Imagine you were going to introduce yourself to someone that you had never met before, but could only give them five words that best describe you. What five words would communicate the essence of who you are?  This is the challenge that I gave to my students last week.

The idea came about when we started working on our first set of Artist Trading Cards for the ATC school exchange.  The theme for this month is, "All about ME: Introductions and Goals for the Year."  When I first told students about the exchange I wanted them to have a lot of independence.  I told them they could do anything they wanted on the card and use any medium that was interesting, as long as the card was about themselves.  However, as they began working we realized that the cards were very pretty, but they could do a better job of introducing themselves visually on the ATCs.  That's when I asked them to re-think how they were approaching these and start again by brainstorming a list of words about themselves. After they each had a big list of words, I asked them to narrow it down to their top five.  It was fun to hear what student's chose as their words.  Not only did I learn a lot about each student through this activity, but they also go to know each other as peers as we shared our words in class.  Hopefully the students that receive our cards will enjoy them too!

By the way, my five words are "art, teacher, family, love, learner," and my sample card for the project is the photo above.  Not only did students have to think of their five words, but they also needed to figure out how they could make a symbol that illustrated each word and how to put them all together in an interesting way. I think my students learned a lot from of these 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" miniature works of art!

So, what are your five words? I'd love for you to share them!

I started using Artsonia three years ago and have never looked back. In one word, the site is "AMAZING."

So, why I think Artsonia is amazing?

1. Students get to have their artwork published to a global audience. They feel proud of themselves and their work when this happens. A huge part of my philosophy as an art educator is to help increase student's self-esteem. Artsonia lets me show off their artwork to the entire world! It doesn't get much bigger than that.

2. Their work is saved FOREVER on this site. They will be able to look back at it years from now and remember what they created in middle school. I wish we had this technology back when I was their age. All I have is a folder that is falling apart with a handful of pieces in it.

3. Once a parent registers with the site, they receive an e-mail every time their child has a new piece of art that has been published. As a teacher, I don't have to remind parents about checking in with the site.
4. Parents can stay engaged with what their child is making in art class as it happens. I usually don't send home actual artwork until the end of the semester. Some children never bring it home as it gets left in their locker or even "lost" on the way home. Through Artsonia, parents can view all of their child's work for the year as it is being created

5. Additional e-mails can be added as part of a students "fan club." This allows grandparents, aunts, uncles and other far away family members/friends to see the amazing artwork students create. The more family and friends see a child's artwork, the more encouraging comments they receive. When this happens, my student's self-confidence increases and they become even more interested in art! It’s a win for everyone.

6. Parents can purchase products with their child’s artwork on them with 20% going directly back to the art room. No other website that I know of like this will automatically generate funds for your program directly. You can get a check made out to your school, a gift certificate to Blick Art or Artsonia and new this year is a fund for iPads!

7. It makes your program very visible to not only parents but also administrators and community members.


I know that most of us in the field of education have very little free time. It’s hard to think of adding another task to our to do list. However, I can't say enough about Artsonia!  Once you get into the routine of taking photos of students work and uploading them it goes quick.  You can check out the Coolidge Artsonia gallery here.

So, why do you love Artsonia?