Rainbow Teacher

     At the end of every school year, I cart home a stack of professional reading books.  My summer vision is to lounge on the beach while reading the latest teaching trends.  The reality is those wonderful books are carefully stacked in a crate hidden at the back of my closet.  I'm sure I'll eventually get around to reading them.  Meanwhile I'm busy connecting with a online learning community.   At the moment, I'm reflecting on my first art project as a tribute to all my favorite teachers. 

     I chose a Rainbow fish theme because in the story, the fish gathers one beautiful scale from every fish he meets.  I felt this reflected my teaching experience because I also gather "tidbits" from every wonderful educator I discover.  I am the creation of many magnificent educators who have inspired me! Thank you to all the teachers out there who I've stolen ideas from over the years. 

      With the rainbow fish theme, my first summer project was to paint a flower pot for my Mother's Day plant.  Amazingly, it is still alive!  Any plant tough enough to survive my care deserves its own hand made container. 

     The first step was to paint the areas where the sand, fish, and seaweed would be.  I used white paint and then covered it with paper that I had cut in a wavy pattern.  I also cut out a fish and sea weed plant that stuck to the white paint.  It doesn't matter that the paper doesn't match up.  You will paint over it later anyway.

     The second step would be a blast with students.  However I would take declare this an outside activity.  Mixing paint with water in a cup, I used a straw to create bubbles as high as a tower.  Next, I dipped the flower pot into the bubble froth.  Bubbles collected on the flower pot until I popped them with my fingers.  I followed this procedure until I had created a water pattern on the top part of the container.   (If I were to do this project with my class, I would cover an oatmeal cylinder with white paper.  And it wouldn't be used as flower pot!  I'm still thinking about what it hold...)

     After the water pattern was dark enough for my eyes, I peeled the paper off the areas where I planned to place the sand, fish, and seaweed.  I painted the bottom part with a tan flecked paint.  Then I painted the seaweed green.  Once I painted three coats, I outlined the seaweed with a toothpick.  This caused the white paint to show through the green creating the designs. 

     I first drew the outline of the fish on a piece of tracing paper.  Once I created a fish that actually resembled a sea creature, I held it to the side of the flower pot.  Taking a sharpie marker, I traced the design again.  This time the design bleed through the paper onto the container.  Now I had an outline to paint.

     I didn't realize it would take such a long time, but I used the end of the brush to create multi colored dots. When I was finally finished,  a local pottery shop was very happy to glaze and fire it for me. 

      Of course, I am so pleased with my first project that I'm eager to start a new project.  

     Reflecting on this experience,  I'm excited about the idea of instilling creativity in my students by having them create something of their own choosing.  It would be a great way to get to know their interests and talents.   Of course it is a meaningful oral and writing activity for them to share how they created their project.   

     Here's an interesting video about how to help students develop creativity.