Summer Art Camp Options

I mentioned this on Facebook last week to my friends and family and I'm sorry to say, it's about half full, but there is still room for a few more students. If you are interested in signing up your kiddos who have completed kindergarten on up to 12 years of age, I'm offering a summer camp at the Oliver Kelley Farm. This is geared to students who are serious about art and will have an attention span for such an intense summer Arts Camp. Take a look at the dates and contact me at Nicholechahn@yahoo.com if interested. I will let you know if there is room by the end of the day you email me.

If my Arts Camp doesn't work out for you, might I suggest my good friend Leah Schultz who is putting on a camp as well in Elk River. Leah and I were hired at ISD728 the same year and have been a good friend since. She works at Twin Lakes Elementary as an Art Specialist. Quality camp her people! Give Leah a call if you feel that is going to be a better fit for you. Tell her I sent you.

Another good option is another friend of mine. Kelly Scharber is local to Rogers and puts on sewing classes all year round. This would be perfect especially for our 5th-grade students at Hassan who have been sewing for weeks and loving it! Kelly's classes are more machine sewing which would be a great option for our kids who have learned how to hand stitch. Her classes will be developing in the next few weeks for summer... but check out her FB page here. 

Chocolate Cherry on a Spoon

I have been given the honor of representing Minnesota at the NAEA Leadership conference. Jessica Jones and I are joining 150 other representatives at a National Convention of how to better run the state and local chapters by learning from each other.  The invitation was tasked with two fun activities right away.  40 gifts for the other representatives in the Western Division and a raffle gift to share with the group.  Jessica and I decided to divide and conquer. I took the mini gifts and she took the raffle.

I wanted to represent Art and Minnesota and what better way to do that then with the Cherry and the Spoon Sculpture by Oldenburg so proudly displayed in the Walker Sculpture Garden. I tried to seek candy makers to help with this task, but no luck... So I chose to take it on myself.

I looked up a lovely receipt from Taste of Lizzy T for chocolate covered cherries.  I'm not going to lie, it took me the whole day but once the cherries were done, the rest was a bit of a breeze...

I used melted chocolate on spoons my son so meticulously bent and placed the cherry's on. I had to tip the spoons up until they were cooled. They stuck... I was shocked :)

Then I packed the spoons up with a little plastic bag.

 

Finally, I signed it from us in Minnesota but did a little printmaking in the process. The spoon was carved out of an eraser, the cherry was a dab of a pencil eraser and the stem was a marker line on top.  

So, to all my new friends who got a cherry on a spoon, it was so nice to meet you and we learned a ton! Thank you. 

Sketchnotes and Technology in the Art Room

Sketchnotes and Technology Resource for today's Art Camp... Will update soon when I'm done running my daughter to softball ;) Leave comments if you want a link to something I talked about today and it's not found in the resource Padlets below.

Arts Camp For Educators and Teaching Artists

It's time to sign up for summer PD! Here is one opportunity for Minnesota's local Art/Music/Classroom Teachers.  I am honored to present two sessions, one on using Sketchnotes in the Classroom, and another to highlight the use of Technology in the classroom. Click here to learn more and register today.

It’s time for this year’s Arts Camp for Educators and Teaching Artists! 

Check out the 16 workshops that are a part of this summer’s camp to find exciting
ways to add depth and variety to your teaching and new pathways that can help all
students experience success.  Explore the briefs and schedule and then sign up for all the
classes that will help you add new energy to you and your classroom regardless of
your teaching background.  A registration fee of $50 allows you to take as many
of the offerings on Monday and Tuesday, June 11-12 as you would like – what a deal!
And the first twenty to sign up for the noon sessions will have a light boxed lunch included.   

Stay all day, take advantage of the noon offerings or enjoy one of the many unique and
wonderful restaurants near the Paramount.

This year, graduate-level credit for all sessions is available from University of the Pacific
at a cost of $62 per credit up to 3 credits per course. Registration forms will be distributed
and completed at Arts Camp. We will collect completed forms and checks covering tuition
and submit to Pacific U. More information is available here. CEU’s will also be issued for
all of the classes you attend.

Deadline for registration is Wednesday, June 6, but many classes have
limited enrollment so register EARLY to ensure a place.

Resource Training and Solutions

This post is to give the participants of my training at Resource Training and Solutions the full presentation with links and supporting materials.  This post will be developing and changing as we go through the day.

Click here for a link to the presentation.

Reflection!

Amazing participation from the participants today!! Here were some more links to our discussion and lots of resources shared by our participants.  Our slide show was also updated. Hope all of this learning is helpful to you.

• Fujitsu Computer: participants suggested this device for ease of drawing capabilities. 
• The discussion of what would be a good online blogging tool.  I use Blogspot, but I have a lot of teaching friends using Weebly and Wordpress as well. Another suggestion from a participant today was using Tes Teach... I have not used it but it looks like a great option for collecting resources for your class.
• Suggested from participants ShowMe and Explain Everything are two tools to allow you to write or draw on an image/screenshot.
• BenSounds is a great place to find some royalty free music. 
• The Sketchnotes book I showed you is The Sketchnote Handbook.  Other resources for Sketchnoting can be found here. 

Please reach out to me with any additional questions, nicholechahn@yahoo.com.  Thanks for attending.

Professional Development for Art Teachers

The end of the school year is near and we all know why Teachers choose their profession... to have the summers off... to invest in Professional Development!!! I'm excited to share some opportunities for you to join me this summer with several different presentations and classes both online and in person!

June 14th and 15th is Minnesota Arts Camp for Educators.  This event will take place in St. Cloud Minnesota. I will be presenting on June 14 talking about how to flip your classroom (recording your lessons ahead of time). I have a two-hour session so will have time to let participants learn about the practice and try it on their own in this hands-on session.  Click here to register. 

Resource Training and Solutions  offers lot's of sessions from Love and Logic to Seesaw in your classroom.  This facility is north of St. Cloud in Sartell Minnesota. I'm excited to be working with Resource training this summer on 4 different sessions... 

These are going to be very hands on with lots of opportunities to ask questions and work on your classroom needs.  Would love to see you there. Click here for Resource Training and Solutions. 

iPadpaloozaMN is happening again June 14th and 15th. I will be bringing my Sphero lessons to you during this very hands-on event.  If you have never attended this workshop, it's worth a venture to the Twin Cities. Check it out for yourself by clicking here.

July 20th, 2017 is an amazing opportunity online.  If you want to find all things STEAM, the EducationCloset is the place for you.  I will be presenting on learning about Spheros through play at this conference as well. I'm surrounded by some amazing Educators, so it's totally worth joining for the day.

Aug. 3rd is the ART ED NOW summer conference 2017. Again, I'm honored to present next to some amazing educators!!! 

I don't know if you have heard, but Sir Ken Robinson is the keynote speaker for this conference.  He has inspired me in so many ways in Art Education and Education in general.  I have had the privilege of seeing him in person once upon a time as he visited a TIES conference in Minnesota. WHAT AN AMAZING PERSON! I'm so excited to have my name on the same list of presenters as his. Be sure to join me for the Art Ed Now 2017 online conference.

STEAMed Magazine and Conference from EducationCloset

EducationCloset has some very exciting things happening this week that I really wanted to share with you.  First, the quarterly digital magazine STEAMed came out a couple of days ago.  It is full of great resources and articles circling around STEAM.  Click here to read more. 

I was honored to have an article published in the magazine this time.  I wrote about #ProcessPigs that I implemented last year in Hassan Elementary's Art Studio (click here to see all the pigs).  I love sharing about #ProcessPigs or my Monster Mediums because it's one of those teaching practices that really worked!  As with all teachers, I'm sure you try about 1000 lessons, techniques, and experiments before you can say... 'Yep, this one works.' That is what this article is about... the one idea out of 1000 that worked in my Art Sudio. 

And then this!! EducationCloset has their upcoming summer ONLINE conference. This was some amazing PD in the past and looking at the line up now... I know it will be amazing again.  Why can I say that with such conviction?? I chat with some of these spectacular educators on a regular basis on #k12ArtChat. Trevor Bryan, Joy Schultz, Arlene Shelton, and Rich Stachon are part of my #PLN (Professional Learning Network) and inspire me all the time. Join them... There isn't much time left to get in on this opportunity, it takes place July 21st... but you can purchase and watch on demand after the conference as well. (Click here to find more details about the conference). 

Behind the Scenes for the #ArtEdNow

I'm so excited that today is the day for the #ArtEdNow presentation. I am presenting twice, once at 10:00 am (ish) talking about flipping the classroom and then at 1:00 pm (ish) with a hands-on lesson with Art to Remember featuring some swag from our #ArtEdNowSwag box. (click here for more details) 

I wanted to quickly bring you to some of the resources for the presentation today. During my first presentation, Flipping the Classroom, Not Just for Secondary Anymore, I talked about my recording station. Click here to read more about that.

One of the reasons that I flip my classroom is to create a self-paced learning environment for my students.  I talked about a one-point perspective lesson that I implemented this last year, Here is more on that lesson (click here).  Sometimes it's hard to understand how the QR codes work in a classroom, so I have also given a light lesson of Yarn Braiding for FREE to anyone who would like to try it. Click here to get the Yarn Braiding Lesson. If you are looking for more information about devices management or QR codes; What, Why, and How, I have recent posts on both.

Device Management (click here)

QR Codes (click here)

I hope that these links will help you find the resources you are looking for after watching the presentation on #ArtEdNow.  Feel free to leave comments or questions on this post.  Another way to continue the conversation is on #ArtEdNow Attendees Page on Facebook, be sure to tag me (Nic Hahn) so I don't miss it. Or my favorite, Twitter with the #ArtEdNow and @MiniMatisse.

Later in the day, I'm doing a hands-on presentation.  I have used Art to Remember as a fundraiser and they have asked me to work with them to design a lesson for #ArtEdNow.  This hands-on lesson was made possible with a collaboration between A2R and Jack Richeson and their PlayColor Sticks. Here are a couple of outtakes from the hands-on presentation I did with my little helper. 

She's adorable... right?? It was a lot of fun to have a student work beside me for this presentation. Even though a lot of these conversations you see here in this video didn't make the cut for the final, you can tell in both the presentation and the out-takes that I had a blast!  If you attended this online presentation, I hope you had a lot of fun too! 

The Art of Education, Summer 2016 Art Ed Now, National Online Conference

It's that time again... AOE has just announced the official lineup for the Summer 2016 Art Ed Now presentations.  We have some BIG dogs here!!

Very excited that AOE gets living, practicing artist to present at these conferences. Romero Britto is going to present, I can't wait to hear what he has to say.  Should be great! Danny Gregory the sketchbook king himself will be presenting. He has written a book called, Shut Your Monkey and I have mentioned his podcast on my blog before, but if you haven't checked it out, Shut Your Monkey is some good listening.  And, Michael Linsin is the author of some great Classroom Management books.  When I was teaching and taking classes for AOE, his books were critical to some great conversations and ideas.  I also subscribe to his blog and love the uplifting tips and tricks he gives.   These guys are going to Rock this Conference.

I'm actually presenting twice. I will be in the morning in the first hour presenting on Flipping the Classroom.  I'm really excited to have the opportunity to share verbally what I so often try to explain on this blog.  Flipping the classroom is a critical piece for my instruction these days and I can't wait to tell you why!! 

Later in the day, I have been asked to present for Art to Remember.  I do their fundraiser in the fall and they thought I would be a good fit to present a lesson that might be the perfect fit for your Art to Remember fundraiser. If nothing else, you will get to play with the fun materials that will be sent to you in the SWAG box that I'm sure is coming soon to your doorstep.  We will be using Jack Richardson's PlayColor sticks... They are really fun! 

Book Reflection: Wired to Create

Wow, did I learn a lot about myself with this book, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind by Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire. I actually listened to this book the first time a month or so ago, but I'm listening again... as I create this summer. 

Here are some of my takeaways... 

I have a messy mind.  Yep, that's how this book describes a creative brain... messy.  That really is a true statement.  There is so much chatter going on in this head that there is no way to get it all out or act on every idea.  This was right away in the book, it talked about people who are highly motivated by their activities. Again, yes, that's me.  I'm often asked why I put my heart and soul into Art Education... I guess this is it.  I love it, I'm highly motivated to create, and this makes me happy.  

The authors suggest that we might want to rethink Thomas Edison's famous quote, "Genius is1% inspiration and 99% persperation" they called this quote a 'gross simplification'.  Inspiration and preparation play an equal role.  People who are passionate about their job put in more perspiration. 

One of my favorite chapters was about daydreaming. For those of you who follow my Instagram account you recently saw my notes from my training in mindfulness and Yoga Calm.  Our district has a Mindfulness/Yoga Calm employee.  She trains staff and students on how to calm, deal with anxiety, and find a balance in life. I have wanted to go to training for over a year and finally made time to do so.  This chapter on daydreaming challenges some of the ideas that Mindfulness introduces.

 

Wired to Create suggests that daydreaming is an invaluable tool to find out what we think and feel. Daydreaming is considered to be 'thought intrusion', 'undirected thought', and 'mind wondering'... All somewhat negative connotations. This book suggests just the opposite, it says, "Not all minds that wander are lost."  I love this idea.  The book does not deny that mind wandering can be harmful when the goal is to focus on things such as reading comprehension.  It does challenge mindful practices.  To be mindful, it is suggested to put out all other thoughts. But in this book, it suggests that if one does so, and doesn't let their mind wonder, the creative muscle will weaken and may dimish over time. 

Another chapter that really struck me was a chapter on the idea of solitude. In a world of constant social interaction, our culture views a person who enjoys solitude to be an antisocial person.  I would not consider myself to be that at all... but boy, do I love my alone time.  Susan Cain, the author of, Quiet: the Power of Introvert in a world that Can't Stop Talking is mentioned in this book due to her Quiet Revolution.  Quiet Revolution is an online website that advocates for Quiet in the day for employees and students who may need that time/space in their lives for creativity.  This is so, so true.  I miss quiet in my life.  I remind myself that there will be a day that I may wish all the noise in my life to be there again, but at this point with young kids and 800ish students in my room in a week... I love a break. 

This book made me feel normal for craving that, for wanting quiet, and time to think. For wanting to daydream and having a messy mind.  It made me understand that I don't have to suppress my thoughts and feelings... Rather, as suggested by a good friend, embrace what makes you, you.  Don't wish it away.

Summer Art Challenge

Are you up for a challenge?? You know I love to do a challenge now and again when it works into my life.  Right now I am planning on attempting Tim Needles challenges thought our #K12artchallenge.  He has some amazing and creative great ideas and amazing celebration of posts from our #PLN (Professional Learning Network).  Check out his post on Everyday Renaissance.

Word is that next month Visual Journaling with David R. Modler and Eric M. Scott.  They did a challenge last year and it really pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I'm looking forward to participating when I can this summer. I'm sure the challenge will be posted on their blog in July... you should bookmark it now. JournalFodderJunkies

The current challenge is from Team Grundler... BINGO baby! We in Minnesota love our Bingo and this is a fun way to keep the creative juices going over the summer and connect with your #PLN.  Join us on social media and I guess with this one... you can actually win a prize! Let's do it people!!  Here is the post from the #k12artchat team, Matt and Laura Grundler