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Monday, May 30, 2011

What is Chin Colle?

Many people have been asking me what is Chin Colle? 

Chin Colle is a printmaking technique in which one piece of paper (the print) is adhered to another piece of paper, usually a heavier piece of paper.  It is fairly simple to do but many people think it is a tedious process.  I used it often when I did printmaking in college because I did many prints based upon old fabrics.  I thought it was appropriate to cut my prints out using pinking shears and then use Chin Colle to finish them.  The end result was lovely!


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

EF Tours-Global Education Ambassador Conference


I was thrilled to have been invited to an EF conference in Boston this past weekend. The conference was for teachers who have a strong interest in educational travel and would be willing to help new group leaders as they plan their trip. I am officially a Global Education Ambassador for EF! 

I had an opportunity to share my experiences with other group leaders & discuss and learn about my role as GEA while learning more about EF. I am always excited when I have a chance to help someone expose their students to international travel because it always changes their lives.

I have been traveling internationally since I was 13.  My first international travel experience took me to Yugoslavia (at this time the country had not split).  I traveled without my parents but with a local church group.  At a young age this was very eye opening.  To experience new languages, cultures, airports, customs, etc. is quite an experience when you are 13.  It opened my eyes to the world and instilled in me a love of cultures, new people and travel! 

Since that time, I have been traveling as often as possible.  As a high school sophomore I traveled to Spain for the first time.  I lived with a local family in Lugo for three weeks, sharing a home with a host brother (who spoke very good English) and host parents (who spoke no English).  Living with a family forced me to practice speaking the language.  As a senior in high school, I traveled for a second time to Spain.  This time to Mallorca. I spent another three weeks in Mallorca taking in the culture, language and life style.  All of these experiences fostered a desire to learn about other cultures and to better understand them.

After high school I longed to travel more but didn't have a chance until after college.  When I began teaching I had an opportunity to travel as a chaperon with the French teacher. We toured the Loire Valley.

Since then I have been arranging travel opportunities for students.  In the past, I have traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Wales & Italy with my students.  My favorite part of traveling with students is hearing them talk about it after we return.  They always comment on how they want to study abroad; how they plan to learn a new language; how the experience has changed their perspective and awareness of global issues.  It is how I felt after my experiences in Spain. 

This summer I will travel to Costa Rica with a few students.  I am anxious to practice my language skills again (even though I have been out of practice for so long.  I hope that my memory will not fail me too much!), learn about the people of Costa Rica (Ticos) and their customs.

I know that the students traveling with me are also anxious to practice their language skills, learn about the culture and people of Costa Rica, see a new part of the world and become global learners.  These experiences help to close the gap and create cultural awareness and understanding.  It also gives each student an opportunity to better understand our own culture and appreciate the differences.

I have been working with EF since 2008.  I have worked with other companies but no one compares to EF. If you would like more information regarding educational travel experiences please visit EF's link or email me.  I am always happy to share my experiences.

https://www.eftours.com/student-travel.aspx

Many, many thanks to the EF staff for their dedication, professionalism and work towards making global connections.

My Tour Consultant Janelle and me

Some of Janelle's crew!
The new GEA's and EF staff







Thursday, May 12, 2011

Celebrating Art

I am so please to learn today that many of my students have been selected for publication in Celebrating Art.  This was a national art contest open to any student in Grade K-12. 

There are two parts to the contest:
First, selected students will be published in a beautiful hardback coffee table book. 
Second, students will then be selected to win prize money.

The students do not have to purchase the book to be included.  The school will be purchasing a book for the library.  Students selected to win prizes will be announced at the end of the month.  If a student wins a prize he or she will also receive a copy of the book.

For additional information please visit http://www.celebratingart.com/index.php

Congratulations to all of the students!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Handmade Cards for a Cause

A colleague passed this request along to our staff a few weeks ago and I thought I would share in hopes that some of you might be willing to make a card and send it to this young man. 

There is a 12 year old boy in Neola, Iowa who has been diagnosed with leukemia.  Sadly, there is nothing that the doctor's can do for him.  Instead of a Make a Wish request the young boy wants to receive one million cards.  I am sure a get well card is appropriate or it could just be a simple thinking of you card.  Currently, he has 19,000 cards. 

If you would like to help please make or purchase a card and send it to:

"Mighty" Max Low
c/o Greg and Bambi Low
PO Box 111
Neola, Iowa 51559


Saturday, May 7, 2011

All Kids Can Create- VSA & CVS Caremark



In February I helped my student Bailey enter a national art contest: All Kids Can Create sponsored by VSA and CVS Caremark.  Bailey's art was entered online through the site Artsonia.

With over 4,700 entries we were both excited to learn that Bailey's beautiful picture "Panda" was a finalist for the state of Pennsylvania.  Her drawing was one of 4 from the state of Pennsylvania to make it to the final contest. 

In April, we were notified that Bailey's drawing was to be included in the national exhibit.  Her drawing and one other had been selected to represent our state in the exhibit at Union Station in Washington D.C. The exhibit opens on June 13, 2011.102 pieces of art total will be on display.

I am so proud of Bailey and her dedication! 

To learn more about VSA, CVS and the contest please visit the following sites:

http://www.vsarts.org/prebuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/calls/AllKidsCan/HowToApply.html

http://www.vsarts.org/prebuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/calls/AllKidsCan/MoreInfo.html


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Recycled Egg Carton Flowers


This is a variation on my previous post of Recycled Flowers for Mother's Day.  My K students saw the flowers the older kids were making and wanted to make them but I wanted to do something different.  This is also a good project for talking about recycling and Earth Day. 

Materials:
Pipe Cleaners
Beads

Paper egg cartons- torn apart and prepped
Tissue paper of various colors cut to about 5 inches square



How to Make Your Flowers:
1. Prep the egg cartons by tearing them apart and punching a hole through the bottom center.  I use a needle tool to do this but a pencil would work too.


2. Thread the pipe cleaner up through the hole about half way.


3. Take 3-4 pieces of tissue paper and gently punch a hole in the center.  We use the pipe cleaner to do this.


4. Slide a bead onto the pipe cleaner



5. Then fold the pipe cleaner down over the bead.  I allow a good bit to be folded over that way the bead is visible.


6. Gently pull the pipe cleaner down and the center of the flower will be created. 



You could do many variations on this such as use buttons, or no beads or buttons.  You could add glitter by gently dipping the flower edges into glue and then into glitter. 

frontal view


side view

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Kite Designs for 6th Grade Camp



Every year our 6th grade students have an opportunity to go to 6th grade camp.  This is a 3 day experience.  The students stay in cabins with a teacher chaperon and a high school chaperon. They study math, social studies, science, art, physical education, language arts, etc in an outdoor setting.  Some of the activities they do include (but are not limited to): tree height measurements, stream investigations, animal tracking, nature hikes, tree identification, balloon launch, using a compass, ropes courses, archery, gun safety, kayaking, fishing.

As part of their art, science and math experience the students design a kite in art class.  Upon arrival at camp they have an opportunity to construct their kites and then fly them.  The kites the students make in art class are presented here prior to construction.

To create our kites we need:
Sharpies or water based markers (If you use water base markers then be careful not to get your kite wet.  The water based markers will run.)
Frustrationless Flyer Kites http://www.cobrakite.com/frstlsfl.html


To create our kites we follow these steps:
1. Create a design on a piece of sketch paper and add color. I like to approve these before I pass out a large kite.  I encourage the students to draw large and fill the kite.  I also remind them that white areas should be a part of their design rather than a background that looks unfinished.
2. I do have extra kites available for the students so they need to remember that when they begin on the actual kite they must do their best to work around mistakes (if they make them).
3. Draw the design on the kite with a pencil.  I remind them to sketch lightly so that if they make a mistake then they can work around it and the marker will cover it up. 
4. The students discover that working large is a challenge and requires extra time and patience. 

 




Monday, May 2, 2011

Teacher Appreciation Week

Yesterday a friend sent me the link to this editorial on the teaching profession from the NY Times.  This might be only the second article/editorial that I have come across that actually praises teachers and what they do.  I thought I would share it with everyone.  I hope that you will share it with your friends and family. 


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html?_r=1

This article sums it up!