Prepare For A Stress-Free Sick Day!

by Elizabeth Van Allen for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

The dilemma: should I come to school too sick to be effective or spend hours putting together student work that may not be given a second glance by the substitute teacher?   

I don't know many teachers who haven't faced that choice, and if an emergency comes up you won't even have time to prepare!  Leaving work for a substitute or guest teacher can be a seriously time consuming chore, especially when you teach art.  How do you ensure that projects won't be ruined and supplies won't be wasted when you aren't even there?  What information is appropriate to leave when you teach nine grade levels and see different classes every day?

The answer: take the time to put together a sub binder for those days when your classes will have what I call a "commercial break" from their regularly scheduled projects.  Here are step-by-step instructions that will bring you through the process as painlessly as possible. 

1. Make sub materials are easy to find.  
This includes extra paper and supplies.  If they can't be found, they can't be used!

2. Format
Your binder's format is essential, so make sure your instructions are simple and easy to read.  Some easy ways to do this are: a) to use a sans serif font, b) make sure the type is large enough for anyone to read, c) don't be too wordy, and d) make any divider tabs you use very clear and easy to read.

3. Welcome letter
Start with a brief welcome note that includes essential instructions and is easy to read.  Remember to include what supplies and areas of the room should (and should not) be used in your absence!  If you're not sure what this looks like, see the first picture at the top of the post.

4. Include important information like the daily schedule, emergency information, and basic information like how do use the phone system.  You might have to invest some time in re-formatting things like bell and/or class schedules.  Formats change from school to school and can be very confusing to people who are new to the building!

5. Use current seating charts that include the names of trustworthy student helpers.  Look at your seating charts with a critical eye.  If you were looking at them for the first time would they make immediate sense?  Keeping ease of use in mind, I created a completely different seating chart format for my sub binder.  Update it regularly and use a pencil.  You don't want to have to go through the hassle of using white out every time you change a seat!

6. Leave open-ended projects with simple directions that require minimal instruction. 

This 'Illustrated Captions' project requires minimal instruction and lets students use a lot of creativity and imagination!  The adult-in-charge writes a caption on the board (my stomach after lunch, things that come from eggs, the daydream I had in class, etc.), and the artists draw an illustration to go with the caption!  I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I found it on the incredible art department years ago!

 7. Work expectations for days when you are out into your beginning-of-the-year routine.  When you keep your students informed, they have no excuse for inappropriate behavior.  Pre-determine your helpers and let them know, and post rules for days when there is a guest teacher prominently in the classroom.  Bonus points or treats can also be rewarded for whichever class the sub names as most cooperative!

How do you ensure a stress-free day when life keeps you from getting to work?

K-8 Art Tip: Time Management

by Elizabeth Van Allen for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

On stage in my classroom I may appear a little crazy, but behind the scenes my project planning is all no-nonsense.  When I made the shift from only teaching middle school to a K-8 format, I started seeing 26 different classes in 9 grade levels each week.  I realized that I was drowning in work when getting kicked out of my classroom by the custodians every night became part of my regular routine.  Streamlining my daily time management quickly rose to #1 on my priorities list.  Not knowing where to start, I called on one of my district's secret weapons.  Enter Emilee Taylor, a seasoned teacher and art teacher support specialist, with some great advice.  

The answer was simple: teach the same project to 2 grade levels simultaneously.  It makes way more sense to teach 5 projects at a time than 9, and the amount of time I spend preparing supplies has been drastically reduced. I can even go a little further and plan back-to-back periods with projects that use the same supplies!  I still re-use lessons, but instead of recycling them annually I use a two year rotation. 

What easy art teaching time and energy saving hints do you have?

Don't keep us in the dark, 

share with the class by leaving a comment!

Prepare for Art Teachering Success!

by Elizabeth Van Allen for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

Being a good teacher is hard work, but being a successful teacher takes some serious trial-and-error.  As a gift to other art teachers out there, I'd like to share ten tips and hard-learned lessons I've learned that make my everyday teacherin' life a little bit easier.  Everyone makes mistakes (see #10), but in sharing my experiences I hope to help other teachers enjoy more moments of success and better preservation of their sanity.

Preparing to Succeed: 

An Art Teacher's Guide

My grab-and-go kit: Rory's Story Cubes,
color & shape bingo, Beautiful Oops, paper,
instructions for simple book making projects,
crayons, colored pencils, and coloring pages.

1. Have a grab-and-go class coverage kit ready at all times
When another teacher's parent conference or last-minute absence happens during your prep period, you might get called on to cover their class.  Getting advance notice of a coverage is often a luxury, so prepare yourself with activities that are suitable for a variety of ages and are easy to modify!

2. Always leave your classroom sub-ready

You never know what is going to happen after you exit school for the day, so make sure that nothing is left to chance.  Lock up things that are not for students, have sub plans easily accessible, and make sure the room is tidy.

3. Streamline your paperwork

I like to have frequently used data at my fingertips.  Behavioral notes & attendance are on my seating chart, and contact info & grades are on a roster sheet.  The pages face each other in my binder for easy access.

4. Find an organizational system that is easy to maintain, then stick with it

Have easy-to-understand systems for organizing student work, paperwork, and student procedures. Being disorganized in an art room is like trying to clean up a gallon of paint with one paper towel.  It might work eventually, but you'll have a heck of a mess on your hands!

5. Keep guidelines clear and simple
When you clearly post simple rules and procedures, you eliminate confusion and frustration for you and your students!

6. If a student can do something, let them

There is no reason to clutter your mind with project distribution when you are tasked with facilitating the education of 30+ students while also keeping them safe.  Use your first few classes to teach and reinforce classroom rules adn procedures, then hold them accountable.  Make your classroom a more student-driven educational environment while keeping your eyes and ears open for teachable moments and potential issues!

7. Common sense is not the same for everyone

Positively worded rules get better results!

Dictionary.com defines common sense as sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence.  Remember: sound and practical looks very different to an adult from the suburbs than it does to child from the inner city. 

8. Become indispensable
When school and district budgets get tight, art education is one of the first areas to get cut.  This is often due to the perceived expense of running a quality program.  Make yourself an important part of your school's culture and a valued member of the school community by volunteering for initiatives and building committees.  Being an intrenched, highly visible, and POSITIVE influence makes keeping you in your position a higher priority.

My art advocacy bulletin board 
features Eisner, Gardner, and 
tons of art-based career choices!

9. Be an informed advocate
Advocating for your subject, program, and students makes you a force for positive change.  Gandhi is often quoted as having said "Be the change you wish to see in world." Show, tell, and demonstrate why and how art is important, but check your facts first.  If you're not sure where to start, try looking up the philosophy research of Elliot Eisner through reading his work or hearing him speak.  You can also print a copy of his 10 lessons the arts teach to post in your classroom!

10. Learn from your mistakes
We all make mistakes, it's part of life.  The biggest mistake that I made during my first few years as an art teacher was taking myself too seriously.  It stunted the development of my relationships with both my students and other adults.  The first few years of teaching is hard enough as it is, I made my own life far more difficult than it should have been by leaving my sense of humor at home.  Recognize when you've made a mistake and take the time you need to reflect.  What went wrong?  How it could be fixed or done better in the future?  Ask for help when you need it and don't forget to celebrate your victories... you earned them!

Bonus tip: Test run every project with the exact same supplies that your students will be using.  It may be a pain in the neck, but troubleshooting your lessons in advance makes for a much smoother and enjoyable classroom experience for everyone!

What would you add to the list?

Share with us by commenting below!

Exit Stage Left: Looking Back

by Elizabeth Van Allen  for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

Ms. Bowe's class greeted me in the hallway before our last class
with these wonderful poster-sized cards.  What a nice surprise!

Saying that parting is such sweet sorrow is only half of the story.  I have spent half my life and all of my teaching career in and around the city of Philadelphia.  As you could imagine, my mixed feelings are taking me on a roller coaster of emotion: sad to leave my students but happy to be able to give them closure, excited for the move (and the warm weather) while dreading more packing.  

My fairy art mother alter-
ego, expressing her feelings 
through interpretive dance.

As I look forward towards my move South and into a new chapter of my life, I feel a need to reflect on my experiences in Philly.  Although these feelings would best be expressed through interpretive dance, the art form tends to lose much of it's impact when experienced through the magic of the interweb.  Instead, I present to you a fond retrospective in words and pictures of my experiences teaching urban youth over the past 12 years.

Fellowship and professional development
with colleagues at the Philadelphia
Art Teachers' Alliance- I'll miss you guys!

  

Join me in looking 
back at some 
memorable moments 
and lessons learned from the not-so-everyday life of this Philadelphia art teacher!

Unforgettable 

Student Quotes:

You old. Not in a bad way, in a non-menopause way. (I was 24)

As a teacher of ages 5-16, I've found that 

 it's important to keep a sense of humor!

Me: (in a silly tone to a student) 
I can't find my attendance binder.  Do you know where my binder is?  Did you steal it and eat it?  Were you hungry?
Student: (Deadpan, completely serious & looking me in the eye) 
No Ms. Van Allen, I don't eat that kind of stuff.  It gives me a stomachache.

My favorite piece of graffiti from 2016:
"we all love math" (written in pencil)

Ms. Van Allen, you tickle my brain. You tickle my heart too. A 2nd grader's response to a silly comment that made her laugh 

Words of wisdom: Invest
in good-quality, comfortable
shoes and always use insoles

This is imaginary.  You know, like Michael Jackson.

Whoah- Ms. Van Allen, your seating charts look like battle plans!

Wardrobe: an oversized button down shirt that has tiny typewriter-style letters scattered in a random pattern.
Setting: The main office
Student: (creeping closer to me as she squints at my shirt, she looks up and smiles) "Ms. V, you look like one giant word search!"

This wonderful student and I share
an appreciation for punny wordplay

"You need Jesus.  No, you need Buddha.  No, you need Tom Cruise."  -8th grade boy to a classmate

Me: What is the meaning of the word 'original'?
Student: Plain!
Me: Hunh?
Student: You know, like original potato chips!

Words of Gratitude:

Tip: An ounce of prevention is 
worth a pound of cure.  If you 
give students a way to be 
positively recognized they 
will take you up on your offer!

Dr. Jeffery L. Brown- for giving me my first real job in education by bringing me into the Girard College family.

Christine Enedy- for all your support and having patience with me as a very green and starry-eyed new teacher.  I would have been lost without your support!

Tessie Varthas & Emilee Taylor- In a district big enough to really make you feel like a number, you made me feel special.  I don't know how, but you both remembered my full name, where I used to teach, and my strengths every time we met.  Your unwavering support kept me from giving up when times got tough! 

My twin brother- just ask our 
students, they know!

Rasheed Clark- My long-lost twin brother (Mom's from China & Dad's from Uzbekistan) and my personal version of Luther the Anger Translator (link is unedited), your unwavering support and our shared sense of humor & classroom style have helped keep me going since the days of Captain Ankle Pants, Jeffy-Poo and FiFi.  Sorry to leave you as the last man standing, but 'scuze me- can I ask you a question? 

When an angry student breaks the
phone off the wall, a good friend is
someone who fixes the problem by
turning it into a work of art!

Ginna (NEWSOME!) D'Alba- 
I miss having you in my kiln room/your office.  Good friends are a rare treasure and finding one of my best friends through work was a wonderful adventure.  Thank you for everything- especially fixing my phone & turning it into a site-specific installation piece!  The question "where do you keep your duct tape?" will never have quite the same meaning again.

Don't be afraid to get a 
little wacky, it keeps the 
students on their toes!

Deb Klose- Thank you for showing your faith in me through your actions and always being in the art teachers' corner!

Ivy Lewis- You were the first Principal in the PSD that encouraged me to push my practice to the next level.  Thank you.

Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill- It takes a true leader to know when to let that teacher do his or her own thing.  Thank you for trusting me and giving me what I needed to succeed for the past three years.

My Rhodes Family- Never forget that all of the energy and time that you put into your work is worth it.  What you do is not easy and each one of you earns your weekends, but I have seen the impact that you have made on every single child in our care.  Please remember that you are making a difference every time you show a student that they are valued, even if sometimes they behave as if they don't believe it.  Take care of yourselves and thank you for your understanding and respect in regards to what I do with our students in the art room.

To my students: 

Over the last three years you have earned my love and respect.  I took a chance in letting you know about my departure almost two months in advance because it was the right thing to do.  I wanted to give you some closure because I've seen how it affects you when adults leave without warning.  I was honest and up-front about my reasons for leaving, and you repaid me with good questions, kindness, and understanding.  You took this opportunity to once again show me why I come to work every day with a smile.  As you move on with your lives, I ask you to do one thing: live your lives with respect.  When you speak and act with respect it will come back to you through the actions of others.  Do this because you are worth it.  I believe that you are, and you should too.

What is one of your favorite memories from the art room?

Share with me by commenting below, please include your name so I know who you are!

*All students pictured gave consent through guardian-signed photo releases* 

I'm bringing calmness back.

by Elizabeth Van Allen

scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

Finding my happy place before a flight.

Time is short and kids can act crazy, so it's easy to get thrown off your game if you don't have a plan B in the classroom.  It doesn't hurt to also have plans C, D, and E waiting in the wings in case of emergency.  Every day a teacher's time management has to be on point 100% of the time.  Schedules can shift and change at a moment's notice, and let's face it- not every class goes according to plan every time.  It's way too easy to let your personal stressers travel with you from class to class, then follow you home as if you actually want them there. 

We always have back-up plans ready to go in the classroom, but what about your "real" life?  When things go sideways and unexpected stress hits, do you have anything in place to keep your mind centered?  I've put together four quick go-to fixes that just might bring some calm back into your life.  Hopefully you'll be a little more prepared when the next "life storm" hits!

Quick fixes for the suddenly stressed:

http://www.wikihow.com/Breathe

1. Breathe deeply with your mouth closed, especially if you are starting to panic.  Research has shown that you can't hyperventilate when breathing through your nose.  Slowly take the breath in through the nose until it completely inflates your chest, stomach and back over a slow 4-count (minimum).  Let it out slowly, taking the same amount of time -or slightly longer- to release the breath.  Continue to exhale until you are pushing the last of it out with your diaphragm.  Repeat a few more times.

2. Take a brief stretch break. Extend your arms and your gaze all the way up.  Reach towards the ceiling/sky with not only your hands and arms, but your sides and waist too.  At the same time, root down through the earth with your shoulders, legs, and feet.  Reach up a little higher with alternating hands to really stretch your sides and triceps.  Then hinge at the hips and, with control, reach out and sweep your hands down towards the floor.  Bend your knees one at a time, stretching through your standing leg and hip before you switch.  Be careful not to lock or hyper-extend you knees, and don't forget to breathe! 

https://greenifytoday.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/move-it-
monday-try-these-3-great-morning-stretches/comment-page-1/

http://boards.philadelphiaeagles.com/topic
/700105-week-4-patriots-chiefs/

3. Grab a crayon and scribble.  If it sounds silly, that's because it is.  Take one of those big, made-for-toddlers crayons and hold it in your fist.  Now scribble your heart out.  Get all that frustration out on the paper, then crumple it up and throw it away.  It's kind of like punching a pillow, only a little (ok, a lot) less obvious to others.

4. Be fully present in the moment and truly enjoy a sensory experience.  It could be the warmth and scent of a cup of tea, the taste and texture of your lunchtime sandwich, or even just feeling the sensation of running water as you take an extra minute to wash your hands.  Really indulge yourself in the simple pleasures that smell, taste, touch, sound and sight have to offer.

I recently tried jackfruit for the first time (pictured above).  Instead of immediately judging whether or not I liked it, I tried to be fully present while attempting to describe my sensory experience more objectively to a captive lunchtime audience. (Thanks Mom & Kat!)  It was a really interesting way to try something new.

What stress-reducing quick fixes have worked for you?

My Tribute To Todd

5 of the Infinite Number of Things Todd Marrone Taught Me

Todd, in front of his students' work.
See the philly.com article

by Elizabeth Van Allen 

for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

I was one of the luckiest student teachers ever to walk the face of the earth, or at least this part of the state of Pennsylvania. Why? For weeks I got to learn how to teach art directly from a true master, Mr. Todd Marrone. This past winter break caught me, along with hundreds (if not thousands) of others completely off guard when Todd suddenly passed at age 39. In lieu of a sappy, drippy tribute that he surely would have rolled his eyes at, here are five things that he showed me that I truly appreciate and made me a better person.

1. It is possible to be a good art teacher and a successful working artist at the same time. It just requires dedication, passion and good time management.

2. Music in the art room doesn’t have to be classical. In a pinch the Flaming Lips will do just fine.

3. Being yourself in the classroom is way more important than trying to become that “perfect teacher”. Insincerity to students is like blood to sharks. They can smell it a mile away.

4. You can give a detention with a smile and receive a thank you in return. I’ve seen it happen, I swear!

5. Never take anything a student says to or about you personally, especially if you’re teaching middle school.

Bonus: An art teacher can never take a Halloween costume too far. The year I was teaching with him, Todd came to school on October 31^st dressed like the Hulk. The costume included fake muscles and green face paint, and he kept perfect control of his classroom. Impressive.

I will always be grateful to Todd for being the best role model an uptight young student teacher ever could have had. The worlds of art and art education in Philadelphia will never be quite the same.