Update

Well, just thought I would post a little update!

 I completed another year of winter camp at Paintsome Pottery.  It was a fun week...here are a couple things we made:

magic tie-dye (inspiration found on Pinterest

From theartgirljackie-tutorials.blogspot.com), the only change is I had them just use a portion of fabric (cotton tshirt) and draw small designs with permanent marker, then I dropped on some rubbing alcohol (eww smelly!), and they watched the magic!  To complete, we painted wooden frames while the fabric dried, then drew a line design on top of the fabric with black permanent marker. I taped the designs to cardboard and put them in the frames.

Another Pinterest inspired design: http://www.etsy.com/listing/62714879/fish-aquarium-kid-kit; though again with changes.  If I do this again, I will make the hole larger! We cut our plates and painted them, and moved on to our fish while they dried.  We talked about the unique characteristics of fish and drew our fish designs in marker--using lots of lines to create texture, and lots of color!!  We ripped paper for seaweed,  used real seashells,  fake sand (graham cracker dust!), and cut out bubbles to complete.  Oh and we added some plastic wrap over the hole!

Foil designs:  we drew our sun designs on paper first, then we traced over them over top of the foil. We talked about how to to rub areas of the foil with our pencil to make them go in or come out.  We added some color with permanent markers and a decorative border.

We created books. They had to pick a theme, create a cover, write their story and illustrate.

We also created and glazed some adorable clay snowmen and clay mugs for hot cocoa! We printed using styrofoam, painted on glass, and a whole bunch of other cool things.  It was a fun week.





Besides camp,  I've discovered Pinterest! If you are an art teacher (or a mom, or a dreamer, or an organizer...or any thing where you would love a place to find and store ideas) you have to check it out.  I've been on it for a few months now, and I have to say...it is addicting! It is a virtual pinboard...and I love it because I can organize ideas for just about anything.  It is great for saving inspiration for art lessons (I say inspiration, because I tend to change things when I try it myself!) and even ideas for a future classroom--rules, signs, management tools.  I have ideas for my future house, places to go, recipes, and even activities I could use for teaching ESL.  Great site. I love it!






Other than that, I'm coming to the end of my first semester as an Instructional Assistant. So far it has been great. I get to help my student with her educational needs, observe teachers at work (which gives me ideas and inspiration for my own teaching), and learn all sorts of things (including re-learning all the things I learned in 10th grade!). 
I have also just started my final class toward my ESL certificate, which is great.  I think I will enjoy this class the most.   And in addition, I've started kickboxing, and gotten back into Zumba (to help fill the void of missing dance, which I had to quit this year).  So it will be an exciting winter!

Oh and I just bought a whole bunch of art and education books...so those will be keeping me busy! I will have to let you know which ones are worth it and which ones are not!
For now...keep creating and thanks for stopping by!