Khan Academy.. A FABULOUS tutorial site for education!

Have you heard of Khan Academy? 

If you have kids or just want to learn something new.. you should check it out!

And just for the record, there isn't anything for me in this post.. I just want to share a GREAT learning resource!

Here is a snapshot of what my kids are up to.  Nope, Kylie hasn't been on this week. Given that Kylie is only in Kindergarten, her access is limited to when I or her sister's can supervise!

Anyway.. 

One of the cool things about this site is that I know what my kids are working on and for the most part, they enjoy it!

So if you look at Lexi's profile you can see exactly what concepts she is currently working on and what kind of progress she has made.

You can even breakdown the summary into individualized skills.  This is great if they are struggling with something at school, or if they are interested in a certain area you can select that topic for study.



They earn badges and energy points for working.

As an adult, I can learn new things as well.

I can coach my children.

As a teacher I can create classrooms and have students work from here, but I can see what they have accomplished, what they are individually struggling with and how much time was spent on a problem.  This is a huge factor in student success because if students spend a ton of time working on something and then get it wrong, they become very frustrated! This site allows you to ask for a hint on a problem and then gives different scenarios to teach the concept in a different way.  

It is amazing.

So all that to say, I am a huge fan of Khan Academy! 

If you haven't used this site before, I challenge you to try it.  

Oh.. and the best part.. IT'S FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

You are welcome.

Sticking around for Success

In all my years teaching, it seems like all I have done was to get the ball rolling, lay a strong foundation and just when things take off, we move.

Let's take a walk down memory lane...

Theatre Teacher in Texas 2 years
Theatre/Speech/Debate in NC 1 1/2 years
Back in Texas...
3rd grade inclusion math and TYC reading teacher 1 semester (plus a miserable summer...)
Theatre/Debate/8th grade reading 1 year
Theatre/Career Investigations/Speech/7th grade writing 1 1/2 years
Theatre Teacher 1 semester
Economics/Debate 2 years

Wow. What a journey. I am absolutely certain that I am a better art teacher because I worked in so many other teaching jobs, in so many different communities. I've taught in big cities and tiny communities; I've taught to the affluent and teenagers in a jail.

Then I finally found my way to Art.

And now, I'm in my 6th year of teaching art. AT THE SAME PLACE! Crazy stuff. And even better, I am here for the successes. I got the ball rolling and laid a great foundation for a program that was to be distinctly MINE and I'm here to see the successes.

It is an amazing feeling!

Yesterday I had six students receive big honors in the art world. One student won 3 Gold Key's at the 2014 Region-At-Large Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and has three pieces in the NATIONAL competition. And he is a Sophomore! Such exciting times.

I have to say, this stability stuff is pretty cool. I've never gotten to see the reward first hand and now I am. It's a heady feeling!

Here are a couple of pictures of some of students and their award winning works!

This first picture was taken back in the fall, but how cool is this, both girls received awards this week. Emma, a 3rd grader had her self portrait (upper left hand corner of the display) chosen  to be included in the Youth Art Month Exhibit at our state capitol. Heather, a senior, had one of her photographs awarded an Honorable Mention at the Scholastic contest.

And her are a few more pictures of my students and their award winning pieces!

I don't have a picture of my student who advanced to the National competition. I'll have to do that tomorrow!!

Remembering Lindsey: in Linoleum Print

Some people make a permanent mark on your heart.

Lindsey was one of those.

Recently I was looking at some photos of her and I just felt the need to 

create a linoleum print of her hands creating art.

Here is one of the prints from the first series.

I like the dark ink on the light paper. I also like that it's a little heavy in places.  It's not a "perfect" piece and Lindsey would have never been able to create a "perfect" piece by traditional art standards.

But I wasn't in love with it.

So I went back to work and after a few hundred (at least it felt like it..)

Here is one that I absolutely love!!

In person, it's much lighter and softer, but it doesn't show up on the screen well so I had to darken it. The paper is really white and the colors are soft.

I am so happy with the final product. In the end, this was a piece that I created for myself with only my memories and emotions as a guide. Artistically there are changes I would make, but since I'm not selling it and not grading it, I consider it to be finished!

And as a side note, if any of you out there miss Lindsey and would like an artist proof of the above print, I have a dozen or so that I don't have any need for, but I don't want to throw them away! 

An artist proof means that it's a print from the working linoleum block. No two are alike as I would print one and then cut a little more away and so forth.