Roman Ondák (first week of school)

Roman Ondák

 "Measuring the Universe"

I loved starting off the year with this project.  The beginning of the year is filled with a checklist of rules and classroom introductions, etc. It's not the most exciting thing  having to do it over and over for thirty-some classes.  I like doing a quick thoughtful performance art project which the entire school can take ownership in participating.

What is "Measuring the Universe"?

This is an installation art piece by Slovakian artist Roman Ondák. It was first installed in 2007 in the MoMA. It started with white rooms.  People would come into the space and measure themselves against the walls. They would mark their name and date they were measured.  After a while the names begin to overlap.  The idea came from the habit of parent's measuring their kids heights again a wall or door frame.  Below are two great videos I like to show the kids.

Tate Museum Video

This video shows people interacting in the exhibit. You can see blank walls become transformed by a few black sharpies marking a place in time.


Roman Ondak discusses "Measuring the Universe"

How did we use it in the classroom?

After we went through our beginning of the year housekeeping I introduced the project by showing them photos.

I started by showing them just the walls of the exhibit with all the sharpie marks on them.  I asked them what they thought they were looking at? I got lots of fun answers with that question.  

Then I showed them people in the exhibit marking the walls. I asked them what they thought these people were doing?  We eventually get to the conclusion that they were marking their measurements against the wall. 

I asked if any of them had their heights marked against the wall? I showed them a photo of the wall at my grandmother's house were she marked the heights of all her grandchildren.  We talk as a class about the significance of marking a person's space and seeing how their space relates to others around them.  It allows the viewers to become part of the art.

  

After we've learned about the project it's time to create our own version!

 I put a long sheet of white bulletin board paper against my back board.  I gave the the kids sharpies to mark their height, name and date. 

Throughout the week everyone added their names to the paper.  Including some teachers, which the kids thought was so cool! 

 I hung up our final paper in the hallway.  I'm leaving it there until the end of the year.  The last week of school we are going to measure again using red sharpies.

One of the best parts is when the kids learn what happens at the end of the exhibit. Sadly, this art project doesn't last forever, they paint over the walls when it's finished.  Art that doesn't last, shocking!  

I really enjoy starting the year off with a school wide collaborative art project.  

Art Sub Tub

Art Sub Tub

(teacher sick day life-saver)

Over the summer I decided to make my own Sub Tub.  The first couple years of teaching were overwhelming and I never thought about this amazing idea of having a box of ready to go sub plans.  I am very rarely out of school.  Especially because I absolutely hate making sub plans. 

 I use to sub for middle schoolers when I first got out of college.  I know what it's like to be a sub and show up with unclean plans or a very confusing novel of directions.  I'm very picky about leaving easy and simple directions for my sub and students so the day runs smoothly without me.  Yes, I'm realizing what a control freak I am about my class.

This amazing idea came from Pinterest.  I'm sure everyone at school will miss seeing me drag my sick self in to school at the break of dawn to make sub plans when I feel dreadful. And I know I'll miss hearing shrieking from the poor faculty members who run into me outside the copy room when I have absolutely no makeup on.  It's a scary start to a sick day.  

What's in the Tub:

I have all kinds of fabulous papers in my tub.  Worksheets divided by grade levels, coloring pages by artists, games, behavioral papers, basic information, dice, and a small notebook with everything you need to know about the art room. 

The notebook (with everything you need to know about the art room) contains:

-Contact information (in case they have any questions)

-Schedule

-Fire Drill/Tornado Drill/ Lockdown Drill Instructions

-List of phone extensions for the building

-Art Norms (that the kids should all know and would never dream of not following)

-List of consequences

-List of where items in the room are found 

-Behavioral worksheets for students that need they to reflect on poor choices they made for my sub

-List of books and movies they can use

I'll post sub worksheets and ideas in another post. 

Tour of the Art Room

Come take a tour of my messy Art Room....

 My desk and stacks of fun paperwork

Elements and Principles are a must!

PDSA Board, this is early in the year. By the end of the year it is covered in examples and concepts.

Love my SmartBoard and Bee "How to Bee in Art"

My kiln room, it is amazing having a kiln so close to me!

Stole this off Pinterst, where would I be without all those amazing Pinterest ideas? It's been great to have the kids work on problem solving skills  about art mistakes that don't include crushing it up into the trash. 

 I have a collection of pictures that I hang around my room throughout the year.  This was from a kindergartner  the first week of school.  I think it was adorable because he wanted me to know that he accidentally made my arms too long. The crazy green hair looks exactly like mine at the end of the day. 

Collecting aprons is my thing! I've always got an apron on.  If you didn't know what I taught before you saw my paint covered arms, you'll know by that colorful apron I'm running around in.   I'm thinking of making a quilt out them after I finish my 30 years of teaching. 

I have a thing for Dali melting clocks.  This one is outside my room and I have a smaller one that is melting off my desk.  The kids love trying to find the painting in my room that matches the clocks.

Did you Wash you Hands (with soap and water)?

Did you wash your hands....with soap and water!?!

Germs and allergies, two things that are not wanted in our classrooms.  In elementary school we have a lot of peanut allergies.  When you have almost 600 students in your classroom every week touching EVERYTHING you have to be prepared to fight the hand washing war. To make this friendly reminder more fun I used the giant ClassDojo monsters that were used for my county presentation last year. 

Take a look...

They are the same size as some of my younger students.

Before students come into our Enhancement classes they must wash their hands with soap and water.  At the beginning of the year we go over this safety procedure.  Germs and allergies are invisible, which makes it a lot harder to tell if we are clean. It has been a safer and cleaner environment by taking a quick trip to the sinks before coming in our class. I also order paint that is free of eggs, peanuts, or tree nuts.   I like to be on the safe side for my little ones.

ClassDojo

ClassDojo.com

If you haven't heard of ClassDojo then you are missing out.  This is one of the most amazing websites for classroom management and behavior.  And it's FREE! Teachers can sign up online and then copy your class roster into dojo.  It gives each student their own monster "dojo" character.  You can create positive and negative behaviors specific for your class needs.  You can then click on a student or multiple students to give or remove a point for their behavior.  The kids LOVE it!

Student Introduction Video to ClassDojo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaeNSYJvrn0

Attendance

At the beginning of each class I do my attendance on Classdojo.  It turns absent students grey so they are inactive for gaining or losing points.  If you have a SmartBoard, students can check themselves in by clicking on their dojo when they walk in your class.

Points

  You can award multiple students or individual ones.  It makes a happy little sound when students gain points and a sad sound when they lose points. When my students hear those sounds they quickly turn to the board to see who the points are being given to.  

Class Rewards

I have competition every year to see which class in each grade level has the highest percent of good points by the end of the year. Every nine weeks I give a percent update so the classes can see where they stand.  I give a special class prize to the winners in each grade level at the end of the year. My kids love friendly competition and it's a great motivator for them to work together.  It has helped students understand that their behavior choices can affect the entire class and not always just themselves. My sister started using dojo in her middle school chorus classes this year and her students love it! I was a little surprised that middle schoolers were as in love with their monsters as my little ones were.

Log In from Home

Parents and students can log in from home to check on their points.  Parents and students are given a code for their log in.  Students can change their dojo characters and see if other student dojo characters have changed.  Points are confidential and students can't see other students behaviors.  My sister told me how her middle school students were using these points to earn rewards (or lessen the extent of being grounded) by proving they were doing a great job in class. Parent communication is easy with this site.

       

They have an APP! 

Yes, you can grab this free app for your smart phone or iPad.  Why walk all the way to the front of the room to mark a point when you can do it from your phone in your pocket? All you need is WiFi so your device can communicate with the website.  They know how busy teachers are walking all over the room. It helps make life a little easier in the classroom.

Timer

Such a great tool! And it does a countdown.  I use the countdown for when we do cleanups at the end of class. You can start and stop the timer throughout the class to see how long certain activities take.  It even has a little bell that rings at the end of the countdown.

Art Room Positive Behaviors:

Cleaning

Helping Others

Creativity

Following Instructions

Hard Work

Listening

Team Work

Participation

Art Room Negative Behaviors:

Disrespect

Off Task

Not Following Instructions

Not Sitting Correctly

Disruption/Interruption

Unprepared

Misusing Materials

Not Participating

Documentation

One of the best parts about this program is the documentation. It saves everything so you can email it to a parent, their classroom teacher, or even an administrator.  You can see the behavioral percentiles for an entire class or an individual student.  At the end of each class you can add comments to the behavioral points given to certain students that day.  I love how quickly an efficiently this program works with a teacher who has almost 600 students to keep up with every week!  It even has a TrendSpotter to look at specific times for behaviors.  Anytime a teacher comes and asks me about a student in their class I can pull up their dojo so they can see their behavior since the beginning of the year. Super easy! 

Consistency

One of the hardest things classroom management is complaints about the consistency.  This site is great because students know what is expected of them every time they come to class.  No more can they claim "I didn't know I wasn't allowed to do...(insert obviously ridiculous behavior)". They know the rewards and they know the poor behavior choices.  They know their are consequences if you get on red and have negative points.  It is a non-verbal reminder about behavioral choices.  Students become very familiar with this program when it's used in other classes.  Several teachers at my school use this program, it makes it so much easier for the students to transition classes since they use to the same behavioral system.  When you teach the entire school it's hard to keep up with pulling tickets, moving clips, changing colors, or even moving your horse out of the OK corral.  

I hope you enjoy this great website and all it has to offer! I'm sure your kids will LOVE it too!

For the Love of Pink Duct Tape!

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

You might be wondering where the name "Ms. Shook Land" came from...or maybe not.  But I'm going to tell you anyways.  In my room the marked off pink areas are just for me. My kids know they have to ask permission to come into my areas. I have it around the kiln door, paper cutter area, and around my computer/cords. It was a simple boundary for some of my kids that needed a visual reminder.  Eventually, the kids started calling it "Ms. Shook Land".  The name stuck and has worked wonders!  

The kids love the melting clock on my desk. Thanks Mom for that awesome birthday gift!

Embracing the Mess...

This year I decided to embrace the mess that I spend so much time attempting to clean up. It's my messy paint splatter. Even the smARTboard got hit with paint. 

All my doors now have paint dripping off them. What did I do before Pinterest?

Such a fun board to make! I used dollar store plastic table cloths for the paint. Quick, easy and affordable. 

It's hard to tell the eARTh is 3D in this photo.  I had all kinds of left over space stickers I used for the background. This was my last minute bulletin board idea before we had our open house.