Planning Your Classroom Design? Look at this research...

Well, I've been busy this summer taking one of my last Graduate courses--Research Design, and it has been pretty neat. I've actually enjoyed reading about educational research and it's given me some things to think about as I move into my student teaching this Fall (YIPPEE!! SO thrilled!).

If you are blessed to have a teaching job and a classroom to plan, check out this study called, "Visual Environment, Attention Allocation, and Learning in Young Children: When Too Much of a Good Thing May Be Bad" written by Anna V. Fisher, Karrie E. Godwin and Howard Seltman. This article was originally published in Psychological Science May 2014. 

Here's the Abstract:
A large body of evidence supports the importance of focused attention for encoding and task performance. Yet young children with immature regulation of focused attention are often placed in elementary-school classrooms containing many displays that are not relevant to ongoing instruction. We investigated whether such displays can affect children’s ability to maintain focused attention during instruction and to learn the lesson content. We placed kindergarten children in a laboratory classroom for six introductory science lessons, and we experimentally manipulated the visual environment in the classroom. Children were more distracted by the visual environment, spent more time off task, and demonstrated smaller learning gains when the walls were highly decorated than when the decorations were removed.
(from http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/05/20/0956797614533801.abstract)

If you don't want to purchase the full article, check out this online write-up from The Association of Psychological Science that summarizes the article.

This study really got me thinking about the visuals that are in the classroom and how they affect student learning. As a graphic designer and a visual person, I get distracted easily by clutter and "stuff" all over surfaces and walls. I also need to be able to know where my supplies are. I felt like this was also true with the students in the middle school art classroom I substituted in this past Spring. I tried hard to organize the classroom to have zones and label drawers and cabinets neatly so that the students (and I) could find things and work efficiently. I also tried to keep visuals to a minimum and have them relate to the project at hand. I think in my future classroom, I would make some adjustments to that even more--I'm always learning!

I hope you enjoy this study as you plan your classroom for the fall!

P.S. If you do want some kick-butt posters for your classroom, check out my free posters here. ;-)

Make a quilt in an evening--A PAPER ORIGAMI quilt that is!

Once upon a time, I used to quilt. I wasn't super-great at it, but I loved it and had fun. I think it's the graphic designer in me seeing all of those neat little shapes in neat little rows just makes me happy! But now I have four kiddos and I'm going to grad school. As for quilting..."Ain't nobody got time for that!" But, my sister is a wonderful quilter and churns out quilts left and right. And her work is better than mine ever was or will be--she's into detail and hand-stitching and all other sorts of craziness :-) And she has a stash of fabric that is *to die for!!*

I thought my quilting days were done (or on hold for a good long time), but, stay with me on this...

My family and I also *LOVE* origami--I don't know what it is about folding a tiny piece of paper a few times and magically getting a little shirt, a ballon, a lantern, or a samurai hat, but we can't get enough! So, awhile back, I saw this neat origami piece that had a bunch of what I figured out were origami samurai hats/helmets arranged on a colored background that looked like--a QUILT! OK, now quilts are still one of my favorite things--so I pinned it and would look at it fondly whenever I saw it in amongst my 5000+ pins...

The last time I stumbled on my origami quilt pin, I thought, "Hey that would be great for my sister!" So, I bought a pack of origami paper from the craft store (about $12.00 for 200 sheets) and coerced my kiddos to help me make a bunch of samurai hats.

Samurai hats are easy to make and even my four-year-old could do them. She ended up making about 15 or so! They were a little "unique" but usable, nonetheless! Here's link to see how to make a samurai hat.

• Step-by-step instructions with photos
• And if you need a video (in the last step, I fold the last flap inside the hat to make it easier to glue down)
• And if you'd like printable instructions (this one allows you to use a bigger sheet to make a wearable version (but the instructions are the same no matter what size square you use)--so cool!)

You'll need 32 hats for this arrangement. We made so many, we had enough to make two "quilts"--one for me and one for my sister! The hats are mounted on 18" x 24" piece of Canson pastel paper. You could use mat board, but this is what I had on hand and it is wonderful quality paper and comes in a bunch of colors (and it is easy to measure and cut at home).

This project would make a great class project either for a teacher or for a group auction piece. It's also great for anyone who loves quilts and quilting. It's unusual and a conversation starter! The project took us a night to make two completed "quilts." You could make smaller versions that would fit in a 12" x 12" frame (so three rows of 6 samurai hats) or you could work with the mini origami paper (it's about 3" square) to make cards for your friends.

I hope you try this project and have fun with it and origami! ENJOY!

Scenes from Jewelry-Making Artist's Workshop

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of hanging out and creating jewelry with a few lovely students at Amherst Middle School. We learned some basics of jewelry design and construction and students were able to go home with duct tape earrings, beaded earrings, a glass bead bracelet, and a shrink art necklace. While they were creating, they were learning how to use jewelry-making tools and jewelry findings.

While these pieces are easy to make, they form the foundation of basic jewelry-making skills students can use to make a number of fabulous pieces! Hopefully they are inspired to create some lovely pieces at home!

And here's the link to the tutorial we used as inspiration for our duct tape earrings--I'm now sporting a pair of rainbow tie-dyed feather earrings my son made me! :-) *LOVE*

http://www.brit.co/flirty-fluorescent-feathers-another-win-for-duct-tape/

Amherst Art Students Display Work At A&E Roastery For The Month of July

Hello all! I am pleased to announce that A & E Roastery in Amherst, NH will be displaying the work of five of my art students for the month of July in their café on Route 101A. 

The work is the product of my most recent art class, held after school at Amherst Middle School entitled "Art As A Career: The Graphic Design and Illustration Challenge." The class introduced students in grades 6-8 to the exciting careers available to artists today in the design industry.
As part of the class, the students created a label for a bag of "Earth Day Blend" coffee based on the specifications provided by real-world client, A & E Roastery.  Along the way, students were able to brainstorm and create a comprehensive illustration, select fonts that were readable and complemented their illustrations, and create a design that included all of the elements the client required. Quite a challenge, and the results are fresh and creative.

The students who have work on display are Hailey Hull (Grade 7), Cassandra Jillson (Grade 8), Sarah Kayser (Grade 7), Eliza Mastergeorge (Grade 7), and Lucy Stover (Grade 7).

The completed designs will be on display at A & E Coffee Roastery through the month of July in their café. A & E Roastery is a retail and wholesale café providing each customer with personalized service and the finest coffee and tea possible in a business that promotes environmental stewardship and economic fairness to growers. This display is part of an ongoing monthly series encouraging local arts. They are located at 135 Route Route 101A and open Monday -Friday: 6:30am - 6pm , Saturdays: 8am - 6pm, and Sundays: 9am - 5pm.

Hailey used colored pencils for her illustration. 

Cassandra used colored pencils for her illustration. 

Sarah used watercolor and ink for her illustration.

Eliza used cut paper for her illustration.

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Art teacher-y Stuff: A & E had a label design contest in February 2013 and gave all of the specs for the project online on their website. I saw this and thought "what a great project for my students!" I didn't have access to computers, so I had to do some creative thinking about how we'd do the design work and have a real-life finished product.

So, the first class, we brainstormed and did thumbnail sketches. Then the students created comprehensive drawings and we discussed different ways they could create their illustrations: cut paper, watercolor & ink, watercolor and colored pencils, or colored pencils. I gave demos on all four techniques.

In week two, the students were able to complete their illustrations and then I gave them a sheet that had a list of all of the components that needed to me on the finished label:

Each label needed to meet the following criteria:

• A full color illustration
• Include the title of the coffee ("Earth Day Blend")
• Contain the A & E Logo
• Contain the USDA Organic Logo
• Display the coffee description
• Include the text "Date Roasted" with a space to handwrite the date
• Include the bag weight: 1 lb.
• Display the A & E Contact Info (URL, Town, State, and telephone number)
• Finished label size of 3" x 4"

I had all of the text and the logos printed on paper and the students literally cut and pasted them to create labels. I had 6 different fonts and three different colors of backgrounds with the fonts (dark green, black and white). The logos were in a variety of sizes, so they could choose what worked best with their design.

Their finished labels were mounted on black mat board just like we would do if we were showing them to a client. But for the show, I took a color photocopy of each label and mounted them on coffee bags (thank you A & E for those!). I then mounted the coffee bags to black foam core I bought at the dollar store. Seeing the labels on the coffee bags makes them look real!

If you are an upper elementary art teacher and want to include graphic design and illustration in your curriculum, this is a wonderful project! I highly recommend it!

Enjoy!

Milton Glaser/Bob Dylan Inspired Self-Portraits

Back in college, I took a entire semester of "The History of Graphic Design." One of the designers and illustrators we learned about was Milton Glaser. He is probably best known as the creator of the iconic "I (Heart) NY" logo.

Another design of his that has always stayed with me is the illustration he did for Columbia Records showing a silhouette of Bob Dylan with his hair drawn in colorful strands. The color and movement in this piece is just so great. It says "creativity" to me and it really does look like Dylan!

Milton Glaser/Bob Dylan-Inspired Self Portraits

Supplies Needed: 

• A printout of the profile of the student (fill the entire 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper)
• Black piece of construction paper
• Stapler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• One 9" x 12" sheet of white construction paper
• Glue stick
• Black permanent marker (we used Sharpies)
• Various colored markers
• Scraps of colored paper for name, optional

Directions:

1. On the printout of the photo, use your pencil to draw a line outlining the body and the skin of the student (not the hair)--no inner details. Staple the printout to a sheet of black construction paper. Cut through both layers of paper along the pencil line (careful to not cut into the hair portion--you'll need that later).

2. Glue the black cutout of the head/body to the white piece of construction paper.

3. Cut out the hair from the printout. Discard the background. Place the hair onto the background and trace around it with the pencil. 

4. Use your pencil to divide the hair into locks. Refer to the printout of your hair to see the direction of how the hair flows. Once all of the hair area is divided up into "tubes" use a Sharpie to trace your pencil lines.

5. Add color to your hair using the markers.

6. Write your name on scrap bits of construction paper, cut out and glue to the bottom edge of the silhouette. 

Look at that funky, creative self-portrait!