One day, I was chatting with the coach and I started to notice how organized his desk was. Unlike my cluttered desk, his was clear of papers. He didn't have piles of notes from students, art catalogs from two years ago, or stacks of books.
On the wall above his desk, there were 3 white hooks, and hanging from the hooks were clear page protectors, and in each page protector, was a sheet of paper. One sheet was his class schedule, with class rosters just behind that, and one was a set of instructions in case of an emergency, the third contained a lesson plan for the week. Above each hook was a little white rectangle, printed with black lettering, describing what was in each of the page protectors. In the event that he needs a sub on the fly, everything is in plain sigh
What a great idea, I thought to myself. In my experience, notebooks can get overlooked or bogged down with too much information. A hook above the desk, what a novel idea.
So I decided to copy him. I hung some hooks behind my desk. I printed out my schedule, and typed up a note for a substitute. I even made a super cute sign to hang beside the hook so that the sub would surely see the instructions.
After a while, I realized that my desk would never stay as pristinely clean as the coach's...and I also realized that it was really hard to keep a weekly printout of the lesson plans hanging from a hook behind my desk, because I teach 5 grade levels in two buildings...and often I have to put a book with a lesson plan, and the paper/supplies necessary, with everything sticky noted and handouts copied, etc.
So the ART SUB sign stayed up on the wall, but after a year or two, I stopped utilizing it, because it was ineffective for my methods. The poor sign, posted in big bold, black letters advertised nothing more than the fact that I had neglected a great idea....
One day, I overheard a couple of students whispering. They were pointing at the 'Art Sub' sign. "I wonder when we will get to go on the art sub?" "Yeah, I wonder why Mrs. Mitchell has never shown us the art sub?" "I bet its under the school."
Art Sub.
To my imaginative first graders the words 'Art Sub' literally mean an ART SUB! As in ART SUBMARINE!
HA! To them, the information hanging beside the 'art sub' sign had nothing to do with a substitute teacher, rather it was an invitation to take a ride in a submarine filled with art supplies....or into an underwater art gallery....
This year, I took down the sign...because I moved my desk to a new location...but I am going to reinvent its purpose with a lesson plan just for a substitute that embraces the idea of an art submarine!
Before designing a new lesson, I always look around to see if anyone had done it better. I do research in order to find the best approach, especially if I am leaving a lesson for someone else to execute. Here are a few things that might be helpful:
Youtube video with step-by-step instructions on how to draw a simple submarine!
How to draw a submarine video.
Printable submarine coloring page.
Lesson plan with a couple of alternative ideas to drawing the entire submarine.
Adorable submarine collage.
A beautiful flickr image of the Beatles Yellow Submarine album art painting.
Googling 'submarine clip art' will provide tons of easy-to-draw submarines...a handout of the printed results could be very helpful for a substitute to place on each table. Or a poster of the step-by-step video above.
On the wall above his desk, there were 3 white hooks, and hanging from the hooks were clear page protectors, and in each page protector, was a sheet of paper. One sheet was his class schedule, with class rosters just behind that, and one was a set of instructions in case of an emergency, the third contained a lesson plan for the week. Above each hook was a little white rectangle, printed with black lettering, describing what was in each of the page protectors. In the event that he needs a sub on the fly, everything is in plain sigh
What a great idea, I thought to myself. In my experience, notebooks can get overlooked or bogged down with too much information. A hook above the desk, what a novel idea.
So I decided to copy him. I hung some hooks behind my desk. I printed out my schedule, and typed up a note for a substitute. I even made a super cute sign to hang beside the hook so that the sub would surely see the instructions.
After a while, I realized that my desk would never stay as pristinely clean as the coach's...and I also realized that it was really hard to keep a weekly printout of the lesson plans hanging from a hook behind my desk, because I teach 5 grade levels in two buildings...and often I have to put a book with a lesson plan, and the paper/supplies necessary, with everything sticky noted and handouts copied, etc.
So the ART SUB sign stayed up on the wall, but after a year or two, I stopped utilizing it, because it was ineffective for my methods. The poor sign, posted in big bold, black letters advertised nothing more than the fact that I had neglected a great idea....
One day, I overheard a couple of students whispering. They were pointing at the 'Art Sub' sign. "I wonder when we will get to go on the art sub?" "Yeah, I wonder why Mrs. Mitchell has never shown us the art sub?" "I bet its under the school."
Art Sub.
To my imaginative first graders the words 'Art Sub' literally mean an ART SUB! As in ART SUBMARINE!
HA! To them, the information hanging beside the 'art sub' sign had nothing to do with a substitute teacher, rather it was an invitation to take a ride in a submarine filled with art supplies....or into an underwater art gallery....
This year, I took down the sign...because I moved my desk to a new location...but I am going to reinvent its purpose with a lesson plan just for a substitute that embraces the idea of an art submarine!
Before designing a new lesson, I always look around to see if anyone had done it better. I do research in order to find the best approach, especially if I am leaving a lesson for someone else to execute. Here are a few things that might be helpful:
Youtube video with step-by-step instructions on how to draw a simple submarine!
How to draw a submarine video.
Printable submarine coloring page.
Lesson plan with a couple of alternative ideas to drawing the entire submarine.
Adorable submarine collage.
A beautiful flickr image of the Beatles Yellow Submarine album art painting.
Googling 'submarine clip art' will provide tons of easy-to-draw submarines...a handout of the printed results could be very helpful for a substitute to place on each table. Or a poster of the step-by-step video above.
If you are looking to provide a 'teacher' sample, this iStockphoto image might be great to reference.
I'm still tweaking the idea....and I haven't created any teacher samples, but if I were to leave this for a sub, here is the basic lesson plan I would follow. Also, I just made up the silly poem, but feel free to change the words and use it if it works for you.
Step 1: Introduce yourself to the class. Read the following poem and discuss YOUR expectations, by having students list how they should behave in art when Mrs. Mitchell IS here.
Take a ride with me,
On the art submarine.
It will dive down deep, under the sea
I wonder what we will see on the art submarine!?
You must be wondering about Mrs. Mitchell,
I can only tell you that she must be ill
But today is the day
that we will play
With the idea of an art submarine
Just close your eyes, I'm sure you can imagine
A place where anything can happen
The wonderous site that is
A submarine swimming swift
In a rainbow of colors
Full of your friends and others
"You am just a sub," they say,
"Only Mrs. Mitchell can show us the way!"
But class have no fear
the challenge is clear,
Today we must design
(by coloring and drawing with lines)
The most amazing art submarine
that Mrs. Mitchell has ever seen.
Step 2
Ask students: If you were on an ART submarine, diving down under the sea, what might you see down there? (Ex: famous paintings, art supplies, a museum, ocean animals, ocean animals dressed as artists, buried treasure and sculptures, shipwrecks, Mrs. Mitchell scuba diving?)
Step 3
Use the step-by-step drawing guide (or a handout of submarine images) to have students draw an art submarine on 12X18 paper.Students should also draw what they might encounter if it really is an ART submarine.
Students should draw their submarine with pencils, trace over it with sharpies, and then color it with crayons.
Step 1: Introduce yourself to the class. Read the following poem and discuss YOUR expectations, by having students list how they should behave in art when Mrs. Mitchell IS here.
Take a ride with me,
On the art submarine.
It will dive down deep, under the sea
I wonder what we will see on the art submarine!?
You must be wondering about Mrs. Mitchell,
I can only tell you that she must be ill
But today is the day
that we will play
With the idea of an art submarine
Just close your eyes, I'm sure you can imagine
A place where anything can happen
The wonderous site that is
A submarine swimming swift
In a rainbow of colors
Full of your friends and others
"You am just a sub," they say,
"Only Mrs. Mitchell can show us the way!"
But class have no fear
the challenge is clear,
Today we must design
(by coloring and drawing with lines)
The most amazing art submarine
that Mrs. Mitchell has ever seen.
Step 2
Ask students: If you were on an ART submarine, diving down under the sea, what might you see down there? (Ex: famous paintings, art supplies, a museum, ocean animals, ocean animals dressed as artists, buried treasure and sculptures, shipwrecks, Mrs. Mitchell scuba diving?)
Step 3
Use the step-by-step drawing guide (or a handout of submarine images) to have students draw an art submarine on 12X18 paper.Students should also draw what they might encounter if it really is an ART submarine.
Students should draw their submarine with pencils, trace over it with sharpies, and then color it with crayons.
RSS Feed
