my theme next year... I already printed and laminated these, though, so I don't know if I want to waste them.

It may be obvious, but I chose a rabbit because it has big ears haha! I got really tired of side conversations this year.

Doesn't that flying monkey look fast?!

Please, kids, for my sanity.

A house because I call my class my school family - we all need to get along to live together under one roof for an entire year!

Ahh, the wise old owl. I love this rule because one of my key lessons this year was based upon making smart choices at school. Perfect!

Very important so I can teach the most I can in the best ways I can! And really, if you follow those first five rules, I will no doubt be a very happy teacher.

Now we're off to Canada for some very important events and a ton of relaxing - ahhhhh! Take care.

- Amanda

Art Expo and I guess I really am just like my mother...

This has been a Busy week! Today we had a school-wide ice cream picnic complete with games run by our student council. I'm pretty sure my class had a blast and really needed the time to get their crazy out! Afterward we went on an art walk around the school to see displays from every class, Pre-K to grade 9. {Thanks to my wonderful Jeff for organizing this!} It was really great to see all the creativity and my students loved all the compliments they got on their artwork of wax-resist paintings. Here are a few of my favourites from my class:

Last week we finished up a different art project - a collaborative piece to be auctioned off at our Spring concert tomorrow. My class created a warm and cool colours mosaic {they did it all on their own!} that was a really simple project. It was framed by our school to be sold - here's the final product:

So proud!

Also, I have to just get it out there, just say it, so maybe I can start to turn this around: I have a shoe problem. I have bought four pairs of heels since we got to Kuwait! Do I wear heels at school, you ask....no. Do I wear heels on weekends, you ask next...no. So....yeah, I know. I hear it. It's a problem, and I blame my mother for passing this one down. I bought this beige pair to wear to my sister's wedding {the day after we get back to Toronto!} and the black pair only cost 3KD {$15 or so CAD}. So now I ask you: how could I resist? 

Happy hump day from Kuwait :)
-Amanda

Story Mapping Posters Idea {and a bunch of other things because I have been slacking...}

Last week my class finally finished up their story mapping posters for The Lorax. 

I made a really simple template that you can adapt for any book to make your own. Click the image to download if you'd like.

Here are a couple photos that pretty much sum up my week in grade two:

{The blinds are closed in the background because we had just watched a video clip for a kid's birthday party in class. Usually, they are wide open because, as I tell my class, "Sunshine makes us happy!" I feel I need the sunshine the most in my room haha.}

I've struggled with my class aaaalllll year - they have trouble listening, they are energetic, they are oh-so-loud. {And that's not to mention the five dominant or defiant personalities I deal with!} But in the end, they are kids and they love to have fun. Now that the year is winding down, they're a bit wackier than usual {surprise!}. Which is, unfortunately, one of the reasons our performance for the Spring Concert is pretty awful. And I don't mean awful in the sense that they'll pull it together for performance day because that's what always happens - I mean awful in the sense that it is ... well, it is just not good. We have Sunday and Monday to practice before game day, so I need to focus and push the stress away that is teaching them this routine so we can get it done! Wish me luck :)

Last weekend Jeff and I went to a student art competition at a hotel near our apartment. Some of the art was so fantastic! We happened to score the best one {I really do think it is the best one - I'm still surprised it didn't win an award} and it only cost us 5KD! {Less than $20 CAD.} It's on a canvas about the size of regular Bristol board. This one is a paint and newspaper collage made by a fifteen year old student. I love to collect some type of art work from every country I visit, and I feel this is very suitable for our time in the Middle East.

And finally, just a quick shot of one of our favourite weekend stops: A marina near our place where we can eat Pinkberry on a patio and people watch like crazy.

Is anyone else having trouble believing we are through a third of May already?!?

- Amanda

Look! They really ARE creative!

This year I've been a bit....discouraged about teaching Art. I LOVE teaching Art, but all of our great projects have been turning out a bit...messy. Here are a few drippy monsters that look so cute! 

Next time I'll have to work on my creativity and take photos in better lighting! haha

- Amanda