Merry Christmas Art Lesson Directions Bundle

I put together a bundle of my K-2  Catholic School Christmas Art Lessons directions.  As I mention in the description, the end products aren't very unique from one another when they are finished, but they are cute when done in the children's own hands. 

It's the constant struggle of "step-by-step do this and it will look awesome" vs. "have at it kid".  The end results of these three lessons come out fantastic for my K-1s especially.  I know my second graders can do more riveting things.  Parents love them and tend to purchase lots of things on Artsonia, which makes me happy.  Plus, we do learn valuable skills along the way.  Think of it as process and skills over product.  That helps me sleep better.

See more in our Artsonia Galleries:

2017 Baby Jesus

2018 Baby Jesus

2017 Advent Wreath

2018 Holy Family

2018 Advent Wreath

Your community needs an art teacher. Part I: How my job made me crazy

In June of 2015 I decided to quit my "cushy" .75 art teaching job in the public school system.  I had been part-time in the same school district for eight of my nine years there and I wasn't going to get tenure.  As part of every art teacher's unwritten job description, I had worked constantly to advocate for my program and it just wasn't doing anything.  I was tired. My time there was done.

I didn't just walk into the principal's office and decide to quit. It had been on my mind and in the works for over a year, and it wasn't easy.

Do you have those days when you are at school and you've prepped this pretty cool lesson that maybe you've taught before, or maybe is new and you are kind of excited about. The kids start to file in, and your smiling and greeting them, because you know to make that personal connection and it's fun to see them. But then, one kid is pushing another kid, and they start chasing each other around the table, and there goes a kid over by your desk for no reason, and they all start talking, and one kid is sitting in the wrong seat, so another kid starts to push the kid who is in their seat, and you walk over to deal with that, meanwhile another kid is on the floor crawling under the tables, and another kid is grabbing crayons and moving piles of supplies and finally your like "what the hell?"  Yeah.

So, the kids go back in the hall and you practice lining up quietly and you talk about tip toeing like mice and sitting like the Mona Lisa and looking for ready tables and keeping hands to ourselves and not touching supplies and smiling at Mrs. Kostal and... one kid pushes another kid who bumps into another kid who steps on another kid but they manage to sit down but they are still talking or touching supplies or making noise.  Your standing in front of the room looking like a maniac with your hands folded and a deranged smile on your face modeling the Mona Lisa again thinking "what the hell?" Yeah.

So, you kind of wait and wonder if you should go back in the hall or start with kind of a clap or a loud "ALLLLllllll RIIIiiiiighhhhhht CLLAAAasssss."  Your still standing there with the deranged smile on your face when one kid starts shushing everyone. Not a nice shushing either.  A loud, obnoxious, oh my goodness, way worse than the talking shushing, shushing.  Another kid yells, "SHE'S WAITING!" and although you are waiting, that's not helping, and you now realize you've lost complete control.  You're still gripping your hands in front of you in the polite Mona Lisa fold, but now the skin underneath each fingertip has turned white, and there are actual nail marks forming in the top layer of skin.  The deranged smile has definitely morphed into a clenched mouth and your nostrils are flared.  Yeah.

Almost every class, almost every day.  I'm not a new teacher.  I know when I've lost control of a class, and I know what I have to do get it back.  I know when I'm actually teaching, and when I'm just controlling an environment.  I know when my kids are learning too.  I also know that teachers can't do it alone.  I was coming home physically and mentally exhausted every stinkin' day and I hadn't felt like I had actual taught in a long time.

I had only been in my old school district one year when I first tried to get out.  I was teaching at three schools, one was art-on-a-cart, one had a principal who made the special area teachers sit at a child size table during a staff meeting, and one had a passive aggressive secretary.  However, the window for getting a new teaching job is kind of small, and art postings are slim.  Bonus however- I'd need a maternity leave my second year so I stayed, and finagled part time and two schools. Although, without some headache. A certain principal wanted me to teach the same exact amount for .75 time.  I started trying to get out again four or five years later.  I would start looking in February.  I would religiously stalk all the nearby school districts websites looking for postings.  Did I even want to BE a teacher?  What if I never got a new job?  What if I'm stuck here forever?  What else could I do?

I contemplated switching careers all together. Could I do graphic design?  Should I try getting into illustration?  I took a design class at our community college, and eh... I started trying to build up an illustration portfolio. eh. I decided to start on my masters degree. Luckily the program in curriculum and instruction fell through and I ended up getting my MA in art ed.  I don't know.  I love art.  I love making art. I'm just meant to teach it, even though my situation was driving me insane.

I had to take the bull by the horns and change the situation.  I couldn't keep letting year after year pass without it getting any better.  I started thinking of places besides a school where I could teach.  The park district, the library, after school programs.... Ughhhhh that seems hard. I wouldn't have a classroom, I'd be lugging around supplies, I'd have to advertise, I'd have to talk to people...

I kept not doing that.  At some point though, I did that.

This was the email I got from the administration office on my last day of work.  I had worked in the district for nine years. I wasn't expecting a love note, but geez... a little cold.

No Corner Suns has 120 pins on Pinterest!

I just realized the crazy amount of free resources and lessons I have compiled on my Pinterest boards.  If you are interested in pinning and saving some of these much loved resources, check out my pin board.

My most popular pin is Ande Cook's "Drawing Masks" and really... anything else with the word "handout" in it!

Art Classroom Organization: a work in progress and how I almost spent aweekend locked in a storage closet.

I literally wrote the book on art classroom organization and setting up and distributing supplies.  But, I still get thrown for a loop sometimes.

My classroom at my intermediate building is BEAUTIFUL.  It is big, it is freshly painted, I have a rug, I have a student computer, it is perfect.  I can't help but get happy when I walk in.

The problem is the lack of storage.  I have one row of tall cabinets, and a short metal cabinet.  There is some storage under the sink, and a small closet and storage space built in to the side.  Plus - the room is so big (boo hoo), it is kind of pain to have things on either end.  For a regular classroom, this would be plenty - for the art room it lacks a lot.

I have done well with using an old desk as counter space, makeshift bookshelves for paper storage, a table for my paper trimmer...etc.  It looks a little mish-mashed and garage saley, but it has been working.

Oh, did I neglect to mention the storage closet I have upstairs?  Yes, about 100 feet away and up 18 steps is my own special, locked storage room.  This has been a great place to dump EVERYTHING.  Someone gives me a bag of weird Styrofoam?  Throw it upstairs.  Four bags of fabric scrap?  Throw it upstairs.  Newspapers?  Curling ribbon?  You name it.  I would also store legitimate stuff up there too.  Extra construction paper, 18 x 24" anything, pastels, glue, and a ton of embellishments.  It's been a nuisance when I have to run up there in the middle of a class, but it has been a great catch-all.

This is when the storage room was filled to the brim!  I stored EVERYTHING in here when my room was being refurbished.

The art storage room has been in place for decades.I deduced this from what I have found in there.  It is dirty and weird with a small staircase and platform, and shelves on every wall.  One summer I returned to find the ceiling had caved in and rain and plaster had ruined a giant bag of fabric and reams and reams of manila paper.  Another time I was tiptoeing around the platform trying to retrieve the tapestry samples off of a top shelf.  I lost my balance and totally fell off of the odd staircase.  Kids fall off stuff all the time, but when a adult falls, man, that hurts. Ka-boom. I  laid on the filthy floor cursing and wanting to cry. As I writhed in pain in my little locked room, a thought dawned on me.  No one knows where I am.  My classes were done for the day.  no one is ever looking for me.  I was certain I would be stuck there all weekend crying and broken.  A minute or two later I got up and was okay.  I was just bruised. I alerted the other teachers to look for me there if they ever can't find me!

At the beginning of this school year my principal asked if I would be able to clear out my storage room so they could use it for something else.  I told her no.  I explained that I didn't have any other storage in my classroom left.  She assured me we could get new storage cabinets...and so the process began.

Once my cabinets arrived, I was charged with the task of filling them and emptying my storage room. This has made my classroom a complete mess. I am a little particular about having certain media together, easy access to things that are used a lot, and things out of the view of kids.  (Like I said, I literally wrote the book on this!) I have already spent a lot time moving things around from one place to another.  And you better believe it drives me crazy if things look like they have been shoved in the cabinet all weird.

I did throw away a bunch of stuff.  The 1970s Art Waxer, the ancient stinky dropclothes, the IKEA stool with bendy legs. It has helped.  However; I can't bring myself to throw away the bags and bags of fabric (even though we never use fabric for anything).  The 1950's linoleum squares (fifth grade cutting linoleum?)!  The finger paint (fifth grade finger painting?)!! I can't get rid of the rocks, shells, and sand either (used them once in 7 years).  The Styrofoam boards will one day be perfect for something!  And those Ukulele boxes - perfect for sarcophagi! AND all that mat board scrap! all that mat board scrap....

Now, I know why I wrote the book on art class organization - art teachers have a lot of weird stuff.  It might not be the lack of storage in my classroom, rather the crazy amount of supplies I hoard.  I fully intend to have a home for everything soon - and it will be handy, and it will be fabulous.

Stuff brought down from the storage closet.

Seven things of glitter.  Art teachers hate glitter.