Well it's the end of another term and this will be my last blog entry. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed creating my blog and experimenting with different media on my own. From shaving cream to watercolour... I had a blast! I wanted to add these two pictures because they play tricks on the eye. If you look at the picture on top, you will see little black dots 'popping' out at you that aren't actually on the picture. If you look at the picture on the bottom, the wheels appear to be turning, but they actually aren't! I took these pictures at Science World and was surprised to see that the effect showed up in a photograph. I think this is a neat 'spin' on art and I am sure there are art activities that you could do with your students. I know of one activity where students can create an image using orange, blue and black construction paper. Once the image is complete, students look at the picture for about 30 seconds and then close their eyes. The trick is that when students close their eyes, they will see different colours of the image than those of the construction paper.

Anyway, have a Merry Christmas everyone and I will see you in the new year! One more term and we will all be TEACHERS!!!!!!

Cartoon Art

Two years ago, Mark and I went to West Edmonton mall for a vacation getaway. There was a cartoon artist there so we decided to be models for him. The artist charged $20 for the picture. Many of his cartoon drawings were of surfing dudes and of a princess and prince charming. The artist sketched our bodies and then went back through with watercolour paint and added in more detail. I love this picture... however, I wish my waste really was that skinny :)

Strangers

When I got home last night, there were two strangers in my living room. When I opened the front door, I was startled because I was not expecting guests! These are two of my mom's nutcrackers. She absolutely loves them. I wanted to share them with you because a great deal of detail has gone into carving and crafting them. The Santa nutcracker is my favourite of the two, working in his toyshop. Christmas is underway at my house.

Art Gallery

I really enjoyed my time at the art gallery yesterday and especially appreciated both of the art activities we did. I know that there are differing opinions about whether people would take their students to the present exhibits, and I would have to say that I would not take primary or early intermediate. The reason for my concern, especially for primary, is that some of the photos in the first exhibit were not appropriate and I did not appreciate that there was art of child next to art of a naked woman. I also would not have my students look at the second exhibit. While art is interpretative, I can foresee students seeing the same things as I did. I agree with Shyla, the images reminded me of the movie I am Legend and found many of them to be disturbing. Younger children can have adverse reactions, such as nightmares when they watch a scary movie and I could not help but think they would have the same reaction to this art. While I do not want to shelter my students, I feel it is important that we consider all the possible things that students could experience from this viewing.

The art that I especially liked were the images created by Peter George. I love Aboriginal art and I enjoyed the Aboriginal legends there were told for two of his pieces of work... pesky mosquitoes! I loved the glow in the dark paint. I created a monster on my hand with several eyes, sharp teeth, and a tongue that drools. The black light was really neat and added a different touch to the art work. The art under the black light did not look the same under natural light. The second piece of artwork we did was definitely creative. I pictured myself going on my honeymoon to Alaska, so I drew a mountain landscape in the background with water. My hope is to go on a cruise and combine it with a railway adventure! For my picture, I illustrated the landscape so that my head would overlap the mountains. I thought because I was imaging my trip with my fiancé, I would make myself appearing to 'dream.' The mountains are 'flowing' out of my mind. My sun did not turn out all the beautiful but overall, I am very proud of my picture and would use this art in the classroom. You could have a lesson about landscapes and ask students, "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?" Then, students could draw the landscape on the frosted mylar paper and layer it with a picture of him or herself. This would be neat to use for light catchers too using tissue paper.

Christmas Potluck!

Well, we did it! What an amazing day and performance. I am very pleased with the outcome and believe that we have set the bar for EY/08 next year! I just wanted to thank everyone for taking part, whether you were singing, presenting, playing, or organizing the presentation. We worked as a team and without that team work the performance would have been a disaster. I think we did ourselves and our professors proud. Shayla, you are awesome - you know all the words to every Christmas song!... I needed the lyrics :) The performance was definitely entertaining and we had everyone laughing at one point or another. Laughter can go a long way.

While the performance was good, just some suggestions for future consideration and maybe Willow can use this information for next year. I could not see the lyrics from where we were standing and as such, began humming! Next time, we should make sure the words are big enough to see. Also, maybe two projectors would be better. One that performers can see and one that the audience can see. The projector was behind the audience and many of them wanted to keep eye contact with us. This might account for why many people were not singing along? Some people brought paper copies of the songs... ingenious!

While we were singing, I was thinking about how much fun it would be to take students caroling through the school. I would have my students decide what songs they would want to sing (a minimum of 3) and have them sing one song per classroom. I think they would find it enjoyable and would allow them to perform without too much preparation.

Overall, I am glad that we decided to participate in this activity and have fun as a group. It was a bit of stress relief for me and allowed me to forget about some of my worries about my e-portfolio. Thanks again to everyone, you have the voices of angels!

Remembrance Day

This is a picture of my father carrying a flag representative of the United Nations during the Remembrance Day parade. He served in the Canadian Military for 21 years and was posted in Cyprus, Germany, and Norway.

It is important to teach students to take a moment on November 11th, to remember those who fought in wars. These men died so that their children and families and future generations could live in a free country. On this day, we acknowledge their courage and sacrifice and should always remember that our freedom came with a price.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

Art Show

I really enjoyed my time at the art show. I thought it was a huge success and was extremely happy when two of my students were able to attend. I really appreciated the parents for bringing the kids because they live 30 - 40 minutes outside of town. Can you tell how proud they are of their art work and how proud I am of them!?!

I think the art show was a wonderful experience and gave me the opportunity to see how much planning needs to go into putting a function like this together. I would definitely do this in the future on my own time as a teacher and would encourage other teachers to participate as well.

One thing that I learned at the event is to make sure you know what ingredients are in the food you provide. One of my students has a nut allergry and there is an almond ingredient in icing (so I'm told). Luckily, the allergy is only to peanuts and almonds do not cause a reaction!

I would like to congratulate everyone for a job well done! Your art is beautiful and I am going to use a lot of your ideas in the future! I especially liked the marshmallow spiders and the vanishing point!