rewards

the teacher who formerly taught at my school left a literal ton of small toys behind. usually, I am against treasure boxes for a couple of reasons. one being that I don't believe you should be rewarded for just doing what you're supposed to, and kids do think that, so a lot of whining ensues. and secondly, it is a hassle to keep stocked. but for now at least, I will be giving away something for at least every class; for those who are on task, those who are ready first, those who help out. what kind of treasure box or rewards do you use?

new do for the markers

i was lucky that my classroom can equipped with a lovely set of white boards that match my classroom theme. today, i took to an idea that i stole from Pinterest, adding poms to the ends of markers for erasers! I stuck with my color theme (green, gray, black, white) and gave each marker a sweet new hair do (i think they all look like they have afros). i also made sure to stick with black. although i have a huge array of colored markers, i didn't want to deal with the fighting and whining over colors (sometimes you get what you get and you don't throw a fit isn't good enough for every student.) 

and ta-da! can't wait to use these for quick assessment, practicing, and more!

...and a few more classroom photos

as things get more polished and finished, I have more things to show! i always love to see pictures of other classrooms, so i love to share. i hung up my art history timeline (had to cover up some images, statues etc., but surprisingly not a lot!), it really breaks up the space nicely. it's time themed (happy i made that decision back in college) plus, it's the right color, whoo!

 and yay for spray painted tin cans. :)

E&P

most commonly known to art teachers as the elements & principles of art. my 1st graders have E&P as their theme this year, so I made a special wall for my posters. they all have velcro on the back so they can easily be taken down, passed around, etc. velcro is and excellent idea for lots of posters that need to be taken down often, i definitely recommend. 

bulletin board & displays

so i finally figured out if i have any display areas in my school. since i found out that our open house was *Sunday the 5th*, i wanted to be sure that if i had any bulletin boards, that they were decorated, so parents wouldn't come in and be all, "what teacher was too lazy to decorate that empty board?" "oh that new art teacher, way to go".

so a couple weeks ago i asked if the board next to my room was mine, and it was not. since that was the only one that (i thought) could be mine, i assumed i did not have one....until Friday. when i found out that the board by the gym was mine. and i found out with 3 hours left at school, going out of town on Saturday and not returning until open house time on Sunday. eek. so i quickly started to find how i was going to decorate my board. i figured that a "welcome to art" board would make no sense, because then all the parents would be looking for the art room that is *no where* near the gym. so instead, i made a quick board about our S.M.A.R.T. program, of which i am a part this year.

i drew our mascot, The Eakin Einstein, (copied from the original art, not sure why the neck is so skinny, not my design) and printed off some pictures & info about the program (luckily, i found an online article about the S.M.A.R.T. program from last year with pics & info about our school and some other elementary schools around Shelbyville. i added some bubbles coming from his test tube to fill the negative space (it really could use more, only 3 hours though!) and was finished. i made my own borders from butcher paper with wiggle scissors, it at least gets the job done. so, my first bulletin board of my teaching career? rushed, ill supplied, but overall, i'm proud of what was accomplished.