On any given day, I have about 100 students passing through my classroom. As I teach about 250 students, that works out to be about 500 students a week. That's a lot. And assessing their growth has always been a challenge.

As a Specialist teacher, I work with the same children every year, so of course I see many changes over the years. I know my students very well-I've watched them grow up over the past 3 years, both physically, mentally, and artistically. But knowing those changes isn't enough; they have to be documented as well.

And that is the challenge that I'm experiencing. A wonderful colleague shared her method (photographed above) which has many benefits, not least of which is that it's very quick and portable. But of course, it needs to be digitized. I've asked other Specialist teachers in different schools what system they use, and basically they're all doing what I'm doing: assess on paper first, then scan and upload to the internet. Time consuming and not very efficient. If anyone knows of a better way, I'd love to hear what you do!

I've introduced this concept to my students many times: the Art of Failure. Many people assume that failure is a bad thing....but that is only the case if one doesn't learn from it. The idea of doing something over and over again-until it is right-is not always a comfortable thing for many young students.

Many believe that after they've made a self-portrait, that they are somehow 'done' with self-portraits. The ole "been-there-done-that" mindset (which drives me crazy!) I explain that Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh didn't just make one self-portrait; between the two, they've probably made hundreds! They don't all work-some were probably considered "failures" by the artists-but they were all worth doing. Because something could be learned by all of them.

This BBC Magazine article, How Creativity is Helped by Failure, is worth a read.

I had an epiphany the other day. I realized that I really don't like seeing a wall of student artwork in which everything looks the same. A board displaying 22 student copies of Van Gogh's Starry Night or some such thing, really doesn't interest me. I've never liked "cookie cutter" art before anyway, but even if a particular skill or technique is being taught, the end product should all look different.

I explained it to my Grade 3 students like this: they don't all look alike or think alike. If they sang the same song, they wouldn't all sound alike and if they all wrote a short story, it wouldn't all be the same. So why should their artwork all look alike?

With that in mind, I am teaching my Grade 3 kids a skill-how to draw using One Point Perspective-and it is up to them to apply that skill to a product of their own choosing. I taught them how to use their ruler to create parallel lines, as well as using a vanishing point and horizon line. I've also showed them some examples of drawings that use One Point Perspective. Now it is up to them to choose what they would like to make.

I'm hopeful that, when I display their artwork on the wall, we won't have 22 versions of the same exact thing but 22 different and personal drawings using the same skill. I'll post the end results here when I have them, so stay tuned!

Grade 1 students were introduced to Printmaking this week using found objects. I began by asking the kids whether they had made a print before. Most, as expected, had not but they did mention computer printers.

When I asked if a computer printer could only make one print, they were aghast and said "no, it can make thousands!" "And can you make thousand of prints of the same thing or do they need to be different?" "They can all be the same!" That, we discovered, is how printmaking differs from painting: with printmaking, one can make thousands of images of the same thing with little variation but with painting, even if one paints the same subject in the same way, it will always be different.

Students then created their own "ink pad" by spreading paint onto a damp sponge. After discussing the different images that could be made using only straight lines and circles, students then began experimenting with printmaking using pieces of cardboard and toilet paper rolls.

My students learned that, if they used too much pressure with the cardboard, it would crush and the print would smudge. They also learned that if they move the cardboard after it touches the paper, the print will also smudge. After talking about what kinds of images could be made just using straight lines and circles, they spent the lesson experimenting and creating their first prints.

We will apply these newfound skills to a product, of their own choice, that combines printing with painting. Stayed tuned for some examples!

Today in Art, Grade 2 students were practicing their drawing and tracing skills using a ruler by drawing a diamond. Using Two-Point Perspective-though we didn't call it that-they used pencils, markers, and colored pencils to draw, what one students noticed, could be the corner of a building.

When I initially showed them my example, there were a lot of "wow"s and "cool" but also a few "that looks hard". One of my students, who has difficulty managing his emotions, was starting to get upset because he immediately assumed that he couldn't draw it.

I kept him by my side when I demonstrated to the entire class and had him help me while I was drawing. Once he understood how easy it was, he ran off and very quickly made a lovely drawing. He was so excited, he made another! He was so proud, he didn't want to hand in his work but we compromised by letting him show his teacher and his Mom and then returning the work to me.

What started as a "that looks hard" and "I can't do it" turned into a "yay, I'm so excited" and "it's the best day ever!"