Teacher Time

Ok, so this isn't quite painting with a twist, I think it is even better.  

We used the lesson plan from a project that I do with my Fourth graders.  The administrators on our campus thought it would be a fun way to celebrate officially becoming a Lighthouse School, one of only 159 schools worldwide.

Elm Grove staff has been working the past three years on acquiring this title, which is a program based on Stephen Covey's 7 Habits, The Leader in Me.  

I joined the staff on year two of this endeavor. I love how involved parents, students, staff and even the community has been through this process. I personally use it regularly at home with my own kids.  

Anyway, this year before school started, we directed the teachers in painting their own lighthouses.  None of them look the same, each are unique.  And it was really wonderful to see the challenges that the teachers had to work through.

We saw problem solving at its best and they walked away with a great lighthouse painting and a deeper appreciation for what we do in the art room.

These were done in a morning session and some came back to finish in the afternoon.  Still, a few needed touch ups or a little extra help achieving what they wanted on their canvases after school started. 

We did, however,  have a couple of cheaters who weren't happy and talked friends or neighbors into redoing theirs (they think they are sneaky, but I know who you are!!).

I've heard mixed emotions about leading these for campus events, some art teachers hate it, some love it.   I personally didn't mind.  It was fun, it promoted the art program, and most teachers were very proud of their paintings-I think that would fit as Habit #4, Think win win, y'all know I had to throw that in there.

Each teacher came up with a vision for their lighthouse and had to come up with a plan.  And as art teachers know all to well, sometimes that plan works and sometimes it doesn't.  There was lots of discussion on how to achieve different effects and experimenting with mixing the paint.  

When these were finished, they were all proudly displayed outside each teachers' classroom.