I am so happy to be  in person and with students at art tables for this 2022-23 school year.  I have gone from being remote, being hybrid and teaching STEAM,  distancing  at desks and now we are back to more of a normal art studio bussing with creative energy.  

 

If you are new to this amazing school, here's a little about me and my art philosophy- I have 22 years of certificated teaching experience in both the gen ed. classroom (MA Ed. Arts integration) and k-12 Visual Arts. It is through the arts and their content areas, that I will passionately serve these students and the Oak Harbor community. By differentiating instruction, I strive to meet each child where he or she is at. In embracing the whole child, I put emphasis on the creative processes over the product-driven approach. It is my goal that all students will leave elementary school as creative problem solvers. This year your student will practice seeing, thinking, and creating. They will explore problems, learn to communicate ideas and emotions through the elements of art, present art, and respond to art. This is a place where important foundations for art skills and conceptual arts understandings will take root. Through a balanced sequential integrated arts curriculum, students will be able to build upon existing art  skills, while constructing knowledge to grow and gain confidence, not only in the arts, but also in other cross-curricular areas that are woven into the arts (Socio-Emotional Learning, TSocila studies, Technology, Math, Engineering, Literacy). Student projects will go home throughout the year, but what you don't see will be held in student portfolios or displayed at school, and returned toward the end of year.  I will keep my website's artist gallery updated as students create art!  

 

This is going to be an exciting year with these budding young minds. In nurturing the whole child, Oak Harbor Elementary has adopted the Leader in Me program. So in its fourth year, our school community will be working to model and teach the 7 habits of effective leaders to our students, and develop leadership teams, and student run assemblies. I am especially excited because the arts are an ideal place to practice and instill these 7 life skill habits. Artistic thinking and behaviors are interchangeable with these LIM 7 habits--For example, piggybacking on the habits like "Begin with the end in mind" (artists envision),  "Synergize" (artists collaborate), and much more. You can learn more about the Leader in Me process through the OHE homepage.