About this Site and Me

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Flower Mound, TX, United States
Hi, I am an artist, wife, mom, gamer and the Elementary Art Educator at Donald Elementary, a sweet and wonderful school in Flower Mound, TX (outside of Dallas). This is a great place to see how we are integrating studio habits with technology and interdisciplinary connections. I also love to share my "wisdom" (Re: Experiences. From mistakes.) about teaching Elementary Art. I love what I do, and I've been doing it for a long time. Creating and teaching Art is what I live for. Enjoy.

Monday, August 25, 2014

So our artwork had a sleepover this summer...

Chalk it up to Spring shenanigans.

This past May, as the kids were working on that final project...you know the one? The one that never gets to be in an art show, the one that never gets displayed, the one that might not even get finished? And here I was wandering around the classroom musing about GOSH it sure is sad these works got straight home, yet in August the walls are bare, AND WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT if we could save this work for back to school?
Unfinished Medieval Architecture project, May 2014.

Kids working hard and fast to finish their work, May 2014.



Go ahead and roll your eyes at me right now, I deserve it.


Naturally the kids thought this was a dandy idea, and agreed to let their art work have a summer sleepover. *(Disclaimer: if a kid was moving, or thought they might be, or just plain didn't want to participate, they took their work home in June.)

Now, I am lucky in that I have some extra room in my school to safely house this artwork. There are rooms with large drawers that can be taped shut over the summer, and cases to store 3D work. (If I didn't have these options, I could have put it in portfolios and brought it home for extra safe keeping).

But the point is, I have started with year off with art work from my 3rd-5th graders displayed in the halls.
Hallways, before

August, 2014: First day of school! Display cases are full of 3rd and 4th grade ceramics.

2nd grade science focuses on Animals and their Habitats during their last 9 weeks of school. Here's how we integrated art and science.

4th grade Medieval Architecture, drawings with water color wash. The rose window was created on acetate and added at the end.


The kids mounted and labeled their art when they finished, that very last day of art. I kept the class lists sheets to keep track of who took theirs home. And it all went into boxes, drawers, etc. with giant DO NOT TOUCH signs, and luckily they all survived: no fading, no rips, no water damage...

Whew!

Outside of my room: framed quotes about how art connects with basically everything. These  cool wooden frames came from Michael's. I will use them throughout the year, I love the look.


I am very happy that the halls and cases are full of art. It takes weeks to get enough student art to display. 

Over the past 20+ years, I have done many different thing to cover my boards, from caution tape to prints to nothing at all. This took a little planning, but what a huge pay off! The staff, parents and kids have been so excited to see their art.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

what Mrs. McReynolds does during the summer, part 1

PD!  Lots and lots of professional development. Lots.

Teachers, Parents, Students!

Important tech note: Sketchbook Express (free) is no longer available. HOWEVER, Sketchbook Pro is free (for now). GET. IT. NOW.





LISD xCamp: Apple Training in Harry Potter World


getting ready for Penny Pantyhose House challenge. I won.

I made a bunch of memes. We were in a Twitter war with the other houses for points.


 Extra points for RTs!



Five full days of intensive training on iMovie, iBooks, Keynote, Pages, oh my!