Everyday Art Room

How important is it for our kids to know the correct techniques and the right ways to utilize supplies? For Cassie, it's vital. Listen as she talks about the benefits of students learning to use supplies correctly, how students' knowledge of supplies can eliminate frustration, and how you can develop confidence in your kids when they learn the right tool for the right job.

• Promoting Independence with Students
• Another Way to Build Skills
• Oil Pastel Techniques
• Watercolor Techniques

We all know the struggle of actually making it through the last few weeks until winter break. But how do we survive, and maybe even thrive, in that time? In today's episode, Cassie shares her 5 best tips on getting through until break without pulling out your hair. Listen as she discusses how to be flexible without being taken advantage of, how to stay focused on your curriculum, and the best ways to deal with the stress that comes with this time of year.

• How to Fight the Winter Self-Doubt Blues
• Why You Shouldn't Work in Your Classroom Over Break
• 7 Ways to Beat the Winter Blahs
• What Art Teachers Really Want for the Holidays

Mistakes are a part of artmaking, but it can be difficult to explain that idea to our students--especially our kids who want everything to be perfect. It is important to help kids find the joy in art and teach kids to learn from their mistakes. In this episode, Cassie shares some ideas for doing so. She discusses how to talk about growth mindset with your students, drawing exercises and activities that guide students toward success, and why you need to demonstrate a few mistakes and show what to do with them.

• The Growth Mindset Coach
• The Dot by Peter Reynolds
• Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg
• How to Help Your Students Overcome Mistakes

Last week, Cassie talked about what to do when it's time to find a new situation. But what do you do if a new job isn't an option? There are ways to make the best of a bad situation. In this episode, Cassie talks about why you need to stand up for yourself, speak up for yourself, and how to come up with solutions to help better your situation.

• Last Week's Podcast on Finding a New Situation
• Making the Most of a Bad Situation
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Standing Up for Yourself
• The 5 Crappiest Things About Being an Art Teacher

Should you stay or should you go? How do you know when a teaching situation has become toxic, and how do you know when it's time to move on? In this episode, Cassie talks about deciding whether you are in the right environment, how to deal with colleagues and administration, and why you need to always be open to a new opportunity.

• Things to Think About Before You Switch Positions
• Advice for Entering a New Teaching Position
• Four Stages of the Job Search
• Important Benefits to Switching Schools

Do you teach guided drawing to your students? Cassie thinks she has found just the right balance between those strategies and a more open-ended emphasis. Cassie goes through the pros and cons of guided drawing, how she incorporates individuality and creativity in the guided drawing experience, and how to make that experience stress-free for her students.

• Cassie's Thoughts on Guided Drawing
• The Benefits of Using Guided Drawing
• Building Confidence with a Student-Centered Drawing Library
• 5 Reasons to Love and Hate How-To-Draw Books

As Cassie continues to talk about her love for fibers, it's time to dive into sewing in the art room! In today's episode, Cassie discusses everything you need to get started sewing with your kids in the art room. Listen as she talks about when and why to try new things in the art room, her favorite ways to teach sewing basics, and why kids love sewing their own creations.

• Cassie's PRO Learning Pack on Sewing
• Everyday Art Room Weaving Episode
• Sewing and Embroidery in the Art Room
• Cassie's Feature in "Threads" Magazine

What do you do when you have a class where everything seems to crash and burn? It doesn't need to be the end of the world. Cassie has 10 tips for you to help everything run more smoothly in your classroom. Listen as she gives advice on how to read your audience, strategies on how to calm your classes, and why a slow transition to quiet talking can be welcomed by your kids.

• 7 Easy Ways to Create a Calm and Focused Art Room
• 5 Classroom Management Strategies for the Art Room
• 8 No-Fail Ideas for Keeping Kids on Task
• Fundamental Routines that Can Transform Your Art Room

Today, Cassie devotes the entire episode to answering listener and reader questions from Facebook, Instagram, email, and other social media. Take a listen as she talks about working with chalk on ceiling tiles, why she hates glue bottles, and how she takes care of herself and keeps her energy up throughout the year.

• Cassie's Last Mailbag Episode
• Chalked Ceiling Tiles
• How Cassie Deals with Glue Bottles
• Comprehensive Curriculum Examples

You are at your best when you are teaching where your passion lies, and for Cassie, fiber arts is one of those passions. In particular, she wants to share her excitement about all things weaving! In this episode, she talks about why weaving is a great introduction to fibers, her favorite books to help teach weaving, and how to begin teaching vocabulary and techniques with each grade level.

• You Can Weave! by Kathleen Monaghan
• The Goat in the Rug
• Abuela's Weave
• Cassie's Weaving Techniques learning pack from the PRO Library