Teacher Book Club: Fall & Winter

I have been a reading machine lately, it is a very relaxing gesture to unwind from a crazy busy day at work. I recently picked up a few books that I have been dying to read. As a teacher, I find it exciting to read about different cultures, languages and world views. 

Dangerous Refuge Elizabeth Lowell

A gripping murder mystery ending in romance. This novel was a great read and kept me on my toes. With entertaining sass, Lowell intertwines danger, deception and edge as she writes about the mysterious death of a small town rancher. With the ranchers nephew coming to settle his belongings, a local woman waltzes in to show him exactly who is uncle was and how he reminds her of the man he is supposed to be.

www.elizabethlowell.com

 

The Magnolia Story Chip and Joanna Gaines w/ Mark Dagostino

An elegant biography written by husband and wife team Chip and Joanna Gaines. The story is a wonderful reflection of their personal journey in marriage, children, family, starting their businesses, and growing into the hit T.V. show known as Fixer Upper. With their faith in the Lord and support of one another, their dedication for following their dreams comes alive in this novel. With hilarious interjections from Chip, Joanna playful writes about their story of becoming entrepreneurs and designers.

www.thomasnelson.com

Two by Two Nicholas Sparks

A beautifully written story about a man’s journey from a put-together life (a great job, a beautiful wife, and a young daughter) to becoming a single dad raising his daughter alone, starting his own business and overcoming the absence of a wife who left him) Nicholas Sparks once again delivers with a a tale that pulls at your heartstrings. #20YearsofSparks

www.nicholassparks.com

 

Uninvited Lysa TerKeurst

I simple twist on the “self-help” book that inspires and encourages all who read it. A daily inspirational read about overcoming loss and rejected that looks deep into your spiritual soul with biblical gut-wrenching honesty. A wonderful read about personal battle with abandonment and how rejection can poison the soul. From New York Times bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst “reminds us we are destined for a love that can never be diminished…” (back cover review)

 www.LysaTerKeurst.com

Absences and Art Education

I first want to start off by apologizing to all my blog readers out there, I am sorry for being MIA that last few months. Several of you have emailed about new Teachers Pay Teachers products and when they will be posted online. I will answer all those questions shortly, but first I wanted to explain my absence.

I recently switched school’s this year and am now teaching at a private school. I went from teaching Early Childhood to a much larger school that includes Pre-K 3 all the way up to 8th. The last few months, I have been a fish out of water trying to work out my scheduling, planning, lesson plans, and course work, so blogging has taken a massive back seat to my new role.

I am also adjusting to new curriculum, as I go from teaching all core subjects to teaching a specialty class----wait for it…. ART!

I have never been a very artistic person, however I took several art history classes in college and absolutely LOVED every one of them.

When, I was first assigned to teach art, my principal was very energetic and one hundred percent supportive (Did I mention, our teaching team rocks?) She has really given me the freedom to be creative with lesson plans and projects, that I have learned more about teaching in the last 3 months than I did in all my education classes in preparation to becoming a teacher.

So, the research began. I knew the basic artists (Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Matisse, van Gogh, Monet, etc.) along with the elements and principles of design, but how can I teach a Biblical World View ---we are a Christian based private school---perspective and incorporate it into the core of my art curriculum?

What were the curriculum results?

A massive series of art packets which dives into the basic elements and principles of art, art history, works of art, and individual artists viewpoints. Each of these art packets will be available for purchase in my TpT store starting in December. Each unit packet includes a pdf overview with teacher notes, a project based activity for grades Kindergarten to eighth, and a unit review sheet, take home projects, printable tests, quizzes and more!

Each packet will also be included in a BUNDLE in January for a discounted price, so you can save BIG! Take a look at all the packets below:

Elements of Art Packets:

($17.50) Art Elements and Principles Bundle will include: Color, Shape, Lines, Forms, Texture, Value, and Space packets-each priced at $3 individually. All packets have a pdf file with teacher notes and presentation slides for the classroom, an art project for grades Kindergarten through Middle School (8th), quizzes, tests, and Art Interactive Notebook (AIN) worksheets.

($5 each, or a growing bundle starting at $18) Individual Artists Packets will include: Artists Biography, Art Interactive Notebook (AIN) worksheets based on each artists, examples of their works, an art project for grades Kindergarten through Middle School (8th), quizzes and tests with answer keys. Some artists packets also include a separate take home project for upper elementary and middle school grades.

My Erin Condren Teacher Planner

Hello fellow bloggers! I apologize for my unexpected absence the last few weeks. I had some medical issues that left me hospitalized for 3 days and in bed for a few days afterwards. Needless to say, our summer TpT posting schedule and blog writing came to a quick HALT! However, I did get my new Erin Condren Teacher Planner in the mail a few weeks ago and have diligently been working on “sprucing” it up from the comfort of my bed. I absolutely love the layout that this planner provides and since I have a pretty busy schedule next year, with teaching K-1, Elementary Art for K-5 and am Yearbook editor, I needed a place to ORGANIZE everything. Step One:  I wanted to create personalized dates to my lessons area because our school “specials” alternate days, so I needed to make sure that the days that I teach art are highlighted each week with a special symbol or color.

Step Two: I want to customize the all about me area, making a few quick labels using the same colors from throughout the planner (obsessed with these bright and playful colors that Erin used). I needed this area to stand out so that if my planner ever gets lost, it is easily notable to where it can be returned to. Step Three: I made cute clipart stickers to add to the calendar area of my planner. I purchased a few sets from Krista Wallden from Creative Clips, mainly her snapshot ones to use in the header part of each month. (see photo below)Step Four: As I mentioned before, since my schedule is going to be crazy hectic next year, I will be using this planner for ALL of my scheduling---including personal stuff like doctors appointments, hair appointments, billing, and more. I wanted to include a payday schedule built into the calendar, but didn’t necessarily want to write out each month what days were are getting paid. These corner “payday” tabs worked great because they only take up a small portion of each box and I don’t need them every week so these are perfect.

Step Five: Above, I stated how I purchased clipart and made stickers for the header part of my monthly calendar section. One helpful tip is to print your clipart onto Avery White Sticker Paper and then simply trim around, peel, and stick to the page. I also did this for the payday stickers as well, but printed them on transparent sticker sheets, in case they overlapped any of the calendar boxes.

Step Six: For the last step in sprucing up my Erin Condren Teacher Planner, was to add all the holidays and school events into the calendar section. I also printed these onto white sticker sheets and just placed them in the boxes.

So. . . all I have left to do is the “week number” labels in the lesson area and add some washi-tape to the ends of my pages to separate the quarter periods and I will be good to go.

Not sure if I am going to be writing my lesson plans out or using a template to type them and paste them for each day. I think I will wait to see if we need to include our standards in our weekly plans or just in an overview monthly format.

How do you customize your Erin Condren Planner?