Over the past few years I have started attending visual arts conferences. Most recently I attended the National Art Education Association's conference in Seattle, Washington. The theme this year was STEAM and I was so excited to expand upon my knowledge and learn new things to bring back to my students and other art teachers in my community. Professional development is important in the growth of educators. As the world grows and changes around us- so must we in order to be the best teachers our students can have. If we want our students to be constant learners and we need to model that behavior. I have been to many professional development sessions in the past that did pertain to me (something I am pretty sure is similar with all fine arts teachers). Finding meaningful, thought provoking, content specific professional development for art education is rare. When found- it needs to be taken advantage of. With both NAEA and GAEA, I can pick the sessions that fit my needs best. There are so many sessions that everyone can individualize the experience. Before I arrived in Seattle I searched the sessions offered and made a schedule for myself. I found many free ones- but I decided that I would benefit more from some of the paid sessions. I made some changes after arriving in Seattle... but I stayed pretty close to the original plan. I visited the vender hall between sessions to try new art materials, get new ideas for lesson plans, and to get free samples. I was able to meet up with a few people I have been working with over the past few years (Maryellen from Arts and Activities Magazine and Tim from The Art of Education). I bought the latest deck of Terraforma cards and I learned more about the SCAD program for teachers in the summer. STEAM Sessions I liked best: Da Vinci’s Heart Pound Studies: Layering Authentic Scientific Illustration with the Emotional and Expressive Heart Paper Clay- Bring Art + Design and STEAM to Life Using Paper Clay STEAM SLIME- When Science & Art Collide: STEAM Magnetic Slime Package Design Modern Rendering Techniques using Copic Markers Oh, What a Relief! Fabulous Tooling Foil Soaptopia: Children’s Book Illustrations Using Soap Resist with Drawing and Painting Techniques While attending the sessions I utilized my mixed media sketchbook. I wanted to be able to keep as much information as possible in the book so I had it in one place. I also wanted to work on my sketch notes! Events and Museums: While at NAEA I was able to meet up with the #K12ArtChat group! Toured the bottom level of the Amazon Spheres. Visited the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum and watched a glass blowing demo Opening night party for NAEA Walk around Seattle looking for street art and sculptures I think one of the best parts of the conference happens AFTER the conference! Once I get back to the art classroom I can try out all the new media I got as freebies and try out some of the new lessons before teaching them to my students! I left this years NAEA conference with my mind buzzing with STEAM lessons and new ideas. Collaboration with my peers brought up my confidence levels and made me feel more connected to other art teachers and not as isolated. I love that I get to bring all this new information to my students, my school, and my art teacher community!
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AuthorArtist living and teaching in Georgia. Archives
March 2019
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