Mr. Mills Blog

I’m looking forward to the SmartExplorers final events over the next two nights. Mr. Bynum’s class will be giving their presentations tonight from 6:30 to 8, and Mr. Brown’s class will give their presentations at the same time tomorrow. I’ve enjoyed being part of this program over the past three years, and the final event is a fun night. The students get nervous having to present in front of their friends and family, but they always do a great job because they are prepared and confident in their abilities.

The third grade students are still working on their community murals. We have talked a lot about different coloring and drawing techniques. Their drawing abilities really flourish at this age.

The fourth grade students have finished up their high contrast pictures. I hope to have them hanging in the hallway before Thanksgiving break. We are starting a new project that deals with inspiration. I feel very strongly about being inspired as an artist. It is very hard to just “come up” with creative ideas without having a starting point. We are learning how to look at things in our visual world that we think look good and use that design or pattern or picture as inspiration for something else to create. I’m looking forward to seeing their creations.

The sixth grade students had a great trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art this past Wednesday. I encourage you to talk to your child about what they saw, and use the family pass they got from the museum to revisit the exhibit Massive Change which will be up until the end of the year.

That is all for now…

As technology continues to move faster and faster, it is hard to keep up with everything. I continue to love working with the students on the blog, but not only does it need a lot of upkeep, but it needs to make sense with the curriculum. I’m learning how to put pictures, sounds, and video up, but you can do all that work, and it doesn’t make any bit of difference with what the kids are learning. I think the Internet is THE most powerful learning tool out there, but the massive nature of it makes it difficult to use in the classroom.

Just this week, I only scratched the surface of searching on Google and Wikipedia with fourth graders. With the amount of information to sift through, it can seem almost impossible. On the other hand, though, it is necessary because the days of finding information strictly through books and magazines is completely gone. We need to update how we look for information now or our students will be left behind.

I’m happy to see all of my classes making a lot of progress with their artwork this week. Both third grade classes are working in groups to create community murals. Not only are we learning how to think about community and how to draw, we are also learning how to work in groups. The fourth grade continued working on their high contrast pictures this week. Some students might have taken their original pictures home. They are also adding winter themed tissue paper so we can have them up during December.

The fifth graders are working on a couple different projects right now. Both classes need to finish their accordion book stories and turn them in if they not have done so already. We have moved on to a new project this week, so it is important that they turn it in soon. The stories will be displayed during the final event for Smart Explorers. I hope you all are able to attend. Mr. Bynum’s class has their final event on Monday, Novemeber 20th and Mr. Brown’s class has their event on Tuesday, November 21st. Both events are from 6:30 to 8:00 in the evening. All of the students will be docents for artwork they picked out on their fifth trip to the museum. They will be discussing the elements of art, what the story of the piece is, and what the function of the artwork might be. It is a fun night for everyone, so please do not miss out.

The sixth grade students have finished up their logos. They can be found here. We are also going to the Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday this week to see an exhibit called Massive Change. It is a great exhibit that I previewed this weekend about sustainable design and the global economy. It is not what you would call your “normal” art exhibit, but a tremendous learning experience for the students. I certainly learned a lot when I went there.

Until next time…