Stephanie 
Close reading has become an increasingly popular buzz word in the world of education since it appeared in the Common Core Standards in 2010. When educators think of the term “close read,” they often thinking of reading written text. However, students can learn how to close read a work of art, a piece of music … Read more
It’s 6:00 in the morning and something has come up! You have to call off work. The stress starts mounting…. what are my students going to work on today?! What easy materials can I have them use?! How will the sub know what to deliver?! Ahh! Hath no fear! Below are 10 straightforward, ready-made sub … Read more
At the end of every school year, I have my students complete an end-of-the-school-year art class debriefing survey. For me personally, it’s so hugely helpful in my growth as a teacher! I gain valuable insights on what projects were a hit and which were a total flop. Because let’s face it… you can’t win ’em … Read more
Learning perspective drawing is like riding a bike. A little tricky at first, but once you’ve got it… it clicks! It becomes second nature and you don’t have to think about it so much. There are many different types of perspective drawing, but ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE is a great one for beginning artist to start … Read more
Are you a beginning artist looking to build your skills? This step by step video tutorial of a misty forest is a great activity to develop your skills. This tutorial shows how to use layers, opacity, blending, and more! It’s fairly easy, yet produces a really cool result! It also emphasizes the use of atmospheric … Read more
After years teaching in the art room, I’ve found that there are some must-have items that save me time and money. I’ve also found some items that have been essential to classroom and material management. Check out my list below for some ideas of a few of my favorite things. DISCLAIMER: Make a Mark Studios … Read more
If you are a beginning digital art who is learning how to use layers, brush tools and more, this is a really fun activity for you! For this activity, I use an awesome free program called kleki.com. I really love this program because it doesn’t distract new users with a TON of functions and options. … Read more
After nearly a decade of teaching secondary students, I’ve had a lot of time to test out a variety of 2d art projects. Let’s face it: as teachers, sometimes we plan and plan and plan. We are so excited to deliver the project, and then… it flops. Students are uninterested and the final products aren’t … Read more
Art. teacher. are. busy! Period! We put SO much time into project planning, material preparation, project execution, helping students one on one…. the list goes on and on. Over the years, I sought to make a universal art project grading rubric that made grading efficient, effective, and routine. Something that I found that worked for … Read more
I’m always looking for a great art challenge to push artists out of their comfort zone. The random dictionary page drawing does just that! I love this art challenge for a few reasons: #1- Builds literacy skills and teaches you new words.#2-Challenges you to put written words into visual imagery.#3-Provides a funky surface to create … Read more