Our school has been fortunate over the past few years to host exchange students during the months of January and February. We currently have four students from Korea and another four from China that will be attending classes until the middle of February.

Today, one of the Chinese teachers helping to coordinate the program was a guest teacher in my class. It was an amazing experience for my students to learn how to do Chinese calligraphy from a person authentic to the culture! Students not only heard about the ancient traditions of Chinese calligraphy, but also were able to practice how to mix the ink using a stone and ink block, how to properly hold the brush and even how to write their name in Chinese characters!

It was interesting to see how difficult it was for students to hold the brush in proper position. The instructor said that many Chinese students have to attend martial arts courses in order to help build up their muscles to the point where they can hold the brush correctly for extended lengths of time!

Below are a few photos from the day.

Last week I was looking for a two day mini-project that I could do with my 7th grade classes.  They had just finished up their clay projects and I didn't want to start something big before the Thanksgiving break.  So, I came up with an idea based on this Pinterest pin.

I photographed each student with a pair of sun glasses on and enlarged the photos on the copy machine. Students then used transfer paper to trace over the image (hence the fact we were able to complete these in only two class periods). I then asked them to draw a place that was meaningful to them inside the sunglasses which would give the illusion that it was a reflection in the lenses. They used either colored pencil or water color pencils to add color to the place and the backgrounds. It was a really fun quick project that didn't require a ton of skill. Everyone's project came out good. I also liked the fact that the place was very personal to each student and I was able to learn a little more about all of them!

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!