The Art of Ed | Professional Development for Art Teachers

Apr 25, 2013

Integrating Photography into the Common Core

Photography possesses many natural connections to the Common Core, and is an engaging subject for the art room. Even if you don’t have expensive cameras on hand, it seems every student over the age of 11 has a smart phone these days and schools are purchasing iPad carts like wildfire. Why not use this to your advantage!? Something is better than nothing. After conversations...

Apr 24, 2013

Posted by Sarah | 37 Comments

The Pros and Cons of Pencil Sharpening

Sharpening pencils is one of those weird art-teachery issues that only we can understand. The whole process can be downright maddening! Don’t even get me started on colored pencils! Bah! Each teacher has their own routine and solution. Before you go changing yours, take a look at the pro/con list below… 1. Let kids sharpen their own pencils. PRO: You aren’t...

Apr 23, 2013

Posted by Ian | 1 Comment

Creating Shadow Art: Free Lesson Plan Download

Grade Level: HS Art Education Lesson Plan Art Elements: Positive/Negative Space, Shape Art Skills: Collaboration, Photography * Get more free lessons like this, on our Lessons Page If you’ve never seen the shadow art of Tim Noble and Sue Webster you’re missing out. These artists literally shine light onto piles of junk and produce shadow images of people. You can check out...

Apr 22, 2013

Posted by Sarah | 14 Comments

Shish-ka-Beads: Simplified Beadmaking

Shish-ka-what? That’s right, beads on a stick! My students love wearing their art and I love teaching jewelry lessons, but for years I struggled with the logistics of beadmaking. How could kids put their names on all of them, paint them without making a royal mess of themselves and my tables, keep the holes from squishing closed, and organize them in a way that was simple for...

Apr 19, 2013

Posted by Amanda | 5 Comments

The Coolest Website for Exploring Cave Art

Teaching students about cave art can be engaging at so many levels. Making a cave wall to draw on is a great introduction to texture for little ones, while delving into the symbolism of the images can be a great experience for older students. Whatever level you teach, if cave art is a part of your curriculum, check out this awesome resource for the Lascaux Cave that the French...

Apr 18, 2013

Posted by Sarah | 1 Comment

How to Ace Your Next Job Interview

It’s that time of year: Interview season! Many of you may be looking for your very first job, and others might be on the move on to something new. Recently, I got an email from an art teacher looking for a new position asking, “What are administrators looking for when hiring an art teacher?” So, what are they looking for, and how can you communicate that you have it? First,...

Apr 17, 2013

Posted by Jessica | 9 Comments

A Resume for the Modern Art Teacher

I often receive emails from art teachers asking me to look over their resumes to help them land that perfect job in art education, especially after writing this article awhile back with some pretty ‘far out’ resume examples. As a result of these examples, many teachers have asked “Can I really pull off a trendy resume like that?” It’s important to...

Apr 17, 2013

Posted by Jessica | 1 Comment

3 Classes Running in May!

Spring is here and May is on the horizon! As an FYI, AOE will be running three online courses in May – Advocating for the Arts (3 credits), Managing the Art Room (2 credits) and due to popular demand we are running iPads in the Art Room (2 credits) again in May, so you have the opportunity to take it either in May or this summer. Learn more about each of these classes by...

Apr 16, 2013

Posted by Cassidy | 1 Comment

Slang in the Art Studio

The other day three students arrived to class a couple minutes early. Instead of having them wait out in the hall, I invited them in. I said, “You can come in and get started working, but there might be someone in your seat.” One girl looked at me, shrugged her shoulders and said, “YOLO.” For those of you who aren’t up to date on middle school slang, that means...

Apr 15, 2013

Posted by Ian | 5 Comments

5 (Almost Legal) Street Art Projects!

Editor’s Note: Today we welcome the newest member of the AOE Team, Ian Sands. You may know him best from his blog,”The Art of Apex High” – Read more about Ian (and the rest of the team) right here. We are thrilled to have Ian on board. Be sure to give him a warm welcome in the comments section. One of the allures of creating street art is its...

Apr 12, 2013

Posted by Jessica | 5 Comments

The Quest for a Fair Teacher Evaluation Model

Teacher evaluations and observations (as we’ve talked about all week here on AOE) are no joke. Your job security – and in some states your compensation- depends upon your ability to shine in the classroom, even under pressure. Many schools are moving to new models to help evaluations move from subjective opinions to more structured models that are frequent enough to...

Apr 11, 2013

Posted by Cassidy | 1 Comment

Walk Throughs and Pop-Ins: Dealing With Impromptu ...

Imagine you’re in the middle of teaching your students how to choose the correct type and size of brush for painting their clay project and in walks your administrator. She sits down, opens her iPad, smiles at you, and begins typing. This situation happened to me a month ago. My administrators are very busy people. Between meetings, scheduling, behavior issues, and paperwork,...