While at a WAEA leadership retreat in La Crosse, we had the opportunity to go and see a large printmaking activity. Printmakers from all over the city had gathered in a parking lot with their large wood blocks. We were able to watch them ink their blocks and then use a steam roller to roll over the blocks and print them.

I thought this was too cool not to share. The high school teacher completely blacked out his room by sealing up all the cracks along the doors and windows. He then cut a small hole into the cardboard covering the window and placed a large sheet that hung from the ceiling. After we turned off the lights and sat in the dark for a short period of time, we began to see a projection on the sheet of what was outside the window. We even sent students outside to walk around and they could be seen being projected onto the sheet.

Tasha was in charge of the Empty Bowls Event so that was a responsibility I took on when she had her baby. The event featured bowls from the elementary, middle, and high school students that could be purchased by people. The event also had a cupcake and cupcake art decorating station. After the event, the students had their choir concert which was themed "The Sweet Shop." Because of the theme, throughout the year the students had also made artwork that revolved around sweets. Parents could walk throughout the school and view artwork from all of the elementary levels that dealt with sweets. Many of the sweets-related projects can be found on mine and Tasha Newton's blog.

Today, we got to learn about Johnny Appleseed! We painted a HUGE apple (large enough to keep the doctor away for several days) with tempera cakes. Then we took apples and used them as stamps (I cut a bunch of apples in half and took bites out of some of them). Before I saw them for their second class, I cut out and glued their heads onto the apple. Then they used a Q-Tip to add seeds to their apples. They also glued a pan on top of their head, just liked Johnny Appleseed! Lastly, they colored their stem brown with a Slick-Stick (not pictured in my example) and cut out their apple.

While at Fall Creek, I have had the opportunity to teach 4K which has been an absolute blast! This is a project that Tasha Newton taught. First we used tempera cakes to paint our pig. Then we took blue and white crayons and drew bubbles onto the tub. Next we used a spray bottle with blue paint to spritz the tub, revealing the magic white crayon! The next day, we cut our pig out and glued him on. Then we glued on cotton balls and two X's as faucet handles.