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The Cracker Box Sketchbook

Friday, July 24, 2020

The quote, “A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty” is often attributed to Winston Churchill. Whether Churchill said it or not, ...

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Davis Desk

Call to Artists—Submit Your Art for an Online Gallery Show

Friday, July 10, 2020 | Barbara Place

In these days of COVID-19, the digital community is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. We teach online, we learn online, and we visit family members online. We even have doctors&rsq ...

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Article

Choice-Based Self-Portraits

Monday, May 4, 2020

I’ve been teaching students how to draw using a grid for years. Before the current digital age, I showed students how to create a grid on a page protector using a permanent marker so that when t ...

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Davis Desk

Best Practices for Teaching Art Online

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | Barbara Place

Teaching online is a challenge that educators across the country are learning to address. To support the unique needs of art educators, Davis has created a handout, “Best Practices for Teaching ...

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Article

Set into Motion

Thursday, April 2, 2020

I presented my students with a challenge to create an engaging sculpture that possesses a sense of movement and harmony, using a variety of materials such as metal, recycled plastics, cardboard, beads ...

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Article

Issue-Based Stencils

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Building relationships is important to me as an art teacher because of the diverse population of eighth-grade students I teach. Forming these relationships has provided me with an understanding and fi ...

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Article

Magnificent Marbling

Friday, February 7, 2020

Wow!” “That’s so cool!” “Can I do another one?” These are some of the comments I frequently hear when paper marbling with my middleschool students. It’s a fun ...

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Article

Fabulous Accessories

Monday, January 6, 2020

I always look for strange and unusual art to share with my middle-school students—they love all that is peculiar. For this lesson, I shared designs by Fred Butler, a London-based designer who cr ...

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Article

The Power of Vulnerability

Friday, December 6, 2019 | Danielle McDonald

Middle school is an uncertain place. Our students are moving through significant physical, emotional, and social changes that leave them trying to figure out who they are and how they want to be. Empa ...

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Article

Pyramid Assemblages

Friday, November 8, 2019

Right outside the windows of my artroom is the sculpture Visual Dialogue (1982) by Lynda Rockwood. In Washington State, public art is supported by the state arts commission by a policy to foster cultu ...

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Davis Desk

4 Ways to Build Your Own Community

Thursday, October 31, 2019 | Toni Henneman

We all know being an art teacher can be isolating. This makes collaboration even more difficult than it naturally is. ...

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Davis Desk

3 Ways to Foster Collaboration

Friday, October 25, 2019 | Barbara Place

Why do we care about collaboration? Because we know that we learn through interactions with others. ...

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Article

Weaving Nature into the Art Room

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

There is a Lakota proverb that states, “When man moves away from nature, his heart becomes hard.” That said, the more we are drawn to nature, the more our sense of wonder flourishes. When ...

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Davis Desk

The 2019 Art Education Catalog is here!

Tuesday, September 17, 2019 | Barbara Place

You’ll love what’s in store for you this year in the Fall Catalog! We are introducing some of our most innovative titles and offerings. The new 2019–2020 Catalog is packed with excit ...

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Article

Boxed Mythology

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

I collaborated with my student Sarah Oschmann, who wrote most of this article. This lesson, inspired by artist Joseph Cornell, is rooted in the theme of mythology. Students were required to dive deep ...

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Article

Reflections on the Future

Friday, August 2, 2019

How do our thoughts about the past or the future shape our present lives? How can our hopes and dreams cause us to reach toward our best selves? These were the questions I asked myself in designing th ...

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Blogs

Middle School

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The Cracker Box Sketchbook

Call to Artists—Submit Your Art for an Online Gallery Show

Choice-Based Self-Portraits

Best Practices for Teaching Art Online

Set into Motion

Issue-Based Stencils

Magnificent Marbling

Fabulous Accessories

The Power of Vulnerability

Pyramid Assemblages

4 Ways to Build Your Own Community

3 Ways to Foster Collaboration

Weaving Nature into the Art Room

The 2019 Art Education Catalog is here!

Boxed Mythology

Reflections on the Future

Topics

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Most Popular

Tags

Always Stay in the Loop