Surprising aftermath of NBCT status.

I knew it was a hard thing to do.  I mean, I went through the process, wrote all the papers, did the video-taping, took the three-hour sit down test where they took my fingerprints to make sure that I was who I really said I was...

But I was still surprised when I was invited to a school board meeting to be presented with a proclamation from the school board in January.  It was a really nice presentation - the superintendent even read sections from our original job applications way back when we were originally hired by the district!  It was really cute, actually.  Mr. Leban and my mom also came to clap and smile when I went up to stand in front of everyone.

Then I received an invitation (see above) to a special ceremony from DuPage County regional board of education office.  Wow.  Even more surprised.  Unfortunately, I was unable to go (among other things, we had art club that day!), but Mrs. Steahly was able to go.  She also was granted National Board Certification this year, for math.  In fact, the other teachers from our district that earned their NBCT status were math teachers too!  They joked that I could be an honorary math teacher.

Then on Saturday I received this in the mail at my house!  It's from State Representative Sandra Pihos and the Illinois House of Representatives congratulating me on becoming a NBCT.  Wow!

So, I know it was a big deal.  But I didn't realize how much of a big deal it was.  Yayy me!

Last Day Scramble

Today is the last day of the term for 6th & 7th grade classes.  It's always a bit of a scramble, trying to turn in missing assignments, finish projects, clean out drawers, catch up absent students, write notes to those that are still absent, and entertain the early finishers that have "nothing to do."

Oh yeah, and all of this gets done while trying to plan for the new groups walking through the door on Monday!  Phew!  It's busy!

In seventh grade, we're especially "scrambled" because we lost two days of class due to the heavy snow.  I told them to finish their portraits as much as they could, and if they DID finish, they could paint their clay cupcakes.  I love the cupcake project, so it breaks my heart a little to have to send them home sans paint.  But there's not much I can do.  Students are free to take paint home to finish off their tiny sculptures for themselves if they like.  I've also found that two layers of watercolor work quite well as a clay finish.  Here are some examples of pieces I painted with watercolor:

There were several students who DID manage to complete their clay cupcake and have it photographed.  Here's a preview:

Wow!  I hope that you are as impressed as I am by these awesome ideas!

Pet Portraits

 

Please excuse my poor cell phone photos, but these drawings were too cute to wait for Artsonia to upload!  Seventh grade students just completed a sketchbook drawing assignment where they had to draw a portrait of their pet, or, the pet that they wish that they had.  Our focus was all about visual texture: to try to show the viewer what their pet feels like.  These are just some of the particularly awesome examples I was grading tonight!  I love when I get a whole batch of really great drawings turned in!

To The Post Office!

I stopped by the post office today on my way home, and mailed our "Doodle for Google" contest entries!  I also uploaded photos of the entries on our Artsonia gallery.  They're not officially up as of right now, but by tomorrow the gallery should be available for viewing.  Wish us luck!

Graffiti Creator

I had a ton of fun yesterday messing around with the Graffiti Creator website.  I'm going to try to make a sign for outside the art room.  I know a few seventh grade boys have been having a lot of fun drawing in a graffiti style, so this website seems like it'd be right up a middle school student's alley!