Updated! The realities of teaching: I NEED A SUB!

 A week and a half into the school year and I got knocked out for two weeks by a kidney stone! Are you kidding me?

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I need a sub.
Worst sentence ever.

The reality of teaching is that sooner or later, you're going to need a sub.

It might be because a freak winter storm has shut down your neighborhood and you cannot get to work.  

It might be because your kid is sick.

It might be because you have to attend a wedding or a funeral.

It might be because you desperately need a mental health day.

Huh. It might be because you are sick. 

(See how I put us last? Because most teachers HATE preparing for a sub and would rather just go to work.)

The reality is that you teach hundreds of kids and they are spreading their funky germs all over you. And you are allowed to have a life outside of your classroom. 

Full disclosure: your first 2 years of teaching? Yeah, you're going to be sick. A lot. You might even believe you have the plague.

New teacher, this is you. Nah, I'm joking. But not really.

Did you know that teaching is one of the most stressful professions? (Constant stress, year after year, can really mess up your body and mind. Take care of yourselves.)

Listen to me. Trust me. For the love of all that is good and holy, YOU MUST PREPARE FOR A SUB NOW. 

For the kids

I know. Planning for a sub is a PAaaaaiiiiiiiiiiIN. You run the gigantic risk that they won't follow your plans anyway, throwing off your entire week or rotation. 

Which is why most teachers would rather just come to work. 

And then we get run down. 

And then we get sicker.

And then we get REALLY sick.

And then it's too late.

So what do you do? You can't NOT be sick, or NOT go to your sister's wedding, or NOT take care of your sick baby.

There are two types of absences: 

The Planned Absence looks like this, if you are crazy like me:

All directions, student shout outs and materials are neatly laid out. Stress free! Life is awesome!

The Unplanned Absence looks like this (me, the very next day):

...ugh i don't even want to care. 

Why am I apologizing? Because it was a Friday, at seven am. If a sub did not pick up the job, my classes would have been split between the rest of the Specials. That means our Music, PE teachers and Librarian would have had seven to eight extra kids. Which is like a thousand.

Which means their classes/rotations are all thrown off. Domino effect.

But this is what teachers DO. We step in and help each other. We are flexible.

Here's the deal:

You need to be prepared. Right now, right now, if you are feeling healthy, start making emergency sub plans. 

• Prepare one day plans for all your classes for those single days. Try not to make it a movie, unless it is relevant to what they are learning. 
• Prepare 1 and 2 week or rotation plans for your kids, complete lessons with exact directions and anything the sub might need (where to find materials, prints, books, etc.) for if (God forbid) you are out for a week or more. 
• After 2 weeks, your district probably has a Medical Leave Policy, which you would talk to HR about.
• Consider having Free Choice Centers: free draw, mosaics, modeling clay, finger weaving, magnets, rods and connectors, collage, etc! Pre-train the kids on what to do and your sub will only have to deal with classroom management.

KEEP ALL THIS IN A BOX OR BINDER IN AN OBVIOUS PLACE.

Make sure someone (teammates, dept chair, teacher friends, anyone) knows where this is. This seems silly, but this is very important. Your teacher friends do not know your classroom like you do.

 Include, if applicable:

• Seating charts
• Weather, disaster and fire drill plans, etc.
• Student health and special ed info if your district requires it. Keep it confidential.
• General info about your philosophy and student expectations (do not assume your sub will be Art Ed certified).
• Information about the school: 
• Where to find staff bathrooms and lounge, if there are vending machines, closest restaurants or coffee shops, who to talk to if there are questions and their room number, anything else that might be helpful.
• Information about your room:
• Where to find necessary materials, what materials are "off limits", appropriate noise and behavior levels, class rules and procedures, how much time to allow for clean up, end of day procedures, your duties, where to put student art work, anything else that might be helpful.

If your district offers a Sick Leave Bank, join it. I can't tell you how many people tell me they don't join "because they never get sick". And then they do. Or their kid or spouse does. And it comes back to bite them.

Hopefully you will never, ever need to use any of this.

 I do hope that is the case. I really do.

But should you find yourself overwhelmed with the realities of life, it is nice to know that you don't have to worry about your students.

Stay healthy, my friends.

More:

the art of ed why-centers-make-the-perfect-sub-plans/

the art of ed planning-for-a-long-term-sub-before-during-and-after/

Back at school, getting ready for the end of school...

posterboard portfolios!

Making portfolios to take home all the awesome art we are going to create this year! 

 I LOVE pulling these out in May. I have the kids draw on the back so we can compare/contrast our growth over the year.

School's out! Happy Summer!

17 days left and we're painting. What. A. Week.

So we are down to the last few weeks of school, and somehow, 4 out of 6 grade levels are painting. I plan all my lessons a year out. I swear. This all looked good on paper. I did this to myself.

Oh, we're not using quick clean up watercolors, we're talking extra intensive, many, many steps acrylic painting projects. One after another. With the little guys. My sink had a temper tantrum.

5th grade does not count here: they're doing their Altered Books project: show us how you feel about moving on: leaving elementary school, moving to another school, another home, etc. And yes, these are amazing. The less I talk, the better they are. So this is easy. Do it.

Then in comes my 3rd grade: Oil Pastel Resist Ceramic Pots.

I have used oil pastels resist on ceramics in the past and did not like the results. See?

This was one of the best ones. So... meh. The kids were not impressed. 

So this year, (thanks FB Art Teachers!) I tried again. But this time, I used these:

YEEEEEES. These are pretty, cool and super creamy soft. And the kids loooooove them.

The kids covered their ceramic coiled pot with these gorgeous oil pastels, and used their fingers to blend if desired.

Any white areas will remain black.

The kids paint the whole thing black, except the bottom. I use acrylic, but lots of people use tempera. 

They line them up at the sink.... let the paint dry for a few minutes. Don't let them dry all the way. It is really hard to get the paint off once it's dried. Trust me. My hands and back are killing me. 

And I washed all the pots. It took about a half a minute per pot. You just gently rinse off the excess paint.
Please don't make fun of my denim on denim look. It was jeans day!

The final product. How gorgeous are these??? Third. Grade. 

Here's what happens when the kids don't use enough oil pastel or enough paint...

...Or too much black paint. The good news is they can go back and add more color once the pot is dry.

Ok. So that was fun, awesome and huge hot mess of a clean up. My cuticles are black. 

Now in comes 4th grade: Texas Beaches (integrated lesson with Social Studies). 4th graders are learning about Texas and are doing a PBL on different cities. Perfect time to introduce 1 point perspective (are you kidding me??????), seascapes, watercolor techniques! With T-minus 15 days of school left... *smacks head.

The good news: these guys will start next school year with 1-point perspective. So this is a nice baby step.

And now, my favorite end of the year Kinder project: Summer Dreams Mono-print. 

This is a super easy way to create depth, a simple mono-print, and the kids love creating the tree reflections. Takes two-three class rotations. 

This is their Dream Vacation. Maybe the kids are going somewhere cool, or they have gone somewhere, or they are spending their summer in day care. Doesn't matter, they are using their imaginations.

Step one: fold a square paper in half. Above the fold is sky, below the fold is water (Ocean? Lake? Pool?) and the line is the Horizon Line. 

Step two: use crayon resist with watercolors (don't forget white crayon!) to create dream vacation drawings in the sky, land and water. They can have a ton of fun with this. No trees, though. 

Once everything is dry, the kids paint trees (1-3) with acrylics/tempera and fold the paper to get a printed reflection. Easy peasy. 

Kids can add more details once the watercolor background is dry.

I have a painting station with 5-6 kids at a time. 

They need to work quickly so the paint doesn't dry too much...

fold...

rub...

Pull the print...

Happiness!

How sweet is this? What a great way to review for the end of the school year. I love these.

And then 1st grade, Plants and Flowers (integrated lesson with Science). I just kept the dried paint on my face, hair and hands and pulled out Gelli Plates. Because that is how we roll.

Gelli plates are for awesome mono-printing. I kept it simple, no textures, just brushes and some plastic sticks.  This is pretty much student led: they had a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum, so they needed to create a plate that represented plants and flowers. I just let them play.

I only have 6 Gelli plates, so I worked with 6 kids at a time. The rest of the class was given an alternative drawing: create a garden or field as if you were a worm or ladybug. So they were happy and engaged, and I was able to get 2 groups through printing.

This is one of those "the process is more important than the product" kind of projects. They had a blast.

Students applied acrylic paint to the Gellis using plastic palette knives.

These used brayers to roll out their color.

Students used brushes and plastic sticks to draw their creations.

Each child had a 3-4 pieces of paper ready for printing. It's pretty quick.

Every student is successful with a project like this!

But yeah...it's a hot mess.

Check this out--first grade.

Place the paper (I didn't bother with slip sheets under the plates)...

Pull the print....

Success!

Just so you know, that's a lot. 2 drying racks, and a cart of wet stuff.

Did I mention my back is killing me and my cuticles are black?? I love the wet blob of paper towel on the floor.
 It's like, who cares anymore?

End of the day: 2nd grade: Where Does the Giant Go on Summer Vacation? This is an awesome way to end the year and a great way to review perspective (background and foreground, sizing). Oh, NO PAINTING. Yeeeeeeeaaasssss.

Based on this 1922 painting by NC Wyeth:

Students also looked at many examples of forced perspective (Google it). So fun! Where does a giant go on summer vacation? What does he/she do there? Is it even human?

The key here is to fully understand foreground (objects are larger) and background (objects are smaller). If the giant and its surrounding are similar, the effect is lost.

Here are some beginning drawings:

They have lots of time to finish them next week :)

Ok peeps, it's Friday, 3:40 pm. My back aches, my hair is frazzled, my eyes are burning, my hands are witchy and the black paint will not come out of my cuticles. But what a great week! I am so proud of how hard these kids worked and the fun we all shared. 

15 days to go. Time for happy hour.

Lewisville ISD Elementary Art Show, 2015

Every year, we put on a HUGE district-wide student art show, separated by levels. It is SO COOL.

There is a highly acclaimed, competitive High School Student Show, where students can win prizes and scholarships, a Middle School Show, and, since our district is so large, 2 Elementary shows. Middle and Elementary shows do not compete. 

These are held in a brand-spanking-new, sun-filled, beautiful local community gallery located in The MCL Grand Theater in Lewisville, TX. 

At the elementary level, we have 2 awesome Gallery Committees, who measure and make sure each art teacher is given a set spot. These spots rotate every year. The Committee creates name tag templates, invitation templates, and announcements for all of us to share with our school community. THEY ROCK. Everything flows so smoothly!

We are given 8 large foam boards on which to attach our work. Not the most elegant solution, but it does save the gallery walls. Over the years, we have become pros with tacking T-pins and yelling/stapling on uncooperative foam board. 

The Donald wall. Yes, we hang from floor to ceiling. It looks like an art room explosion. 

So happy we have great display areas for 3D work!

We hang the show after school Tuesday-Thursday, and have an Opening Reception Friday night. It is a special occasion and many of our kids come dressed up and have a special dinner. So sweet!

Normally we have hundreds of families show up for the Opening Reception, but a lovely thunderstorm kept many home last Friday evening. Luckily, the gallery is open Tuesday-Sat as well. Each show stays up for almost 2 weeks. 

Love this! 

All in all, I had about 80 children represent my school, from Kinder through 5th grade. Selecting the art is hard work, I tend to do it 3 weeks before the show. I usually pull about 100 pieces. I pre-cut Kraft paper the size of the foam board and go from there. Many times, I bring in other teachers to help select the finalists.

Planning placement at school. This takes HOURS, with the mounting and moving pieces around. 

Also, DOUBLE CHECK the names to ensure you have the right kid. 

Yes, I have given an invite to a kid and left their art out of the show, and it is an awful, terrible day. 

My husband gets to remind me every year...hahaha.

Yes, it does take planning to put on a show like this. You really do need to pull art all year. 

Yes, it is a lot of work to properly mount, label, make and hand out invites, hang announcements. 

Yes, we all tend to bring too much art and stress about how to hang it all.

But, as always, it all works out, and it is such a huge success!

Check out that smile, I mean, come on!