Back? Now with bulletin boards!

A two-year blogging gap is no big, right?

I've been working as an extended-day instructor for preschool students at a wonderful private school in Northern Virginia for the past two years. While I have loved the experience, I'm happy to say that - starting this month - I'm the new assistant art teacher for K-8th grade! One of my new duties was to fill the display space near the front office and since we don't have student work to show off yet, I decided to fall back on my illustration skills and love of art history.

This board was such a joy to do. The idea came to me so easily and naturally and we had all the supplies I needed. The Langley School seeks to balance academic learning with social and emotional growth, and essential questions help tie the two together. For my display, I wanted to use quotes that would make kids think, maybe agree or disagree with each statement and then wonder why. 

Something else I've been thinking about a lot lately is representation. The standard canon of art history is overwhelmingly white and male. I wanted familiar art and famously inspiring quotes, but instead of depicting a bunch of (mostly) European (mostly) male artists by their portraits, I decided to use silhouettes and fill them with their artwork instead. I think art can get to the truth of who a person is and how they see the world, so depicting them this way still feels honest to me - maybe more so than a simple likeness. 

Originally, I was going to identify each artist by putting a corresponding children's book from the library beneath every silhouette. However, as I was putting up the display, a colleague suggested I make it a guessing game instead. I loved the idea (maybe in small part because it meant a little less work for me)! Can you tell who's who?

The second board showcases words that describe our students. I'm less satisfied with this one, as it didn't all magically fall together like the first. However, I like that it has the capacity to be interactive, with leaves slowly filling the tree throughout the year as kids answer questions related to these words. Hopefully, I'll get some leaf answers to put up soon! (Also hopefully, I'll get a plain white border to put up as well!)