Teachers Make Awesome Students!

Dedicated teachers hard at work.... being students! (And on their day off, no less!)

One of my favorite things about the teacher workshops I've been giving is that I get to spend time sharing ideas with other teachers. Teachers not only have lots of great ideas (learned from experience), but most importantly they love to share them.... I guess that's why they're teachers! I'm sure that I learn as much as they do on these Saturday mornings!!

So, here's an idea shared at a recent workshop that I just had the chance to try out for myself. When drawing or painting flowers, your students need visual references, right?? I usually put up photos from calendars, or I bring in some real flowers for them to look at. Well, here's another option... pick up a variety of artificial flowers at the Dollar Store and you'll always have flowers ready when you are!

At my workshop where I taught "Art with Markers" last weekend, I distributed a bag full of these fake blooms for participants to choose from. When the focus is on a single blossom (think "Georgia O'Keeffe") this is a great way to allow each student to have a close-up view of the flower of their choice. You won't have to worry about keeping these flowers in water or having to get new ones when they wilt!

And while you're at it, try out this fun lesson with echo lines.... I've posted it before, but in case you missed it, here it is again:
"Echo Line Flowers"....