A New Year

I've started picking a theme for each year. Last year was Superheroes, which went over really well with both boys and girls. Seriously, who doesn't want to be a superhero? With so many great cartoon movies coming out this summer, I had plenty of material to choose from. I chose Despicable Me 2 as my inspiration, although Monsters U came in a close second. There are so many images and memes on the internet that they are both easy to use. I will post pictures of my classroom later, as I was in meetings this whole week and haven't finished it. However, I discovered a great video site called Powtoon and created a video to review expectations with grades 1-5. This way I won't have to recite my expectations 32 times, I'll just get really sick of this video.

Post-It Mural

It's done, it's hung, and it's AMAZING!

In the words of one of my third graders "I think we outdid ourselves this year."

Come see it LIVE and IN PERSON at the 9th Annual Art & Music Show TOMORROW 5-9!

Art Show Prep

It's almost time for the NINTH Annual Willow River Art & Music Show! Parent volunteers will flood our school and the show will magically emerge in the next few days. I have all of the student works of art sorted and organized for the fun to begin tomorrow. 

All of the art show projects, waiting to be displayed.

Fourth grade Keith Haring Tunnel Books.

Third grade Claes Oldenberg Sundaes.

K-2 projects all labeled and ready.

Fifth grade Romero Britto Sculptures.

The show will be held in the Willow Atrium and Media Center on Friday, April 19th from 5-9 p.m.

Vincent van Gogh's {woven} Sunflowers

My new fav van Gogh project. Third graders made these, straight from here.

Post It Mural

It's DONE! We actually got it done a bit faster than I thought we would. I don't have a photo of the whole thing finished yet, as it will be hung just before the art show, which is now officially scheduled for April 19th!

Not quite finished, it took two more classes after this photo was taken. The bottom strip is not photo'd, as it was already finished and in storage. 

 I couldn't get more red Post-Its, so I ended up making the sun a little bit smaller. It is going to be amazing, I can't wait to get it hung! 

FINISHED!

Entry 4

I think I am finally finished with Entry 4 of my National Boards! Ok, so I'm sure I'll need more revisions, but I'm well on my way to being done with Entry 4. A couple of you mentioned in the comments of my last post that you would be willing to read my writings, and I would appreciate that so very much! My mentor is a third grade teacher, and she has already made my entries so much stronger than they started. However, we all know that being a specialist teacher is it's own thing entirely, and I would be eternally grateful for an art perspective. That said, here is the link for my entries for my Accomplishments. These are supposed to be significant accomplishments that have linked my classroom with the community (local community and/or teaching community) and increased student learning. The link is set up as viewing only, so suggested edits can be emailed to jodiyoungman@gmail.com. Thank you in advance for your time and thoughts!

Post-It Mural-Day 1

 I planned on starting our Post It mural with my fourth and third graders today. I got an email from the fourth grade teacher that they would be 15 minutes late because of a presentation. They ended up being over a half hour late, and got ten minutes to work on this. They were really bummed, but I assured them that they would get more time another day. The third graders worked on it for the whole class period. We started by watching the video of the business creating their mural that I posted last time and moved on to how to read my Excel chart. I then showed them how to mark each square with what color Post-It should be attached there. I'm not sure I should have started this way. It may have been easier to just start with the Post-Its, but I plan on having them add double sided tape to the bottom of each Post-It and that stuff really sticks. I don't want to risk the paper ripping if they make a mistake with that stuff! 

 I got smarter after watching the fourth graders. Originally, I had printed four copies of the chart, one for each long roll of paper. That proved to be a little confusing for the students working on the middle two rolls. Before third grade came in, I cut each of those charts to show only the squares that the students would be working on in their specific strip of paper. This worked much better, and the kids got a lot of work done. 

National Boards

I got my kit today! I am excited, scared, and intimidated. I am also almost a quarter of the way completed. I have to write one more paper on a professional accomplishment and then I'll start the other three writtings. I have been recording my teaching since the week before break, and I have started photographing for the first entry. Part of me cannot believe I am doing this, but one of my colleagues is a NB Certified teacher and is mentoring me through the process. She is amazing, and I am thankful for her dedication to the process. Now I am off to set up my camera for this afternoon's session! If any of you out there are thinking about or would like more info on NB, just let me know! 

National Boards

I've decided to work for my National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Certification. Commonly called "National Boards." It is a LOT of work. A colleague of mine has hers as a "generalist," and equates it to getting a masters degree except teachers complete their National Boards in 3-15 months. I have contemplated participating in National Boards for about six years and decided now is the time. I was upset to find out that the Federal Subsidy through the Wisconsin Department of Education may not be available next year, so in order to be eligible for it I have to have my portfolio complete by March 31st. If you're not familiar with National Boards, here's the highlights of it for an "Art Early/Middle Childhood" Certification (ages 3-12). 

Process: 

There are four portfolio entries and six essay questions that must be taken at an assessment center.

The first portfolio entry consists of a storyboard of ten photographs proving the teacher met certain standards and goals. The teacher must write up what they did, how it met the stated goals, and how it effected student learning. The write up is a ten page maximum, with an additional submittal of assessment practices up to five pages. The second two portfolio entries each have different standards for the teacher to prove and require video of the teacher teaching, assessment materials, and another write up of ten pages maximum. The fourth and final  entry is a ten page maximum write up of the teacher's accomplishments in including family and community in their work. 

Benefits: 

In Wisconsin, we have two different types of teaching licenses. There is a "Professional Educator License" which is valid for five years and a "Master Educator License" which is valid for ten years. With the acquisition of a NB Certification, a teacher can apply to become a Master Educator. This is nice because to renew a license teachers have to either take six graduate level classes or complete a PDP (Professional Development Plan) that is accepted by the state and pay a fee for the renewal (about $100 currently). 

Currently, Wisconsin offers a grant of $2,500 per year that the certification is valid (ten years).

If a teacher completes all ten aspects of the process and does not get certified they earn three graduate credits. If they do get certified they earn an additional six (total of nine) graduate credits. These can be issued through the college of their choice (upon approval) and applied to district payroll advances.

Validation of quality teaching

Draw backs:
It costs $2,565 to attempt certification. Depending on what you teach and where you live, there may be scholarships available to help with this and the benefits certainly outweigh the cost, but what teacher has an extra two grand laying around? Certainly not me, which is why I'm rushing to complete this before the subsidy is (possibly) gone next year. This subsidy is half the cost, which will help a lot. 

So, that is what I am working on now. I am partway through the fourth entry (the community involvement entry) as that one does not require much more than writing. I will start recording  my teaching tomorrow. I have lessons picked out for the second and third entry and am just a little stumped on what to do for the first one. I have an idea, and plan on exploring that one more this weekend. With each class only meeting every six school days, I have to get rolling on this NOW!