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My First Post!

Welcome to my elementary art blog. I will be posting various lesson plans and resources used for teaching k-5 Art. Check back regularly as I intend to update this weekly with videos and other resources that help in my classroom and they can help in yours too.

One thing that has been transformative in my teaching is video demonstrations of key skills. I started making videos after coming to the realization that when I did a live demonstration of clay or origami, half the class could not actually see what I was doing. By recording video, I could project it larger so kids could see better, but I also found that it freed me up to focus on my students and my instruction better. I no longer had to worry about the creation of a sample project, I could simply focus on the explanation while also looking at my students to find signs of confusion, anticipate problems etc. If you have not flipped your art room, I highly recommend it.

In addition to the relative ease of direct instruction, creating video resources has been helpful in aiding students to become more self-directed learners. As I go I will try to post each lesson tagged with media and grade level to make this more easily searchable. There is a lot of the TAB (Teaching Artistic Behaviors) philosophy that I find appealing. After years of creating video and other resources to aid in my teaching, I have found given the proper support structure, students can navigate those resources to personalize their learning.



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