Artist's Pledge

Hi everybody! Thanks so much for checking back with me here at The Art Spot! Lately there has been quite a buzz going around about Social Contracts within the classroom.  A social contract is a great first day project that can have a huge impact on the rest of the school year.  I decided to try it out in my three Art classrooms and pair it with our discussion of The Art Room Rules poster.

Of course I couldn't just do an ordinary plain poster that everyone just signs with their name.  This is an Art room after all!  And so was born the Artist's Pledge Paint Palette!

Artist's Pledge Paint Palette

The giant paint palette and paint brush were made by simply drawing the images on paper (the kind from those huge rolls used for covering bulletin boards) and then painting them with Tempera paints and cutting them out.  I then positioned them where I wanted on the bulletin board and stapled all around the edges.  The paint splotches were cut out of foam core (so they are 3-D) and attached using small pieces of Velcro.  This makes it easy to pull off for those students who are a little too short to reach, and next semester/year when I get new classes I can simply replace them with new pieces.

Each paint splotch has a different class code written on it to keep the classes straight!  This semester I have 12 classes at Grand View, the perfect number to make each spot a different color from the Color Wheel!

So the first day of class, after a quick introduction over at the "Meet Miss O'Donnell" bulletin board, and a read-through of the Art Room Rules, we headed over to the The Artist's Pledge board and read the description up in the top left corner.  It says:

With this fingerprint, I 

pledge to do my best to follow the

Art Room Rules

So you probably guessed it by now....instead of the students signing their names to make this pledge, they would be stamping their fingerprints to fill up the paint splotches!  (Just use ordinary Tempera paint rolled onto a printing palette) The kids loved it, especially because they got to get a little messy on the very first day of Art class!

Classroom Tip: After students are done stamping their fingerprint, don't waste time by having them wash their hands at the sink.  Dampen a large sponge and let them just rub away the paint on their one little finger!

Here's a pic of the Paint Palette after the first day.  I saw six classes that day and so six spots where filled in.  (The first class of the day got cut short a little because of the morning announcements/pledge of allegiance and so that spot is a little bare because only half the the class had time to stamp.)

Paint Palette half-way filled

And here's a pic of the Paint Palette completely done after the second day.  I just love how colorful it came out!  

Paint Palette completed

And now every class has made their pledge to try their best to follow the Art Room Rules.  Any time there is an issue with a student not following the Art Room Rules, we can visit the Artist's Pledge bulletin board and find their fingerprint and talk about ways to improve next time.

Check back soon here at The Art Spot to see my other Artist's Pledge boards from East and West Elementary Schools!

Setting Up My Classrooms

That's right folks.....Classrooms.....plural.....with an 'S'.  This year I'm teaching at three different Elementary Schools in the Grandville district.  Grand View, East, and West Elementary are where I call home.  This means that all of my usual beginning-of-the-year set-up will be x3!

I put in the most work at Grand View since this classroom will not only be my 'home base' (I teach there two full days during the week) but it's also the school where I get my very own Art Classroom! (So excited about this!!) At East Elementary I will be sharing my room with the Science Lab teacher (shout-out to the wonderful Ms. Priest!) and at West Elementary I share my room with Science Lab (Mr. Staggs) and Music (hi Ms. Bernat!). 

After a whole lot of cleaning, organizing, and rearranging.....my room at Grand View was finally looking decent!

Grand View Classroom

Hanging above each of the seven table groups is a poster with a well-known artist's name and images of their artwork.  Paul Klee, Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, Wassily Kandinsky, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, and Pablo Picasso.  These are the names of each group.  So during class when I need certain groups to get supplies or line up, I simply call them by their group name.  Not only does this help in classroom organization and management.....but it also gets the students familiar with these artist's names!

Here's a close-up of the Art Room Rules poster that I made which you can see in the far corner.  (I had to take the picture at an angle to cut down on glare.)

Art Room Rules Poster

Thanks goes out to Ashley Perry Photography for the great idea for this poster!

Here's a look at the classroom from the other side.

Grand View Classroom

 Here's a close-up of the "Meet Miss O'Donnell" bulletin board by the door.  The first day of class included a quick stop over to this area so that I could introduce myself to all of my new students and give them a little glimpse into my life!

Meet Miss O'Donnell bulletin board

On it I included pictures of my family, my cat Phoebe (pretty much my child), a map of my trip from Arizona to Michigan, me at the Grand Canyon, and a few of my paintings.

Well, that's a quick over-view of some of the things I have added to my Grand view classroom!  It's far from complete, but it's getting there!  I plan on filling it with posters, bulletin boards, and tons of Art visuals as the year progresses.  I just have to keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day.....and the same goes for my 3 Art Classrooms!