I am still not fully recovered from all of the learning, laughing, and dancing while conferencing it up in The Big Easy this past weekend. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun with the more than 4,000 other Art Teachers who headed down South for the 2015 National Art Education Association Conference. 

I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long. 

So, I am breaking it down into five parts, part one can be found here, part two here, part three here, part four here, and the final below:

I have a strange confession. I have only been a member of the National Art Education Association for about half of my teaching career. And even so, I may have even let my membership lapse a time or two along the way. When I started teaching right out of college in 2004, I did not understand why I also needed to be a member of my State and National Art organizations. I figured that I got a job and was competent in what I was doing, so I was set. 

I was wrong. 

Luckily, the friend I mentioned in my post about including first-timers, invited me to become a member when she also invited me to present at my first-ever conference. It was at that time and through the relationships I made as a result, that I found the community I did not even know I was missing and I am so glad I did. MAEA and NAEA offer such awesome support and resources to their membership and I am very proud to not only be a member, but contribute to the organization by actively presenting at conferences. 

You might be like how I was about five years ago. I thought I did not need NAEA or my state organization, either, to be successful in my job. And you might be right. But for me, everything clicked once I started getting involved at the State and National Level, not only presenting, but gobbling up the resources offered to members through PD, reading, and the amazing connections with such talented teachers. It helped give me the resources and confidence I needed to survive three pink slips, the crazy amount of self-doubt, and helped spark the tenacity to try and get my students work out there in competitions, exhibitions, and festivals. 

If I have learned anything from this year's conference or any other since I have been attending, it is that the more you give, the more you get. I know it is cliche, but it also happens to be true. I am so happy I was able to present again this year and hope I can continue to to contribute to this tradition of sharing and learning and bringing Art Education to a higher level for improving all programs. 

Here are some highlights from my time at the sessions this year: 

I love to present. 

It must the be 14 years of dance class in my background, but there is something very comfortable to me about being on stage and performing in some sense. I feel it when I am teaching students and when I get to share with other teachers about what I get to teach my students. It is even better when teachers share back what they have done with what they have learned at my presentations. I was especially taken with Cassie Stephens' shout out earlier this year after she adapted content from one of my most popular presentations "Dancing on Chairs (and other strategies for student success)." 

If you happen to use any of my whacky ideas in your classroom, please share. It makes me and my students happy to know we are not the only crazy ones out there. 

I am also so inspired by many of the ideas and teachers I saw present. I want to thank Peter Curran for introducing me to a new term "traditigital" and affirming what I am already doing with blended learning in my classroom. 

I was also inspired by the group participating in this year's curriculum slam. It was amazing to hear teachers share ideas about failure, exploration, and student centered learning through the promotion of choice and voice in the classroom. I especially enjoyed Steve Ciampaglia's explanation of students creating unwinnable videos, Olivia Gude's impassioned vision of student empowerment in the classroom, and Jake Myers take on video production. It was a great session and one I look forward to attending again next year (maybe I will even apply to be in it)! 

And finally, it would not be a complete conference without some great stuff to take home. Thanks again to Kimberly Cairy, September Buys, and the rest of the Middle Level group for organizing great give-aways like the one below. This combined with all of the loot given away from vendors in the exhibition hall was awesome and I am excited to share these goodies with my kiddos in the classroom as we finish the year out strong! 

If you were like me about five years ago and need an invitation to start getting involved, consider this it.  I ask for you to do so selfishly because the more teachers like you that get involved and share and present and post their ideas, the more I get to learn and become better, too! 

I hope my five-part series of #NAEA15 in NOLA was as fun to follow as it was to share. I hope you will all join me in #NAEA16 in Chicago for more dancing! 

Until then, see ya on the internets.

I am still not fully recovered from all of the learning, laughing, and dancing while conferencing it up in The Big Easy this past weekend. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun with the more than 4,000 other Art Teachers who headed down South for the 2015 National Art Education Association Conference. 

I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long. 

So, I am breaking it down into five parts, part one can be found here, part two here, part threehere, and here is part four:

This is the first year I gave myself permission to skip some of the sessions and venture into the city for small adventures. This included finding a Banksy, cementing my reputation as the ultimate speed walker, admiring artists with their art in Jackson square, exploring the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and being inspired by the sights, sounds, and smells along the way. 

Even though I was not in a room listening to a speaker, I learned so many things during these times away from the conference and look forward to introducing my students to the new artists, ideas, and concepts conceived as I wound my way through the city in search of sights and sounds I can't find anywhere other than NOLA. 

Luckily my #artsedpln was just as interested in finding a Banksy as I was. We walked together (maybe a little too much and a little too fast) during a two hour gap in our day. It was interesting to finally get to the piece to see it was tagged. We tried to find another one what had been located close by, but it tuns out it was already painted over. That is the breaks when you are dealing with street art. If you want to go on your own Banksy adventure while in NOLA, check out this Google Map to help locate pieces. I want to thank Chris, Donna, Holly, Stacy, and Tim for venturing out to see this with me! 

One of my goals at this conference was to visit a museum. Luckily, I was not the only one. My sister and I went to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art after I heard Craig Roland recommend it at the #artsedpln meet-up. I am so glad I was able to check out the unique collection and I am so inspired to take these artists' works back to my students. 

I was particularly taken with Jim Roche's variety of works and Benny Andrews mixed media paintings. I am not sure I would have been exposed to these artists had I not left the convention center. Now, I am thinking on how I can use the symmetry seen in Roche's work when we create things like this or how we might incorporate fabric and clothing in painting or mixed media like Andrews. 

You can see more of the museum below: 

One of my favorite parts of the conference was when I crossed paths with two other art teachers (Matt and Craig) on the way back to the airport at 4 a.m., well after the conference officially concluded. When checking out of the hotel, we realized we were all headed in the same direction, so we split a cab. As we talked about our schools, students, and sessions, we also realized we shared the same flight. 

Our conversations about curriculum continued all the way up until we boarded our flight, proving that PD can happen anywhere. They shared their conference presentation and I shared mine. I learned about a free digital painting tool called Alchemy. I was so impressed with the work their students, I made sure to grab their information so I could share it with my students, too! If you are interested in seeing more student work like the image in my above tweet, check out Matt and Craig's website. They are both dynamic teachers whose students are lucky to have them in the classroom! 

I am still not fully recovered from all of the learning, laughing, and dancing while conferencing it up in The Big Easy this past weekend. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun with the more than 4,000 other Art Teachers who headed down South for the 2015 National Art Education Association Conference. 

I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long. 

So, I am breaking it down into five parts, part one can be found here, part two here, and here is the third: 

Every conference I attend offers something that I can bring back to my classroom and help improve learning for my students. There is something extra special about the National Art Education Association Convention, though. It is so strategically placed in lively cities where visuals grab a hold of me constantly, leaving me wondering how I might adapt them in my classes. They also somehow manage to bottle that energy inside the convention in the excitement and delight that is the exhibit hall of vendors! 

I was particularly captivated by one group in the exhibit hall this year: Ymm Art Education

The picture above is from their booth. If you did not get a chance to see their combination of large sculpture, small installations, and fashion design, you missed out on an opportunity to be blown away with the attention to detail and beautiful craft. They start offering fashion design courses to students as young as 6 years old, and continue offering programming through the age of 18. It was incredibly inspirational to see the work from students and hear from their leadership; it made me rethink some of the ways I could bring this back to my own classroom and how we consider the way art is offered to our youngest of students. 

I would never think to start fashion design with such young ones, but now that I have seen what is possible, I wonder why I would ever deny a child this type of expressive opportunity at any age! Conferences like this one push my thinking and help me reconsider notions I have about art, education, and what it can look like in any classroom. I have already started talking with the STEM teacher on how we can collaborate on a large sculpture and an architecture unit based on the work I saw there.

In addition to having a great time with the other vendors and getting my super cool Artsonia shirt, I also ventured out into the city with my #artsedpln (which I will talk about in part 4 of my #NAEA in NOLA series). There was so much to do and see and I am so excited to share all of it with my students in hopes they will be as inspired as I am by all of the things I witnessed. 

Check out some additional images below:

I am still not fully recovered from all of the learning, laughing, and dancing while conferencing it up in The Big Easy this past weekend. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun with the more than 4,000 other Art Teachers who headed down South for the 2015 National Art Education Association Conference. 

I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long. 

So, I am breaking it down into five parts, part one can be found here and this is the second: 

My first conference was three years ago in Fort Worth, TX. I went by myself at the urging of my #artsedpln. I had such a great time that I have made it a mission to try and get others who have never been to the National Conference to come along with. It was so much fun to spend time with my long-time friend (who I convinced to come with me last year) and my forever friend (sister, who I convinced to come a few months ago) this year, taking goofy pictures as we crossed the city.

Remember what it was like when you first went to a NAEA Conference? When you bring someone along with you for the first time, you get to experience what it was like to be overwhelmed with all of the awesomeness and help them navigate their way through vendors, sessions, and making time for moments outside of the convention center. Think about who you might want to urge to attend the 2016 conference and start making plans on how you can make it happen! 

We are already making plans to attend next year and who we will convince to come along with us in Chicago! 

I am still not fully recovered from all of the learning, laughing, and dancing while conferencing it up in The Big Easy this past weekend. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun with the more than 4,000 other Art Teachers who headed down South for the 2015 National Art Education Association Conference. 

I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long. 

So, I am breaking it down into five parts and here is the first: 

My world of PD and connecting with other educators opened up when I joined various social media sites over the past decade. We share ideas, take away resources, and learn along side each other on Facebook and Twitter every day. It is so awesome to have some time at the conference to be with these people in person and actually talk about our passions for art, education, technology, and what we do to help our students be successful. If you would like to join in the fun, just jump online and seek us out - the more the merrier! 

I want to thank Craig Roland and Davis Publications for helping foster a meet-up at this year's conference so we could have time to connect, share, and put faces to Twitter handles! 

We also got a chance to hang out at dinner, where we shared stories from our classrooms and new ideas from the conference. Thanks again, Holly, for organizing this evening out! 

Some of the #artsedpln joined in on the fun from miles and miles away... If you want to hear some great advice about decompressing after a conference, check out Ted's blog. 

Hard to believe that by this time next week, #NAEA15 will be over and we will all be heading back to our classrooms after experiencing big fun in the Big Easy! I am extremely excited to attend again this year and learn, share, and dance with all of my art teacher friends! 

If you are interested in dancing along side me, check out when below: 

12:30 PM - 1:50 PM: Middle Level Division Awards: Celebrating and Connecting
Award Function / Convention Center / Meeting Room R05/Second Level
I am going to give a little presentation titled "Hedgehogs, BHAGs, and Purple Cows: Turning the Flywheel to Your Best Year Ever" as I get recognized as the NAEA Western Region Middle Level Educator of the Year. 


4:30 – 5:50 PM: Conversations with Colleagues 
Convention Center/Meeting Room R05/Second Level
(Attendees attend 2 out of the 4 sessions within the time frame)
1 | Nikki Kalcevic: | TAB / Choice Based Art Overview 
2 | David Watt, 8th grade science and Sarah Goodall, Art: Integrative STEAM Design: A Four Year Journey
3 | Pamelia Valentine: SLICK & QUICK! Implementing the National Standards in a REAL Classroom
4 | Janine Campbell: Navigating the Digital/Traditional Continuum through Technology Integration

1:00 – 1:50 PM: TEAM Middle
Convention Center/ Meeting Room 205
Stacy Lord, Holly Bess Kincaid, Theresa McGee, and I will share how we work our magic in the middle level art room to provide quality instruction to students with great results! 
** I plan to share how I use technology to blend learning with Schoology and Artsonia, how I incorporate writing and assessment in classroom practice, and how my classroom has transformed into a space of working Artists through the incorporation of TAB methodologies.  

11:00 – 11:25 PM: Dancing on Chairs
Clay on the first day of school? Of Course! Dancing on chairs to learn vocabulary? Why not! Students evaluating teachers? Definitely! These are just a few strategies to help foster a caring and creative environment that allows for students to be silly and have a say in their learning. In this session, participants will walk away with resources and ideas to design enduring and engaging experiences. Lesson plans, examples, and dancing will be shared in this action-packed session designed for all! (This is a repeat of last year's packed presentation with some fun updates for all!)

I had quite an end to my week, as we wrapped up a major community project at my school and I rushed to Detroit to learn and share for the 2015 MACUL conference. 

I love March. Basketball is all the buzz, Youth Arts Month is being celebrated, and it is major conference season. One of the conferences I have made a habit of participating in is MACUL. I started going about six or seven years ago and it opened my eyes to the potential of technology integration in my classroom and in turn, opened many doors for my students and myself to learn, grow, and share. 

This year was no different. Although I was only able to be at MACUL for one day, I connected with a lot of great people, learned some great new things I hope to use in my classroom, and shared some ideas that I hope open some doors for others as they return to their districts and classrooms. 

In my first presentation, I shared how I use various tools like CheckThis, Schoology, LiveBinders, Camtasia, Artsonia, and PBS LearningMedia to Flip, Blend, and Remix my classroom. It was fun to get everyone up and dancing to start (thanks again for playing along, even at 8:30 in the morning) and then get down to how we can rethink our classrooms to engage students in content that allows them to work at their own pace and share their voice with others in authentic ways. If you were unable to make my presentation, please check it out below: 

I also was able to learn about some great tools and take away key ideas that I know will help me improve my classroom craft. 

One session I attended was about Sketchnotes, with Karen Bosch. I have had the pleasure to get to know Karen online for the past few years and I was really excited to hear her talk about her process of creating images like the one below of the MACUL closing keynote: 

Karen was so generous with explaining her process, sharing her resources, and inspiring so many to take a hold of that pen and doodle their way to understanding! I am so glad I finally got to hear her present! 

The other presentation that really got me thinking was given by a fellow Art teacher, D'Andra Clark and her colleague, Steve Weller, who co-created a course that delves into using the Design Thinking Process to explore computer technologies. 

They did a great job offering their take on Design Thinking using the DICE model (Design, Ideate, Create, Evaluate) and giving specific examples of both the success and failure they experienced as they ventured on this new journey together. They were genuine and sincere in their presentation and really have me excited to get to work with my STEM counterpart on how we can incorporate some of these ideas in our curriculum. 

I feel honored to be a part of the Lightning Talks this year and sharing how we use clay on the first day to get students going for the school year. It was fun to share what makes me passionate about my work and hear the other speakers share their passion for teaching, learning, and big ideas. 

Although I had a shortened time at MACUL this year, it was still as impactful and I am ready to implement new concepts in my classroom. I also enjoyed spending some time in Detroit at the Detroit Institute of Arts exploring the special exhibit of work by Diego Rivera and Frida Khalo and the stunning views from my room. 

From an early age, I have been taught to categorize things. I learned to sort colors, shapes, notice similarities and differences, identify qualities and characteristics - it is something I still do on a daily basis and helps me perform my job, which is highly reliant on this ability. It also helps me make sense of the world in which I live. 

Although this skill is essential, it is one that can sometimes limit me. Especially when I start to think about what I do. 

I wrote about this back on this post a while back about the labels that we might associate with teachers based on the content they teach using The Breakfast Club as a reference. I was inspired by Andy Losik's opening keynote at the Jackson County ISD Unconference (which is happening again this year on April 18th). As I reflect on it now, I think the same goes not just for the content teachers teach, but also how they teach it. 

As I scroll through various Social Media sites, I come across teachers who will say - "My classroom is blended" or "My classroom is flipped" or "My classroom is PBL" or "My classroom is TAB" or "My classroom is Choice Based" or "My classroom is Student Centered" or "My classroom is Modified Choice" or "My classroom is DBAE" or... there are so many variations, that the list can go on and on. 

I have claimed several of these labels for myself over the years as well as different variations of them. After several conversations with other teachers and a real review over my work this semester and the work of my students, I have decided that I am not only one of those labels listed above. 

Just like the end of The Breakfast Club, I am finding that it is not as simple as a singular label. I can find things I identify within my classroom as a little bit of each of the classroom models. Sometimes I feel comfortable enough to put my students in complete control, other times they follow directed instruction, and then there are the times when I have lost my voice and I let the video I posted to Schoology take my place. This ability to be flexible is something I rely on and if I placed myself in the container of just one way of doing things I would trap myself and limit what is possible.

It is hard sometimes to let go of labels because they help sort and organize life and what I do within it, but it is also too confining to prescribe just one of those methodologies to my classroom and expect it to work each time. 

I know what works for me. If I could give my classroom a label, I really am not sure what I would call it. Maybe Flexible Learning (FL)? Do you have any good ideas on how you might label your classroom?

This school year has been an adventure. I moved to a new LMS, changed my curriculum, and have learned a lot along the way. In some ways I feel like I am at the top of my craft, in other ways I feel like I am a first year teacher again. The self-doubt and questioning creeps in as second semester is around the corner and I have to take a moment to regroup before I can move forward with a new batch of kids.

The one thing that has been churning in my brain as I reflect on these changes and is something I suspect happens with a lot of teachers: the want, no more like the need, to be better. 

This can manifest in a lot of different ways. It can show up as a Green Eyed Troll (GET), coveting what others have and tearing them down with snarky remarks or quick judgements; it can turn into a pity party that is demoralizing and often debilitating; or it can morph into something positive. I am not going to claim that I haven't looked at what other teachers are doing and have that nagging voice from the corner of my mind telling me that I should have thought of that first - or worse - they did that so much better than I did. It happens. I give myself a second to dwell, take a deep breath, and then push forward. Wasting time worrying about what other teachers are teaching in their classroom does not make me a better teacher in my own classroom.

It can be easy to forget that this is not a competition of what classroom is the best or which teacher has it right (because there is no such thing). We are all working towards the goal of learning for our students and I would guess most every teacher out there is trying different methods to reach their learners and propel them towards success. Some things work, others don't, and a lot of it can be in flux depending on the climate of the classroom and make-up of the learners. To be jealous of that, or make yourself sick thinking you are not doing enough is counterproductive and will not get you or your students where you need to go. 

I am excited that I work in a profession where I am learning things all of the time. I am motivated by those who push my thinking and inspire me to try new methods and reach all of my students. I feel so proud of the recent accomplishments my students have made and continue to make. 

But even with all of that, I know I am not done being better than myself. 

About two or three years ago, maybe it was when I hit my 30s, I realized something really important that has changed the way I view the passing of time. Every year is the best one ever. 

Too often I will hear people around me reminisce about the "good ol' days" of yesteryear. I have been guilty in getting caught up in that, too. I think back to when I was younger, thinner, had more of this supply or that resource. But the thing is that even at that time, I would or could have thought of a better moment earlier in time to be all nostalgic over. The truth is the good ol' days are now. When you get caught up in thinking about what you may have lost or what has passed you by, you miss out on how great things can be in this moment. It is almost the reverse philosophy of the main character in Office Space, who hates his job and explains how every day is the worst day ever. It took me about 30 years of living to figure it out, but now that I do I try to apply that frame of mind to whatever I am doing (whether it is hiking a new trail or trying a new teaching method in my classroom). I cannot promise I will not look through my old scrapbooks and think fondly of the past (because I do that all of the time); I just try and put it into perspective, understanding that right now is pretty dang amazing, too.

In order to make every year the best year ever, here are some key things I try to consider. 1. Green-eyed trolls get you no where. 2. The more lines in the pond, the better chance you have to catch something, 3. Intent is everything. 

2014 was amazing. I hiked in Tennessee, Alaska, and around Michigan with my loving husband; I presented in Michigan to Art and general education teachers at five different events and traveled to San Diego to present to Art teachers at the National level; I had students win local, State, and National competitions and brought in over $2500 in extra funding for my classroom; I was named a PBS Digital Innovator and MAEA Middle Level Educator of the Year. I enjoyed countless snuggles with my kitties on the couch. It was a banner year. 

But I think 2015 is going to be even better.