What's new in Mr. Schmidt's Art Room

Reading just completed our first full week of school and I don't think I'm alone when I say this has been the smoothest 7 day start I've ever had.  It's great to see familiar faces and not have to learn a thousand new names this year, but it helps to get a refresher.  This year, we started off with a name tag so that I could refresh on names and faces and get back into the swing of things by week 2.  It's a simple trick that helps me get back in the game and it's quick to fit in at the end of class after we go over the Art Room Rules and Classroom Procedures.

What else is new?  

I'll be updating (hopefully) weekly with finished projects from 5th and 6th graders who are moving into "Choice-Based" Art Ed.  Basically, students are given the responsibility to explore their own ideas using a variety of materials each day they are in the art room.  They experiment and problem solve at their own pace, and are free to indulge their own interests and fine-tune their personal artwork.  It's extremely student-centered and wide open, and it will be a process to get into a groove, but so far so good.  Here are couple pictures of the 6th graders in action.  Stay tuned for pictures of completed projects as this experiment rolls forward.