mrs. leban's art blog

Break Time...

2012-01-18T13:57:00.000-06:00

Hi guys - just a quick check-in... I'm at home on bed rest until the baby arrives, under orders from my doctor. I have high blood pressure, and have to (pretty much) sit and do nothing until the baby is ready to arrive. My due date is January 23rd. Today is the 18th. Hopefully, the next time you hear from me is after the baby is here! In the meantime, enjoy your maternity sub, Ms. Marotta.

So, I'm having a baby...

2011-12-02T15:49:00.001-06:00

In case you haven't heard, I'm about 7 months pregnant right now. It doesn't have a lot to do with school at first glance... but in reality, it's a pretty major impact to our everyday lives here in the art room. First of all, I guess I never really TRULY realized what a physically demanding job it is to be an art teacher! I'm on my feet a LOT. I crawl on the floor. I lean over and use

Milwaukee Art Museum

2011-11-21T15:39:00.001-06:00

Disclaimer: I'm totally ripping off Mr. Leban's post about our family field trip to the Milwaukee art museum. Want proof? Visit his page at www.mrleban.com or the original post here. Here's a collection of 12 photos Mr. Leban put together from the trip that he and I made to the Milwuakee Art Museum several weeks back. The architecture of the building is amazing. We even had the opportunity

Functional Glazed Mugs by Eighth Grade

2011-10-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

In Eighth grade this year, we made mugs - functional mugs that can be used to actually drink out of here at school! The idea is that students can use them in their Language Arts classes during SSR (sustained silent reading) in the library while they drink hot chocolate. This is a tradition that's gone on in our school for several years now, but typically with styrofoam cups or store-bought

FREE Mask-Making Workshop for students!

2011-09-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Leban is looking for talented artists interested in creating decorative masks out of plaster after school. These masks will be donated to the District 205 Foundation and used as decorations for their Midnight Masquerade fundraiser on October 22nd.The Sandburg art room has benefitted from several District Foundation grants – the most recent being this year’s new SMARTboard and set of 3 iPads

Masterpiece Me!

2011-09-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

Last week, I gave the art room iPads to a few eighth grade students who finished their work early. One of the apps we had a ton of fun playing with is called "Masterpiece Me!" and you get to put your photo into a famous work of art! Here's a little gallery of some of the photos that were made: Can you spot Mr. Leban as the Mona Lisa in the photos above?

Fun with Manga

2011-09-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

My brother's girlfriend drew a portrait of me Manga-style. I think it makes me look much younger and prettier than in real life! I wonder if I could convince the yearbook staff to make it my yearbook picture this year... ?!!! Ha ha!

PTA Reflections Program

2011-09-16T18:58:00.000-05:00

Hello! It's that time of year again - the PTA Reflections Program is in full swing! Time to show off YOUR talent in the arts. This year's theme is "Diversity Means." There are a variety of ways to show off your skills! Visual Arts Photography Literature Musical Composition Film Production Dance Choreography Entries are due in the main office at Sandburg by October 21st. You may obtain

Art Makes Any Classroom Nicer!

2011-09-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

Mr. Burgett, our Industrial Technology teacher, hung up some Pop Art prints made by art students a few years ago. We studied hand tools, and drew them up close before making foam printing plates and printing our images in bright colors. One of each print was saved and given to Mr. Burgett (you know, since they work with hand tools in that class and all...). I love how the images make

The first firing of the school year.

2011-09-07T16:06:00.000-05:00

Seventh and eighth grade students are nearing the completion of their first clay constructions of the year, which means it's time for the first firing of the year! Seventh grade is working on tiny clay cupcake sculptures that double as keepsake boxes. This is a project we did in seventh grade last year, too. Eighth grade is completing an entirely NEW project. They're making

Art Room 2011-2012!

2011-09-02T18:20:00.001-05:00

For my first full "official" post this year, I thought I'd do a little photo update of the art room to show you how it's laid out, and what's new... Above is an overview/wider shot from the back of the room (by my desk) to the front. My screen (which is now a SMARTboard!) has been relocated to an actual wall where we can walk up to it. Last year, the screen was in front of the windows on

Welcome Back!

2011-08-21T12:02:00.001-05:00

It's a new school year! I usually take a break from the blog over the summer, so don't worry that I haven't posted since last June. I have about a zillion new ideas for this school year, plus I'm trying to do it all while being pregnant! Mr. Leban and I are expecting our first baby this January, so this year will be an EXTRA adventure! This year, we have a SMARTboard in our classroom. We'll

Super Cool Mouse

2011-06-02T09:13:00.001-05:00

The other day I was walking out of school and spotted this awesome little mouse running around in the wood chips. He wasn't even afraid of me! I was actually able to get close enough to snap this picture, and take this short video, in which you can see him helping us out by eating up the dandelions!

Sandburg at 60!

2011-05-31T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'd like to thank everyone involved with this year's end-of-year art exhibition and birthday celebration for Sandburg's 60th! Special thanks to everyone (students, families, friends, faculty, staff, and community members) who attended the event! Unfortunately, my photographer never showed up, so all I had was my camera phone to snap a few quick shots. If you have any photos from the event,

Graduation Program Design Contest

2011-05-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Maria, the winner of our 8th grade Graduation Program Cover Design contest! All 8th grade students are welcome to submit designs, and I choose the finalists. The winner is chosen by vote from the 8th grade teachers. This year, there were eight finalists. You can see all of the finalists' designs on our Artsonia gallery. CONGRATULATIONS MARIA!!!

Please come to our art show!

2011-05-20T13:29:00.000-05:00

"Sandburg at 60" is this year's culminating fine arts event, with dual purposes: To celebrate the 60th birthday of Sandburg Middle School To showcase student achievement and talent in the fine arts Please come if you can! Students, families, community members, and alumni are all welcome! There will be refreshments, art demonstrations, face painting, a community mural that you can

"Art of the Surreal" Contest

2011-05-10T11:45:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Bensfield forwarded me this contest opportunity, and it sounded really fun. Unfortunately, it's for ages 13 and up, so if you're under the age minimum, maybe you could pass this on to a friend or sibling! I'd love to win a cool contest like this! Vogue "Art of the Surreal" Contest You must upload a photo of an original t-shirt graphic, using the surrealistic art style as inspiration (

iPod Evolution

2011-05-06T09:01:00.001-05:00

Mr. Leban had an idea the other day to line up our iPods, all in a row, and to photograph them. It's so interesting to see how the iPod has evolved, and to remember when we owned them, and why they were replaced... When I use my iPod mini (yes, it still works and I still use it!) in my classroom, the students laugh at it and call it an antique! The black and white screen, the heavy metal

Clay Days!

2011-05-03T09:01:00.024-05:00

This week and last week, we had pottery wheel days in 8th grade. We had to work in shifts, since we only have 8 wheels total, but each student gets to have a whole class period to work on the wheel. Working on the pottery wheel is hard! I tell students that it's okay to NOT end up with a finished pot! If they end up making a little something, that's fine, but it's not a requirement. I am

A Present!

2011-05-02T10:47:00.000-05:00

Maria, one of my 6th graders, surprised me last week with a belated birthday present. A Where The Wild Things Are tote bag! How awesome! I told her that I'd have to use it when I wear my t-shirt that has a picture of Max on it that says "I have a WILD imagination!" It's so sweet that students remember my birthday, and that someone found such a cute little gift to match the theme of our 6th

Technology Updates

2011-04-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'd like to share a few quick updates with all of you. The first is that I changed (updated?) my Twitter name from "msmillerleban" to "mrsleban." I've been married almost two years now, so I figure most of my students are probably more familiar with me as Mrs. Leban instead of Ms. Miller. So if you already follow me and noticed this, that's why. On the flip side, maybe you're looking for me

Elementary Art Visit

2011-04-26T10:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning, I visited Mr. Wesseler's art room at Hawthorne Elementary in Elmhurst. He uses a lot of technology in his classroom (like an iPad, which I'm getting soon!), so I wanted to see how he does it. Here's his room. Actually, it's only the main part! There's a special room just for clay off of the main room. Then, off to the left in this photo (above) is a doorway to an outdoor

Need washing advice...

2011-04-25T09:01:00.006-05:00

Here's a photo of my backyard fence on Sunday afternoon. I spent the warm-ish weather (on Easter Sunday, mind you!) out on the driveway, hosing down old towels from the pottery wheels that were caked in clay. I was too worried to put them in the washing machine as-is, for fear that I'd clog up the plumbing. Are there any art teachers (or expert clothes-washers) out there with good ideas or

Happy Birthday Mr. Leban!!!

2011-04-21T08:04:00.000-05:00

It's Mr. Leban's birthday today! Wish him a happy birthday over on twitter and he'll get your message directly. Unfortunately, it's a teacher institute day at his school, so he won't get the joy of having students sing to him or embarrass him with guesses about how old they think he is all day long! ha ha!

Tagxedo

2011-04-20T10:17:00.000-05:00

Tagxedo is, in my opinion, a souped-up version of Wordle. It takes words from pretty much anything (rss feeds, twitter, famous speeches, urls, etc) and turns them into word "clouds" with more frequently used words showing up larger. Tagxedo is cool because you can change most of the options, including the shape of the final cloud! Here, I made a Tagxedo from the Sandburg Art Blog: Aww, I

Help fund our Donors Choose project!

2011-04-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

While I was fortunate enough to benefit from Mrs. Bensfield's "Crochet Coral Reef" Donors Choose project, I've never actually tried to fund my own Donors Choose proposal... until now. I've been researching wireless graphics tablets for a while now, and my original plan was to go out and buy one for the art room, probably with my own money, to use for presenting information to class, but also to

Sandburg at 60!

2011-04-18T21:10:00.000-05:00

Guess what's coming up? Sandburg Middle School is turning 60! We're hosting a big community-wide celebration in honor of this milestone. There will be a performance by the band, choir, and orchestra. A school-wide art show with artwork from every student in art classes this year will be on display. There will be cake, face-painting, and art activities to participate in! This is a preview

Hooray! I won stuff!

2011-04-13T15:08:00.000-05:00

Exciting news! Today I was visited by members of the Elmhurst 205 Foundation, and they awarded me with a super amazing huge grant! I wrote a grant for a SMART Board and three iPads to use in the art room, and I was so happy and excited to find out that I had won! It felt like winning the lottery! I had almost forgotten about writing the grant, since it was way back in December. My sixth

another reason to love teaching art

2011-04-12T18:51:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while I'm grading papers, head down, chugging away at my work... not much going on. Then it happens. I spot something on a student artwork that makes me smile and giggle. I can't help but have to share it with others. This is one of those instances. I was grading the sixth grade "Where the Wild Things Are" paintings and I spotted this crazy little guy cannon-balling off of a

Enlarging a Photo

2011-04-07T10:39:00.000-05:00

In seventh grade art, we paint monochromatic portraits of ourselves. To ease our self-consciousness over making ourselves "look good," we work from photos that we trace and enlarge onto large paper. First, I take digital photos of the students (usually out in the hallway with a brick background), and we alter them using Adobe Photoshop. The software allows us to transform our color photos to

a referendum tomorrow in Oak Park.

2011-04-04T08:11:00.000-05:00

My husband Mr. Leban, was in the newspaper over break to talk about the art program at his school. It comes right before the big vote tomorrow in Oak Park that will decide (among other things) if he gets to keep his job or not, and if their district will continue having art class at all for elementary students. You can read the full article at the Oak Park Wednesday Journal website. Please

Student Art Show!

2011-03-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

Today was the artist's reception for the Elmhurst Art Museum K-8 Art Exhibition. We had lots of parents and families that came to see the artwork! Check out these crowds! I approve of this artwork! Thanks to Ms. Liang, the art teacher from Bryan, for taking this photo of me. More of our awesome student art on display. Above, these are a couple of our star lanterns from 8th grade

Plaster Hands

2011-03-23T13:43:00.000-05:00

Eighth grade students recently completed a plaster sculpture unit where they used their hands as molds to wrap plaster to form a cast. They then had to use their plaster cast as part of a sculpture with a theme. The pose of the hand, paint colors chosen, and additional items added (including the base) all had to tie in to the student's chosen theme. The final part of this project was a

Paper Sculpture

2011-03-22T12:28:00.000-05:00

Each quarter, eighth grade sculpture students complete a unit on paper sculpture. This quarter, we were short on time, so our traditional "star lantern" project has been replaced by an online paper sculpture project. It's really fun - the site we're using is called Papercritters - and on this site, students get to design their own cube-like character to be printed out and folded into the final

My Weekend Trip to the Comic Convention!

2011-03-21T08:13:00.025-05:00

Over the weekend, Mr. Leban and I went to the C2E2 comic convention. I'd never been to one before, and it was super fun. Uglydolls had a booth there! I pretty much chased down Ice Bat to get a photo with him. I was pretty excited. We saw artist Eric Maruscak drawing a gigantic chalk comic portrait using a grid drawing method. If you look to his left, you can see that he has a printout

We're in the news!

2011-03-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

Sandburg Art is in the local newspaper! A reporter from the TribLocal Elmhurst came and took photos of our "Crochet Coral Reef" club last week and asked us some questions about the project. The article first showed up on the internet on the TribLocal Elmhurst website. There's also a photo gallery of us and our crochet pieces! Today, Mr. Dahlman chased me down in the hallway to give me a copy

Obama asks for respect for our Nation's teachers.

2011-03-16T08:20:00.000-05:00