Follow along right here from Thursday, March 7th to Saturday, March 9th for regular updates from the 2013 NAEA National Convention. We’ll be posting regular sights, sounds, and happenings from this year’s National Convention.

If you have any questions you want us to answer about the convention, post them in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to get the answer!

Can’t attend this year’s National Convention in person? Consider attending the 2013 AOE Online Conference!

Wednesday, 4:45 PM

We’re on the ground in Texas, tomorrow is the big day y’all! (Jessica)

Wednesday, 9:00 PM

The AOE Booth is all set up and ready to go! See you all here on The Art of Ed tomorrow for regular updates from NAEA 2013! (Derek)

Thursday, 8:45 AM

Cassidy is here, she will be doing most of the writing today! Be sure to ask her questions in the comments section! (Jessica)

Thursday, 9:05 AM

Thursday, 9:20 AM

Thursday, 9:40 AM

Thursday, 10:00 AM

I just stopped by the Jack Richeson booth and scored some free samples of a new product called PLAYCOLOR.  This easy to use solid tempera paint looks like pastel without the smearing.  It produces bright and vibrant colors. PLAYCOLOR is available in 3 sizes, Pocket, Standard, and Mural.  I can’t wait to make some art!. (Cassidy)

Thursday, 11:45 AM

Sorry everyone, it’s crazy here ! People everywhere – we’ll be posting updates, it will just take a while. (Jessica)

Thursday, 1:30 PM

Met “Mr. E” today!  (Jessica)

Thursday, 3:30 PM

Yesterday when we left, there was a foot of snow in Iowa. Today? 75 degrees and sunny!! (Jessica)

Thursday, 4:15 PM

Thursday, 4:30 PM

I was able to meet the lovely Donna Staten. You may know her better as the #1 Art Teacher to Follow on Pinterest! I asked her how many boards she’s created, and she said “The Max” – she didn’t know there was a max until she reached it. *good to know*

Thursday, 4:45 PM

One of my favorite sessions I attended today was presented by author Jay McTighe.  He has authored and coauthored numerous books but his presentation focused on the book Understanding by Design. I immediately added the book into my shopping cart on Amazon.  (My shopping cart  is currently growing with art education books!)  I can’t wait to learn more about Understanding by Design.  (UdB)  Anyone familiar with it?  (Cassidy)

Thursday, 5:30 PM

It was great to see a fun group of art teachers who came out tonight for our AOE Social. Some of us ‘Northern Climate” teachers hung out on the patio because the weather was so nice. We couldn’t bear to leave, so I am sorry if anyone missed us because we were outside!

Sound off to the Indiana Art Educators! Thanks for stopping by.

We chatted with longtime readers Stacy and Justine – Cheers to amazing teachers and great company. Thanks for everyone who stopped in. (Jessica)

Thursday, 7:30 PM

Before tonight I’d only heard of the infamous TASK parties. Tonight the hotel was hopping with art teachers creating. How does a task party work, you might ask? Well, you pull a task out of the box, and you must do what it says or make what it says though art. See mine below (I made a boat)… Then, when you are done, you put a task in the box for someone else to grab. One guy was hanging out by the task box. He said to me, “I like putting tasks in more than I like doing them” – so the needless to say the task box was overflowing. :)  Leave it to art teachers to be creative, and of course, have a ton of fun!

Met longtime mentor (and general NAEA art ed guru), Samantha Melvin!

General consensus from the day: Art Teachers Rock! Day 1 of Ft. Worth was a fun and jam packed day. See you all tomorrow! (Jessica)

Friday, 9:50 AM

Rise and shine art teachers!  Its a beautiful day here in Texas.  I already attended my first session presented by Phyllis Burstein and Matt Milkowski.  The presentation was titled Drawing vs. the World: One-Day Drawing & Painting Projects for the Bold Classroom.  What an informative lecture about one day projects using mixed media, painting and photography!  I’m so inspired! Check out their website: www.oneshotsureshot.org  (Cassidy)

Friday, 10:00 AM

I can’t wait for the Exhibit Hall to open! Check out the amazing Dick Blick booth. Art teachers love making art and that’s just what you can do at the booth. Plus, they have some amazing freebies! (Cassidy)

Friday, 12:15 PM

Cowboy boot style is all the rage here in Ft. Worth. Yes, I stopped and asked them if I could take a pic. They were good sports! (Jessica)

Friday, 12:15 PM

Alex, one of the students making the Liquitex mural demonstrated how to use the acrylic spray paint. Can you see my personal touch on the mural? Hint: look for AOE! More information about the process to come! It’s amazing! (Cassidy)

Friday, 1:00 PM

More Creation! Teachers at the Dick Blick booth are printmaking on fabric. (Jessica)

Friday, 2:30 PM

Kelly Berwager is the President Elect of the Alabama Art Educators and a good friend. I want to give her a shout out because this week she defended her dissertation! Way to go Art Ed Doc!  (Jessica)

Friday, 3:00 PM

I attended a session today called “Design Thinking and Common Core in the Art Room.” Allison Crane talked about creating art projects with her Middle School students that solved real problems within the school and community and were aligned with the common core.

Here are some resources she recommended regarding the “Design Thinking” concept. I’ll be diving deep within these resources, and I hope they give you a start into incorporating more of this into your art room. (Jessica)

IDEO – Design Thinking for Educators 

Institute of Design at Stanford

Design Learning Challenge

Friday, 4:00 PM

Well, 1500 buttons are GONE with one day left in the conference. They went like hotcakes. Some called it the “best swag of the conference” – So, I am sorry to everyone who didn’t get one! Good news- you can grab your own Keep Calm and Teach Art stuff right here in the AOE Apparel Store. Next year we’ll be sure to order more! :) (Derek)

Saturday, 10:00 AM

The final day in Ft. Worth is under way! Hanging out in the swanky Faber-Castell Booth (remind me to order couches next year for our booth!) before the rush of the conference starts. (Jessica)

Saturday, 10:30 AM

The Michaels Booth is one of the largest… Art teachers can decorate a cowboy hat. The gals at the booth said they had to go buy more glitter because apparently art teachers DON”T hate glitter! haha!  (Jessica)

Saturday, 11:00 AM

How do you handle making a bad choice and attended the wrong session? This is a dilemma that you will more than likely face if you attend a conference. There are so many sessions to choose from and it’s hard to know what sessions are best for you. When you realize the session you’re sitting in isn’t for you, what do you do? Do you walk out? Do you stay? I admit, I’ve walked out and I’ve also stayed. My time is valuable and if what I’m learning isn’t applicable to me or downright boring, sometimes I walk out… How many of you have walked out of sessions? (Cassidy)

Saturday, 1:00 PM

I attended a fabulous middle school session on bookmaking!  Katie Hujer’s presentation, Exploring Big Ideas Through Bookmaking was jammed packed.  She incorporates themes and art history into her bookmaking lessons.  My personal favorite was a 7th grade project where students created a Charles Burchfield inspired flag book.  Students choose a season and created a book based on that season.  What a great idea!  Here are some links about Charles Burchfield and flag books. (Cassidy)

http://www.burchfieldpenney.org/collection/charles-e-burchfield/biography/

Saturday, 1:30 PM

Yes, we ran out of swag (our keep calm and teach art buttons). Which prompted a black market for them all around the conference today. People were trying to purchase pins from one another! One teacher gave hers up a museum employee on a tour because she liked it so much!! Too funny. (Jessica)

Saturday, 3:30 PM

How full is your swag bag? This mother-daughter art teacher team were about tipping over with their DOUBLE bags on each arm. Lots of fun freebies to take home. Many art teachers are shipping their goods home via Fed Ex this afternoon! (Jessica)

Saturday, 3:30 PM

I attended a session that literally gave me shivers and almost brought tears to my eyes. (Yes- I’m a sap.) Carol Trost and Nicole Walter presented about their very successful and effective Professional Learning Community (PLC.)  They are in their 10th year as a PLC and had so much wisdom to share.  Their PLC created a vision and a collaborative culture that focused on student learning and success.  I can’t wait to implement what I’ve learned with my middle school PLC! (Cassidy)

Saturday, 4:00 PM

Are we the only booth that can walk away with the whole thing in our arms? Probably! All packed up for this year in the exhibitors hall. It was an amazing conference and you should see how fast this place is transforming from an art ed mecca into a plain conference hall! (Jessica)

Saturday, 4:30 PM

Art Ed “Tweet Up” Do you recognize these  ”SUPER” Art teachers? (Jessica)