No Artist Trading Card Swap

Well... here we are in August when I am typically telling everyone how to sign up for the MiniMatisse Artist Trading Card Swap. Last year, my 5th annual #ATCswap almost didn't happen. I just barely got the cards sent out before my school went into lockdown. Many participants received their cards after the lockdown. Their students never got the cards.  The good news is, you have cards to trade with your students this year (I guess that is the silver lining). 

Anyway, there is way too much uncertainty this year. I don't even know what the expectations of teaching are for my classroom so I have no idea if I'll be able to participate in the swap. I created a Google Form that several teachers filled out and on Friday, August 21st I email anyone on the form list. This allowed interested teachers to contact one another and set up a swap between individuals 

You can watch on Instagram as people start trading. Watch the tag #ATCswap and I will be sharing anything that I'm tagged in as well. 

5th Annual, MiniMatisse Global Artist Trading Card Swap Sing up today!

Update!!

There is was... a total of 12 hours and our 100+ schools have signed up.

I'm sorry... the 5th Annual ATCswap for 2020 is now closed.

Today is the day!

First, check out my previous post about ATC's and the 5th annual swap. Then if you want to join in, jump on over to my TPT page and if you are one of the first 100 schools to sign up, you are in for 2020.

5th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap Announcment

Here we are at year five of the MiniMatisse Global Artist Trading Card Swap. As promised, today I would like to announce the opportunity to join us in the swap with your class/student(s).

Who can participate? 

Students Preschool to 12th Grade. Home school, private and public schools, after school programs, and Arts Clubs are welcome.  If you don't fit into one of these categories, please email me for special requests. Nicholechahn@yahoo.com

You can have 10 Artist Trading Cards on up to 200 Artist Trading Cards included in a package. If you have more students than that, I would suggest working with only one grade to trade OR purchasing two or more packages for the number of cards you will be sending. 

How many cards can I send?

I would also suggest having students do extra cards maybe trading two, that way they can get two cards back or only 1 trade to the student but the teacher can save some examples. You can have students do extra to make your 10 cards per group quota... PLEASE DO NOT SEND IN FEWER NUMBERS. Also, in case someone misses this rule of 10 per pack and I miss it as I send it back, it would be good to have extra cards coming your way in the case of human error.  

What is the cut-off?

I do this trade by myself so I do have to limit who participates. My cap is at 100 schools, but sometimes a few more have participated in the past. See last years recap on the whole process to get a good idea of what that looks like. 

Here is what the timeline looks like this year.

Aug. 22nd, 2019: I will open my Teachers Pay Teacher store to allow the purchase of an ATC Swap 'lesson plan' at 8AM CST. This year the purchase will be $15.00 per 200 cards, a discount for the second purchase of the same lesson for up to another 200 cards. This money goes back into shipping to get the cards back to all the participants both nationally and internationally. I'm hoping by telling you the date and how I will be selling the lesson, you will be able to request the funds from your school.

January 31st, 2020: Cards need to be received by me. I would highly recommend that you send the cards to me before this date. There are many factors to be considered that might cause cards to be late (Snowdays, Illnesses, Taking longer than you thought...) You can send them to me anytime!!! (and perhaps be one of the first to get your trade back)... My plan is to start swapping after I have about 10 groups who have sent me cards, that way it might be a little more manageable for me. 

March 10th, 2020: I will have all ATC's out of my classroom and heading your way. 

WARNINGS

Here are the warnings for the trade... I will send the Artwork out but almost every year someone's mail is intercepted. I'm not sure how. I will try to send an email to you this year if you include it on the outside of your package. I can not take responsibility for any lost packages. I'm sorry! Please prep your students that sometimes the mail doesn't make it but 99.9% of the time there is a success. 

The cards are coming from all ages and all level of Artist. You can not request a certain quality of age group. 

Everyday Art Room- Artist Trading Cards

This week on the Everyday Art Room I will be talking all things Artist Trading Cards. If you follow me at all, you know that I adore these tiny little works of art and use them in my classroom all the time for curriculum both Art related and Whole Child!

Today as I talk about ATC's I will share how I got into trading as well as how you can get into it too. I discuss the many ways that ATC's can be used in your classroom and why you might consider doing so. I also will be talking about the upcoming 5th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap (sign up information right here in August).

Some of the links you might be looking for after listening to the show:

• The first year I really dove into Artist Trading Cards
• See work from my trade with Japan
• Some of the other teachers influencing ATC swaps in the early years Marcia Beckett, LauraLee Chambers, Anne Farrell, Erica Stinziani
• Art Teachers with some amazing display ideas for ATC's Art with Mr. E and Ashley McKee
• Vicki Wilson really brings the ATC experience to the next level and has created an #ATCswapAsia
• Take a look at this post of a trade I did with Lisbeth Reinholdt of Denmark
• What is an Artist Trading Card Youtube Video
• Flipping the Art Room Course
• ATC game called Tic Toc working on craftsmanship

There are so many posts on Artist Trading Cards on this blog that I encourage you to explore by looking at the label ATC on the right side column of this post (if on a computer). If not, you can just click here for previous posts.

Come listen today! I'll get you pumped up to join in the fun for MiniMatisse's 5th Annual #ATCswap. Click here to listen to Everyday Art Room Today

2019 MiniMatisse Global Artist Trading Cards Swap

The 4th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap is now in the mail, ready to go back to the schools that participated this year. I wanted to give you an update of who participated and how the process went this year.

I had the cards sent to my house rather than the school this year because I was not sure of where I was going to be working.  I'm glad I did because I'm back at Hassan Elementary this year. I didn't know how many packages were going to need a signature. Luckily (I guess) I had back surgery and I was home for a couple of weeks to heal. This allowed me to sign for the packages.  They came in like crazy close to February 1st, the due date.

After going back to work, I had a Visiting Artist, Billy Kheel come to my school. Full attention was given to Billy and the needs of the project. He left my classroom and I quickly switched gears to distributing the cards. 

I first separated the packages into, 'Inside the USA' and 'Outside the USA'. I also had one more group for Texas, because we get so many cards from the Lone Star State (22 packages this year). Then I separated the packages into 8 different groups assuring that every group had the same amount of National, International, and Texas packages. 

Then I placed them in a big circle counting the groups of 10, assuring the package is properly labelled, and the count is correct on the outside of the package. I also took the time to take a couple of pictures from every group.  I really just grabbed a couple of examples to post on Instagram every time I worked on them... be sure to check out my account to see some of the cards that came through (MiniMatisseArt). Then the trade begins, I tried to take 10 packs from several different piles to send back to the participants. So if a school sent me 90 cards, I would send 9 packs back to them from several other schools.

I went to Rogers Minnesota Post Office on Monday to talk to the staff about coming in on Friday to mail out the rest of the packages. I'm sharing the exact Post Office that I went to because I had such an AMAZING experience this year getting the cards out in such a relaxed way. The staff there said they would assure that I could overwhelm them and the other customers would be able to be serviced as well.

For the International Cards, I filled out a Customs Form for each package. This takes some time for sure. 

Friday I filled the whole back seat as well as the entire trunk with packages. I walked in the 9 boxes of packages to the post office and Dan (my new best friend) got to work. We worked consistently for 2 hours... and I think that was a record for us. I have worked with Dan in the years past and he rocks! He gave me a big smile at the end and told me, he will see me again next year. That guy ROCKS!! 

So here is what we ended up with...

Nationally, we had 94 participants.

Internationally, we had 28 schools participate.

Total, there were 122 schools participating in, 2019 MiniMatisse Global Artist Trading Card Swap.  This was a total of 13,593 cards! 

Some of the countries that participated are Italy (14 Schools), Canada (3 schools), Vietnam, Marocco, Belgium, Thailand, Australia (2 schools), Slovakia, Japan, and Spain.

As in years past, I feel this was a great response and truly enjoy the experience. To be open and honest with you all... It's a lot of work. I do get overwhelmed with the trade and the amount of time away from my family when I'm in the moment, but as I was telling Dan (my BFF from the post office) as I mail the packages out, the tension in my shoulders releases... my breathing returns to normal, and like childbirth, I forget... I must because I'll be announcing the 2020 ATC Swap in August again.

August 1, 2019: I will announce on MiniMatisse.blogspot.com, the details for the 5th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap, 2020

August 22, 2019: Sign up on MiniMatisse Teacher Pay Teacher Store to participate in the 5th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap, 2020 (as many of you know, this goes fast. I will close the opportunity after 100 schools sign up... most of the time, this takes less than 2 days)

January 31, 2020: Artist Trading Cards are due.

Artist Trading Cards Swap is Now Closed!

I'm sorry!! The sign up for the 4th Annual #ATCswap is closed for 2019.

We have well over the anticipated number of participants this year. I will not be able to manage any additional participants this year. 

The Swap is filling up so fast that I have to shut the sign up down by 9AM, Aug. 12th, 2018.

4th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap Announcement

We are doing it again folks! The Artist Trading Card Swap is officially being announced today, Aug. 1st. For those of you who have participated in the past, the short of this announcement is that you will be able to sign up on Friday, August 10th. For the rest of you, new to the ATC swap, let me share more.

What is an Artist Trading Card?

An ATC is a 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch work of art that is created by an Artist with the intent to give it away in a swap.

Who can Participate?

In this ATC swap, I have had students from preschool to high school. I have had public schools, private schools, and homeschools. Afterschool clubs have participated and even the teachers who sign up can participate as well. Here is the exciting part. We had over 95 schools participated last year from all over the United States and from several global trades as well.  I had Australia, Jordan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Italy represented last year. Actually, 22 schools in Italy participated.

What do I need to make an Artist Trading Card?

To make an ATC for this swap, I request that participants use a high-quality substrate... Cardboard, chipboard, 80lb paper or higher. The cards can be created with most mediums but they do need to fit into an ATC sleeve, so three-dimensional cards must be a very low relief. If using any kind of collage, assure that it will not fall apart when traveling or after it's received by its new owner.

What is the timeline for this activity?

On Friday, August 10th, I will open up the trade for people to sign up.  I do not require the cards to come to me until February 1st of 2019.  That sounds like a long time away, but trust me, it's not. Then I try to get the cards turned around and back to you within the month of March (or before).

How do I sign up?

On Aug. 10th, I will open the ATC sign up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I will have links to it all over social media and also here on my blog.  In the past, I have had to shut the sign up down quickly because so many educators sign up, so fast.  When you sign up, you get a google doc that explains in detail, when, where, how... and has lots of examples and activities of how other educators have created cards in the past. The cost of the ATC swap is a way for me to pay to send back all of the cards.

Consider if this project and timeline are going to work for you and your students this year. I would love to have you join in the fun! If you have more questions, please visit past posts by clicking here. The way that this project is celebrated online not only connects students with a physical work of art that they can keep, but also it connects classrooms and teachers online and via social media. Stay tuned for Aug. 10th for the ATC sign up.

4th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap- 2019

I will be hosting the 4th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap here on MiniMatisse.blogspot.com again for the 2018/2019 school year!! Here is the breakdown...

• August 1st, 2018 starts the countdown for the Artist Trading Card Swap sign-up.
• August 10th, 2018 is the official date that I will open up the sign up for the #ATCswap. (this date is important because I have had to shut down the sign up after 2 days the last two years because I can only take 100 participants-- although last year it was more like 130 schools signed up) 
• February 1st, 2019 cards must have arrived at Prairie View Elementary and Middle. 
• March 10th, 2019 cards will be sent back to your school.

Here is why I mention this all now. I am putting together resources for my #ATCswap. Last year I sold a slideshow lesson plan on TpT that allows me to make enough to send back all the ATC's (well, last year it almost broke even) In the purchased lesson plan I have A LOT on the resources. I mean a lot... Videos for teachers, Videos for students and a ton of lesson plans from many of the participants.  If you have a lesson plan you would like linked in the document (fully credited of course), Please leave the information in the comments below. I'll add them on and I would love to see you join us this year in the 4th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap with MiniMatisse.

Artist Trading Cards, Abstract Observational Drawing

I love Observational Drawing, in fact, life drawing was one of my concentrations in college. One of the reasons I love it is because you can do it anywhere with anything. When I bring it into the classroom I try very hard to make it motivating... so in this case, we used candy to observe.  I like the candy for many reasons; It's small, it's inexpensive, it's a gift, there are lots of details, and this is going to be used in an artist trading card swap. That means if these cards are sent to another community across the world, food is a great way to communicate culture.

I wanted to make this a little more non-traditional so I 'abstracted-it-up'... Watch the video below to get a feel for the process of this card.

I loved watching the students work on their pre-planning.  It was a great way to really see how they will handle the final card.  I could see what tips I should mention before the final card and get a feel for the kids who will need a little extra guidance.  I can also see who needs more of a challenge and encourage likewise. What do they call that again?? Oh yeah, formative assessment (that's right, art teachers use assessment every day to guide their instruction) 

As the video suggested, we cut and pasted the divided drawing onto one of our amazing cards created earlier this year. This is what allows for artistic choice and makes our cards look unique and complex. Check out all the paper designs I did with my class in this previous post.

The students did a really good job attaching the still life to the ATC but these cards are going to be traveling through the mail to artist all over the world in just a couple of weeks (see Artist Trading Card Swap information),  I wanted to make sure they are really stuck down and have a beautiful finish so I covered each finished card with Mod Podge. 

We are proud to send these cards out to our #ATCswap friends all over the country and world!

Designing Paper Lesson

I am so excited to post this lesson today because it's something I have been working hard on in the past month.  I'm also excited to see this lesson used in other classrooms because it has been one of the most engaging lessons I have ever done with my students. Allow me to introduce to you, 'Paper Design'!

I share 8 different ways to design paper. Each lesson is clearly marked with a title page and preview of the end result. 

Each lesson also has a supply list. This supply list identifies what was used in the specific process. Each supply list also gives alternative supplies.  When I was listing alternative supplies, I tried to think about what most (if not all) classrooms would have access to. These supplies are common to an Art classroom as well as homeroom classrooms in most cases. 

Then, each lesson has a well lit, close up video of hands in action creating the designed paper. These lessons are ready to show students. Of course they can be viewed as Professional Development and can teach a teacher how to present these lessons to students, however, I have made these lessons to be ready to use in the classroom. I use student-friendly language appropriate for 2nd grade up to high school learners. Each video is 2 minutes to 4 minutes long. These are designed to give students a small amount of information to all students to retain and perform the process independently.

Using this lesson allows students to explore several processes or you can present it to your class to simply try one process instead. This lesson also provides student examples as well as suggestions of how to use the designer paper for a more project-based lesson.  Designed paper can be used for everything from Artist Trading Card Design to collage work.

This lesson can be shared with your students in two ways.  The way I shared this lesson with my class is whole group learning. So I projected the lessons using a computer to my class. I have also designed this so you can share the link with your students and set up stations. This will allow for self -paced learning. Students would need a way to view the lesson at each station via a device such as iPad or Chromebook. This lesson is a Google Slide so you would need an internet connection as well. 

I'm so excited to share this lesson with you today.  Please visit my TPT store for more information! 

To celebrate the release of this new lesson I'm running a sale on my Teacher Pay Teachers Store. ALL self-paced lessons are 20% off through Monday, Nov. 20th 2017. Enjoy!

Tic Toc- An Artist Trading Card Game

This game was developed to help students learn to discover the importance of putting time into their Art Work in the Art Studio.  Throughout this process, students also learn that by drawing the same subject multiple times, ideas can develop and evolve. 

Here is how you play:

The time increases for each new card. Students learn that with more time, they can create more details. They learn that their cards improve and evolve when practiced over and over.  They also work really hard throughout the hour. This game really keeps students focused.

To print out the hand out above, please visit my Teacher Pay Teachers store.

Last Chance for the Artist Trading Card Swap

The Artist Trading Card sign up has been a HIT!! We have over 80 participants already! That means we have room for about 20 more. At 100 participants, we close the ATC swap to make sure that I can manage the trade.  I feel much over 100 participants does get a little confusing.  Would love to have you join us. If you want to learn more about this years ATC swap, please click here!

UPDATE:

I posted this earlier today and the trade has filled by 8pm. I will be removing the Artist Trading Card sign up for this 2018 from Teacher Pay Teachers. I know this is going to be an amazing trade this year! I'm sorry if you were not able to get in on the fun this time around. Be sure to check next year in August. 

Updated Resources for the #ATCswap

When launching the #ATCswap last week there were a couple slides where I had to put... 'Coming Soon' because I wanted to record videos to better explain our the trade to everyone.  When purchasing the Artist Trading Card 'lesson', you get a checklist of for the trade as well as a Google Slide which is a living document that will continue to grow.

This morning I added a video for teachers.  This is a 'one-sided' video conversation explaining how the trade works 'teacher to teacher'. I hope it helps with any questions you might have when participating in the #ATCswap.  Here is a shortened version of the video....

If you want to sign up for the #ATCswap, please visit this previous post (click here)

The official Artist Trading Card Sign up!!

Here it is... the official sign up for the 2018 Artist Trading Card Swap.  We have had such great participation the last couple of years that I know that this is going to be the best trade yet. New to this year there is a small charge to cover the postage.  The packages in the USA are a little lower than the $10.00 I'm asking for this year, however, the International packages are much more.  This $10.00 fee will help bring more ATC's from all over the world.

I made a claim that there can only be 100 cards in a trade... After your feedback, I have raised that number up to 200 ATC's in a trade.  If you still have more students that you would like to participate, you can purchase a 'multiple licenses' on TpT for a discounted rate of $8.00. This would mean you will send a second package.

Here is what you get in the Artist Trading Card Swap purchase on my Teacher Pay Teachers site.  You will get a check list with all the instructions needed for a successful trade. You will also get a Google Slide that is a live document.  This means the already 30 slides will continue to grow as new resources are shared via social media. 

  

If you are planning to join us this year, please consider the following before purchasing.  

• The deadline that I need to receive your cards by is February 1st, 2018
• I will have the cards back in the mail by March 1st, 2018.
• You will be asked to include a self-addressed, bubble wrap enforced manilla envelope in your trade.
• I can not give refunds if you are unable to participate.  I also can not take responsibility for lost or damaged Artist Trading Cards. 

I just want to be as open as I can so that you are informed as you purchase the right to participate in this Artist Trading Card Swap. I'm so excited!!! I hope you are too. 

Click here to participate in the 2018 ATC swap

To learn more about this swap, please look at last year trade day post... or more generally, have fun scrolling through over 100 posts all about Artist Trading Cards!  

2018 Artist Trading Card Swap

I have been getting lots of emails about the Artist Trading Card Swap this year.  I'm happy to say, YES!! We are continuing with our 3rd Annual Artist Trading Card Swap!! There will be some changes this year.

1) You might notice that we skipped 2017. I usually have the cards due to me by November. This works out well for me, however not so great for Dan, my pal at our local Post Office.  Dan has explained to me mailing our packages back to all of you before Chrismas is not so great because they are working overtime with Holiday packages. Adding another 100 plus packages onto their plate is not what I want to do. So, instead, we will be moving the due date back to 2018.  

2) This year there is a small fee for participation. In the past, I have fundraised to send back all the packages to the participants. Last year that was close to $800.00. Totally worth it, however, I had several participants offer postage or money. They explained that they appreciate the trade and are willing to help out. By doing this, my fundraising money can go back to my students in the form of an Artist in Residence. 

3) Each package will be capped at 100 cards.  That doesn't mean that you can't participate if you have less... you can.  If you have more you can still participate as well.  You would simply purchase the package plus.  This will look like a second lesson on TpT.... in short, it simply gets you another 10 ATC's in the trade. The packages with over 100 were very hard to manage and I feel often received the wrong number in return. By keeping the packages small, I feel I will be more successful at being accurate with the trade.

4) I will run a separate ATC swap for teachers. To reduce the confusion of cards. There will be a Teacher ATC lesson plan to purchase for a lower rate.  You will send that to me in its own envelope. 

What will stay??

• All ages can participate.
• Emphasis on High-Quality Cards
• Cards will be wrapped in groups of 10 with information about the cards available. 
• A strict deadline.
• A way to connect your students to others all over the world. 
• A way to connect a strong #PLN (Professional Learning Network) amongst teachers

Today is the announcement that there will be a trade this year. I am working on the packet that will include EVERYTHING you should need for a successful trade including video lesson, lots of inspiration resources, and all the instructions needed for this year's trade. I will be posting the package on Teacher Pay Teachers and on this blog on August 18th... one week from today. 

I need your help!!

In my packet, I would like to give as many samples of Artist Trading Cards that I can.  If you have a post or a video that you are willing to share to our ATC community, with full credit... would you please send me those links?? Even if you have already sent me them before.  I would like to include a variety of cards for inspiration. 

Send the following information to nicholechahn@yahoo.com

• Your name, and any contact information (Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, Vine, blog...)
• Your link(s) of images, instructions, or videos

By doing this you are agreeing to share your content on the Artist Trading Card Swap resources. You know me... I'm all about collaboration! Can't wait to see what you share.

Abstract Animals, ATC inspired by Prof. Monica Terraroli

We were inspired by so many of the cards from our #ATCswap this year.  These cards are from Italy. Hassan Elementary students will be looking to these cards for inspiration. Monica Terraroli from Prof. Monica Terraroli Blog participated this year and had some AMAZING images.

Each fourth-grade student has been assigned a State to study in their homeroom classes. The last week of school these students will have gathered information about their state and present it at the Hassan Elementary 'State Fair'.  This is a unit that our students look forward to.  Our music department creates a performance to go along with the big day. In Phy Ed, they track their steps and record themselves 'walking' across America.  Our media class guides a lot of the research. In Art class, we will be creating Artist Trading Cards that the students can use in their presentation of their State.

One of the options students will have is creating these adorable cards. Below is a Padlet created by Monica.  What a great idea to embed in her blog.  Love this idea! Thanks for participating Ms. Terraroli.  Hope to have you join again next year!

Realistic Animals, ATC inspired by ArteaScuola.com

My 4th grade learns through creating Artist Trading Cards. They have created quite the selection so far this year.  I have been introducing new project ideas to them by presenting 3 new card options at a time.  This way they can choose what card or method they would like to create.  The next three cards that I will be offering are cards that were inspired by the 2016 ATC swap.

 

In this case, my dear friend Miriam Paternoster's 8th grade class. She posted about her lesson on her blog, ArtaeScuola.com.  Her cards were stunning.  EVERY card was done with care. I was completely impressed.  She not only participated, but she also got several teachers in Italy to participate this year. Italy cards were amazing.  Be sure to check out Miriam's blog for several project samples.  Also, check out the video below to see my version of this card.

Art Reflection- Artist Trading Cards

Last year I shared how to reflect on the Artist Trading Cards by using a worksheet (click here for previous post).   I have added a worksheet to share with you for free on Teachers Pay Teachers (click here).

This year I have had the MOST successful reflection on the Artist Trading Cards!! This is the breakdown of what I call Trade Day.

First, I have placed a card into every students ATC sleeve.  I can look at the cards that they have created and match up ability levels and interest.  When they come into class, I try to really pump them up.  I write down the number of cards we received in the trade... one number at a time.  This creates a lot of anticipation and a BIG... united WOW! Then I explain that I have cards in their folders right now!! This minute!! Waiting for them!! Again... the crowd goes WILD!!! I explain that they will have the opportunity to look at the cards and keep it, or look at the card and exchange it.  I see the kids going around with such excitement showing off the cards to one another.

Then I have them join me in a circle with their cards.  Here is the conversation that takes place:

Me:
Do you know where your card came from? Raise your hand if you do... If you don't know where it came from, Why?

Student Answers:

• Because the handwriting is sloppy.
• Because the Artist didn't write the correct information on it.
• Because it is in a different language.

Me: 

OK... so we are going to know where some cards come from and some are a mystery to us. Let's keep that in mind as we do our next activity.  We will be passing the cards to the person on your right (point to the person on your right) every time I say switch. You will have a few seconds to look at the image and the information on the back. There is no conversation at this time, you are simply letting your brain take it all in.  Don't worry... you will get your card back.

We then do the activity of passing the art from around the circle as I show in the video below.

More discussion takes place.

Me:

Did you see some cards that were totally impressive?  What made them so amazing?  What techniques or mediums did you see? Why do you think they were so high quality?  I'm going to give you a minute to talk to your neighbor and then we'll talk about it as a group. 

Students responses: 

• I think they were good because they took their time.
• I think they were high quality because they were older then us.
• The mediums were interesting. 
• So on, and so on.

Me: 

OK, did you see any cards that if you saw the Artist, you would make suggestions for them to improve on?  Why do you think some of the cards could be a little better?

Students:

• They might be a kindergartener. 
• The Artist might have different abilities. 
• They might have not cared about the project.
• Maybe the teacher didn't give them enough time.

One little guy said, I don't think we should judge their work.  I validated that, I said you're right, we don't know what the situation of the Artist was however conversation about art is for learning.  These are just suggestions that we might make to an Artist to help them grow and get better. 

This took most of the hour.  I gave the assignment that they will be making an artwork that is inspired by the art received.  They will be making their own ATC replicating the art they received... or being inspired by the subject or the elements of design used.  I show them examples of students who did this last year.

See in this example, the student is using the technique as their inspiration. 

In this one, the elements of color and somewhat of the subject.

This Artist was inspired by the texture created by the braille paper used on their received card. They created their own bumpy paper for their card.

This student chose to recreate their card with the colors and style. 

 

The rest of the hour (maybe 10 minutes by this time) we spend preplanning how they will create their card inspired by the received art trade. They can also let me know if they need specific materials for next time. 

The following art class we will be working on the cards and then writing a compare and contrast using a worksheet to guide then (click here).  I will have them take a digital image of this to send to me and also place on their google drive/ Schoology account.  This will be how I grade their work for this trimester... It will allow us to reach the national standards of reflection and connecting.

Artist Trading Cards, Trade Day 2016

An Artist Trading Card Update!! 

Many of the participants of the swap will be receiving their Artist Trading Cards this week.  In this post, I want to go over the specifics of the trade itself.  I will be highlighting more about the cards traded, as what to do after the trade.

We had a total of 102 (two packages just came in) schools who sent me cards this year. In the packages we received, we had...

12,397 cards in total!! 

Let's first talk about where the cards were from this year.  Hassan received most of the cards from inside the United States... But truly from all over the US.  The state that sent us the most was Texas.  Some of you know we have an amazing #PLN (Professional Learning Network) in Texas that is extremely active on social media.  I have connected with many of these amazing teachers because of the #GrundlerTeam (Matt and Larua Grundler)... They are so awesome to have a Twitter chat every Thursday night, that allows us to get to know each other and collaborate professionally.  Twitter Chats are amazing and if you haven't tried to join one make it your New Year Resolution!  Hope to see you Thurs. nights 8:30 CST for the #k12ArtChat.

Outside of the United States, we had cards from; Germany, Belgium, China, Canada, Scotland, Thailand, and Italy.  In fact, we had 10 schools from Italy participate. This was do to another amazing connection I have to one person in Italy. Miriam Paternoster who is the author of Arte a Scuola, and amazing Art Education blog. She reached out for me to the educators she works with... and let me tell you, they had some STUNNING work to send us.  Click here for her post on the cards her artist created. Stunning work!!

Image pulled from Arte a Scuola

As far as schools who participated, the vast majority was Intermediate, kids age 9-12 years of age. When cards are exchanged, it's very hard for me to exchange only High School with High School and Primary with Primary. Participants might have cards from all levels return back to your school.  It leads to some great conversation with your class after they trade.  I have more to share on the reflection in an upcoming post. 

This year I offered an opportunity to teachers to participate as well.  Over half participated so this tells me that Art Teachers are interested in ATC's too. I will make a few changes in this area (as well as other areas) for next year.  But know, I will do my best to accommodate this opportunity again. 

 

So how did I go about this trade?? I have been receiving packages for months.  I put them in my back room and didn't pull them out until 'Trade Day'.  Durning Fall conference, I pulled all the packages and cards out onto my tables in my classroom.  This is when I started to panic a bit... It was a lot of cards, a lot of participants. I took a deep breath and started working. 

I wanted to celebrate the cards, so I took pictures of what I believe to be all the cards that were sent to me.  I might have missed one or two trades when doing this because I had parents coming in and out for conferences too... so I might have missed some. If you want to see (most of) the trades that were sent, click here. 

As far as preparation goes, I had Katelyn Fiss (our health clerk) donate some time.   She was asked to write out the international postage information. This is a challenge for us because it's often in another language, but what a learning opportunity! 

Those of you in the States know that the day after Thanksgiving is a shopping day we call Black Friday.  Everyone leaves the house very early in the morning and starts shopping for the 'Doorbusters'.  It's something this lady does NOT participate in.  So my Aunt and I went in early and did some morning 'swap'n' instead of 'shop'n'. 

We packed up the envelopes... well, we ran out of envelopes and recycled some boxes too. I had some helpers bring them to my car... and they were off to the post office. 

Being a teacher is not the most flexible schedule.  I camped out in the front of the post office door to be the first one on the day I mailed out our packages.  I was so nervous.  I had 100 packages to send out... That is a lot to ask of an employee first thing in the morning.  I need to give a BIG digital hug to Dan from the Rogers Postal Services.  He helped me with a smile and allowed me to bring in all 12 boxes.  He made this dreaded trip so, so wonderful. THANKS DAN! 

Hopefully, our participants will be getting their packages soon. I ask for forgiveness if the numbers are off.  I really tried to get the right number back to you, but well... I hope the previous information will allow you to understand there may have been some human error.  I will not be able to send any additional cards. Upcoming posts will focus on passing the cards out, and celebrations of some of the cards sent my way.  Be sure to keep checking back for more updates on the 2nd Annual Artist Trading Card Swap.