After 30 odd years of teaching Art, I have nearly 200 artworks I’ve created as demonstration examples for my classes. I’m not near done teaching- but I can use digital copies for my examples now so I figured, why not make some room in my classroom drawers and maybe some extra money for art supplies while I’m at it.
I don’t have one central online gallery yet but if you either follow me on Instagram or are a former student, you may already have some favorites. If you go to https://maladjusted.us click on the ‘ART for Sale tab’ for a link to an index of titles. Some already have suggested prices but I’m open to “best reasonable offers.”
I don’t have Venmo or PayPal, so you’ll just have to mail a check.
OR, you can support the #BoyerValley Art Department instead of me and order prints or merchandise (instead of original artwork) from https://artsonia.com/gifts and search for the artist “MrMallory1” we need new Crayola markers anyway. Either route you go, thanks for your support. #buyart #buyfromartists #supportlivingartists #artteachersofinstagram
NOTICE; I’m offering my daughters “right of first refusal” to anything they don’t want me to sell and I have three graduating Seniors in Art classes this year that I might just be persuaded to either gift or deeply discount at least one item to each. Just so you know.
This 4 minute listen is an inspiring story about the work it takes to get better at reading. Oliver James ( https://www.tiktok.com/@oliverspeaks1) was willing to put himself out there to share his journey from illiteracy to becoming an avid reader. He compares it to exercise/fitness training.
Even though I’m a visual art teacher, not a language arts teacher I encourage all my students to force themselves to read no matter how much they hate it or how difficult it is for them. Reading is the #1 way to learn. I’ve also begged parents to read to their kids. It’s a cycle; The more you do it, the better you get at it, the easier it is for you, the less you hate it, the less you hate it, the more you enjoy it… etc. etc
I encourage all of you to listen and share Oliver’s story. Former students need to know that rather than be embarrassed by their poor reading skills and devaluing reading for their kids, they can overcome their deficits and then help their children’s teachers (you) help their children. Current students, esp. 6-12 need to recognize how much powerful and less gullible reading makes them and how valuable it is even if they think it’s boring or hard and as Oliver James says in this interview, it’s easier to learn and build skills when you’re in school than it will be as an adult.
And finally (and I need to do this myself, I’m not being an elitist, judgemental snob, I’ve become really lazy about this, honestly) WE ALL NEED to be disciplined about reading every day and promoting & encouraging reading with our students- even Art, Music, PE, & Math. Reading is learning. There’s very little other critical thinking like analysis, interpretation, synthesis and application without reading.
I bet it takes you less time to listen to this interview than it did to read this email. I DARE you to resolve to make reading matter.
We want to practice and apply skills and concepts we’ve learned such as comparing/contrasting size/space relationships to “basic unit,” seeing and drawing negative spaces, fitting a composition into a format and imagining subjects on the theoretical “picture-plane.” We also want to get ready for using “sighting” to check and compare/contrast angles and to experience proportions and placement that will prepare us for drawing in perspective as well as faces and figures.
Above; Demonstration examples by Ted Mallory from a variety of years. Available for purchase with a gift to the Boyer Valley Art Department.
WHY We want to practice and apply skills and concepts we’ve learned such as comparing/contrasting size/space relationships to “basic unit,” seeing and drawing negative spaces, fitting a composition into a format and imagining subjects on the theoretical “picture-plane.” We also want to get ready for using “sighting” to check and compare/contrast angles and to experience proportions and placement that will prepare us for drawing in perspective as well as faces and figures.
HOW On 18×24″ newsprint pad create a 2″ margin all the way around. Then tone the format lightly with graphite. Using a 8×10′ viewfinder…
I’m not a computer science teacher or a technology integrationist, but I’ve been trying to use computers in my classes ever since I started teaching in 1990something. My awesome new Superintendent let me attend a great conference this week that our IT Director recommended. I’m really glad I did. I need to make a plan for how I’ll use at least some of what I learned in order to get teaching license renewal credit, but meanwhile (if only to process so much information in my own brain) I put together this list of apps & ideas that I shared with the rest of the faculty at our school. Like most things I write, I’m making a blog post out of it. I hope some other teachers find it useful. If you’re a teacher or a tech specialist, please share one or some of your favorite apps in the comments.
Hello All, I know I’m not Ben or Jeremy, but Shelly & I (Ted) got a chance to attend the ITEC Fall ‘22 Conference in Des Moines this past Mon & Tues and I thought that I’d share a few thoughts and a few apps with you. If you already use them cool, if you don’t need them, cool, if they’re just what you may have been looking for- great!
Lots of us have been disappointed by conferences or annoyed by sessions that don’t seem to prove applicable for our area. I’ve been there, I feel your cynicism, but I really enjoyed this one and felt like there was a lot to glean. They call it a Tech & Ed ”Connection,” because they really wanted to offer something for K-12 and all disciplines, not just for HS Computer Sci teachers, IT Directors like Shelly or Administrators. I recommend it to everyone. I came away with at least a little professional boost, anyway. Sometimes it’s good to get to be a student again instead of having to be a teacher, at least for a day or two. Not to mention it’s an easy license renewal credit!
Aaron Maurer, STEM Lead for 21 school districts in Iowa helping to expand STEM, Computer Science, Authentic Learning, and Purposeful Play into classrooms K-12 for the Mississippi Bend AEA 9Reminded us that kids need to be taught creativity & mental elasticity (neural plasticity?) In other words, don’t just teach them your subject matter, teach them to become learners. He called it making them “robot proof,” neither becoming a mere robot nor being replaceable by automation because you are so adaptable as a self-learner.
Canva for Teachers Inspire learning through the power of visual communication and collaboration with Canva for Education. It’s 100% free for K12 teachers and their students.Not only can you use Canva to create graphics to use on your worksheets & lessons, but you can use it to CREATE worksheets & lessons and so much more. PLUS- you can create “classes” on Canva so that your students can create things for you as part of a lesson. I bet some of you Millennials or GenZ teachers knew about this already.I’m so old, I used Adobe InDesign back when it was called Aldus PageMaker! Now it’s not “desk-top publishing” its “social marketing” on your phone- I gotta catch up.Maybe we should use this in Yearbook class.
Common Sense Media Innovative, Digital Citizenship Curriculum & resources covering key areas like media choices, digital equity, digital literacy, & tech accountability
EduVolve is an EdTech company that design games and adaptive tools for learning. We build unique, flexible and adaptable educational aids that allows every single child access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities (in AFRICA!).
Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more. It’s great for having kids respond to prompts as a formative assessment- especially if they’re afraid to speak in front of their classmates; like a spoken book report vs. typed. It works from Chromebook or phone. They’ve made some updates so that it’s more versatile. Teachers can now use it to leave feedback for students on assignments.
History with Doodles by Brett Comegy & Angie Love; Of course I’d love this, being a double major in Art & Hist/Soc.Stu. I’ve been trying to train 6-8th graders in a thing called “SketchNoting” for years. Research says that it increases engagement, relevancy, comprehension & retention. These two don’t show students how to do it & hope they will. They do it with their MS History students step-by-step and have seen marked improvement on both unit and state standardized testing. Makes me wish I still taught Civics. Guess I’m gonna have to use it for color theory, elements & principles of design or some Art History. PLEASE- you don’t have to have ANY drawing skills. Watch one or two of their videos and see if you’d like to try it once or twice for English, Science, whatever your discipline. It’s basically a graphic organizer that you create with kids instead of having them fill out a worksheet. Engage more of their brain. Brett & Angie started it to help reach kids with language & comprehension struggles (ELL, low comprehension scores, trauma/poverty backgrounds etc.) Goes without saying I’m sold on it.
JamBoard is one of the Google apps, like Docs, Slides and Sheets. It’s a collaborative tool like a virtual white board where kids can leave comments, pictures etc. Great for think-pair-shares & discussion or writing prompts.
Janahlee Chamberlain is a former Art teacher who’s now a tech consultant & tech librarian for Iowa City Schools She offered a ton of simple design tips for non designers & non art teachers. She also introduced us to many of the new features and uses for the new free teacher program on Canva.
Lindsay Zilly, IDEA; Director of Professional Learning Tinley Park, IL (She’s Sketchnoter! I thought I was the only person that knew about that) She spoke about ENGAGEMENT which is a huge component of learning. Turns out some AEAs have more dynamic speakers than Green Hills.
#usetech4good
Marisa Dahl, Heartland AEA; Digital Learning Consultant highlighted need of Digital Citizenship, Remembering to be human, Considering practical, appropriate applications, teaching “appropriate use” practices as procedures for classroom teachers & healthy uses for all ages. One of the thing she discussed was helping kids use features of their phones or chromebooks to help them become more organized or with time managements and tasks (great for those with ADHA).
Mote is the audio toolkit for educators and learners across the world – integrated into products we already use like Google Docs. It’s highly recommended for ELL & Foreign Language, but can also be used for feedback, special notes of instruction or explanation, not to mention differentiation & struggling readers. I kinda wondered if some of you Elem folks had already tried this one. It sounded pretty popular at the conference.
ShapeGrams This former 5th grade teacher had either too much caffeine or too much enthusiasm for me, be that as it may, I am thinking of trying these out with 6th & 7th graders. Basically he teaches kids how to make their own clipart out of the shape tools in either Google Draw or Google Slides. He’s got tons of tutorial videos and instruction pages already set up to help. Needless to say, as an Art teacher I’d prefer to teach them to draw but this does introduce kids to SO many manual skills that they’ll use in TONS of other apps & programs- plus it builds persistence. Great for 2-7 at least, maybe older. Not just as an Art thing, but maybe a “down-time” thing like a reward for finishing early or an indoor recess thing.
Google Slides
Slides Go to File and find Page Setup, go ahead, I’ll wait- DID YOU REALIZE that you can change the size and format? If you make it 8×10, suddenly this doesn’t have to be a slideshow. It can be a wicked-easy tool for creating posters, worksheets, vocab lists, etc. What’s more, if you make a map or a PDF of a worksheet your background- and then attach/share in Schoology under Google attachments- students can fill in the…. Slides continued… blanks on Slides with the text tool or move manipulatives like text boxes you pre-create for them. #MindBlown. My Dudes, if you’re afraid of Canva or Photoshop but you’re used to using Slides- the sky’s the limit. Make newsletters, cards, almost anything you can dream up! (or that your students can dream up)
You may have heard about ScreenCastify back back during the shutdowns when we were using Zoom. Now they have a free Chrome extension. I thought it was for demonstration videos or to record lectures or lessons, but presenters encouraged us to us it as a convenient form of informal feedback, or even having students use it like Flipgrid.
Finally, if you want more ideas or a way to connect with other teachers trying to incorporate, integrate or implement technology into your classroom, consider joining the Iowa Computer Science Teachers Association– it’s free, gives you access to all kinds of articles, ideas & resources. Most importantly, it’s not just for CS or IT teachers, or even for STEM or Business teachers- it’s for ALL teachers. Of course, if you happen to teach a tech class or two, like PTLW, Programming, HTML, Yearbook, Digital Photography, Commercial Art… it makes sense.
Only been working on this for 2-3 months. I think I’m finally satisfied with it, although no art is ever truly finished as they say. it’s a good 18×24 inches on nice thick sturdy watercolor paper. It started out gouache but has had lots of layers of spray acrylic sealer on top of both alcohol markers and pen and ink work, so I guess you’d have to call it “multimedia.”
‘Salty Dog’ by Ted Mallory 18×24” multimedia on paper. c.2022, make offer
My alma mater, Concordia University, Nebraska (CUNE) were the bulldogs and while the last six years were pretty bumpy, I’m proud again to have been teaching as a Boyer Valley Bulldog for my 22nd year now.
So as much as I like it, I’m not sure what to do with it. Leave it in my classroom I guess. I’m tempted to enter it in the Iowa State Fair next Summer, but my ego is still a little bruised from having two paintings declined by them this last Summer.
Part of me wants to offer it to the Booster Club to auction off, but their annual Jersey Auction isn’t till next September or October and that’s a long time to wait.
I guess I’m willing to sell it even though my conceited primadonna artist ego would kinda like it hanging in some college or high school office in either Seward or Dunlap, I’m realistic enough to know that’s not likely to happen.
I know my style is kind of eccentric (esoteric, unusual?) and isn’t very likely to match anyone’s couch or drapes, and it’s not framed or under glass, but maybe there’s some fan of Georgia, Gonzaga, Yale, Drake, the Marine Corps or Fresno State out there who’d like a big painting of an English bulldog. I had planned on donating the proceeds to the Boyer Valley Art Department, but I’ll be honest, I hit a deer on the way to school a couple weeks ago and doubt the insurance company will pay enough for any decent used cars in today’s inflated market. But I promise that at least a portion of the proceeds will go to the Art Department. For more paint and poster board to paint on- if nothing else.
I could download one of the ads I’ve seen lately on how to price your art, but I suspect they’re all click-bait. Why don’t I just remind you that you’re not paying for the $30 watercolor paper pad or the $30 of paint, $60 markers, $1.95 pen and $3.95 clearcoat. You’re not even paying for the 2 1/2 months of time on and off, during lunch, planning period, after school & or occasionally during Painting class. You’re really paying for 29 years of Art teaching experience, 27 years of being a bulldog and 42 years since I made up my mind to be some kind of an artist. That, and whatever imagination, creativity, heart, soul & love you think I put into it.
Too expensive for ya? That’s fine. I’ll try not to think of it as “my stuff is too weird, nobody’d ever want to actually buy it” and think of it more like “dang, I like this, how could I ever bear to part with it?” and since I’d just keep it either hanging or in some drawer in my classroom, eventually when I die, get fired, or retire in 2035 (whichever comes first) it will be discovered by either my replacement, a custodian or some nosey kid and they’ll get it for free. That’s fine too.
Rather than beginning the semester in Painting class with ancient cave paintings or the Renaissance, which was half a millennia ago- I wanted to expose students to the contemporary art world of today.
I provide students with a list of living & working artists. They search several of the artists on Google and decide which one they’d most like to investigate, imitate and share with the rest of the class. If they know of or find another living artist that is not on this list- I allow them to please add them.
Each student will create a slideshow sharing a little bit about the artist’s background and influences and tell us what they like about the artist and why they chose them. Meanwhile, they’re also challenged to create their own painting in the style of the artist they learned about.
Besides a recommended template, I also present them with a…
This Summer I discovered a great new free app for organizing your classroom lending-library. I know, who has time? It actually doesn’t take a lot since it allows you to scans the book’s UPC code from your phone.
Whether you’re interested in trying it for yourself or not, I ALSO wanted to use it to offer up 29 years of books about teaching, especially for any of you new to our profession. Browse the “Teacher Ed.” section of my classroom library at https://www.libib.com/u/maldog/l/1423153. Let me know what you’d like to do borrow and I’ll put it in your mailbox or the brown envelope to Dow City, or come on by the Art room and grab it yourself.
Frankly, since we’re talking about 3 decades of Teacher/Ed, I might even be open to selling, trading or gifting some of them. (SOME of them).
Meanwhile, look at some of the other 16+ categories at www.libib.com/u/maldog, I have books on Art (obviously), Art Education (for K-5 teachers who want something), Photography, Graphic Design & Journalism (for Business or English/ELA types), Psychology, Philosophy, general Literature etc. etc.
Just because I’m not an English/ELA or Reading teacher, I believe that literacy & reading make all our other disciplines possible and, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want to do what I can to encourage and promote reading for kids. Hopefully my English/ELA colleagues will be okay with my sharing my extensive Comics & Graphic Novel categories with students!
Have a great Semester everybody; Happy “New Year!”
Ever regret something you said? Have you wanted to avoid someone of pre-judge them before you knew them, but once you learned more about them, you regretted how you may have treated them or felt like you had missed an opportunity to know someone amazing? We all have lots of regrets. Worrying about the future causes anxiety, but ruminating about the past can often leads to either anger or depression.
While I certainly believe that God is close to the broken hearted (Psalm 34:8), God is with us through our heartaches, including, if not especially when we grieve the loss of someone important to us- it seems that Jesus wasn’t just talking about death and loss. He was explaining that some of the most joyful people are people with consciences.
Originally posted on Instagram June 17, 2022 follow me @maldog13
Oh sure, sometimes it feels like it would be better not to feel. It seems like people without a conscience (sociopaths and narcissists) must have it pretty good. They don’t care about other people’s feelings, they just do and say whatever they want without caring about how it effects (or affects) others. I know I often wonder if I’d be more successful if I just didn’t care.
But how an anyone like that genuinely experience real joy, not just temporary happiness? What they think is contentment is really callousness. What’s worse than hatred? Indifference. These are people that use people and love things, instead of loving people and using things.
They aren’t reflective. They don’t reflect on the things they say and do or who. Maybe because they wouldn’t like what they see. In literature and mythology vampires are creatures that suck the life energy out of others. One of the ways to recognize a vampire, is that they don’t have reflections. Powerful, seductive, even seemingly impervious, but dead. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually dead.
Jesus is telling us that while it’s true that if we live our lives with empathy and compassion, we’re certain to get hurt sometimes, often because we’re selfish and short-sighted human beings so we end up hurting others. That’s called guilt.
It’s important to understand the difference between guilt and shame. Shame destroys but guilt drives us to rebuild. Guilt & shame both make us want to de-construct, but shame is hopeless & helpless, it’s fatalistic and doesn’t want to rebuild, it wants to burn it all down and abandon it. Guilt doesn’t have to be permanent- it’s regret, it’s willing to take responsibility so that you can rebuild, revise, reform, retro-fit and resume being useful.
As much as I hate being trite or cliché, maybe some corny, cheesy kitsch will help. On the one “hand, hurt people hurt people,” and we’ve all been hurt at sometime or another. And “you always hurt the ones you love, the ones you shouldn’t love at all.” Right? And as the Tin Woodsman said in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ “now I know I have a heart, because it’s breaking.”
Mourning over grief- hurting about hurt you’ve caused is proof that you both care about others and are reflective, responsible and mature. You’re not a vampire.
Having a conscience means that you care about people besides yourself and that you are reflective & aware. It means you have standards of decency & respect other people’s rights & boundaries. It doesn’t mean that you have to live in constant shame or self-hatred.
Apologizing or making amends restores relationship. Being humble enough to admit you were wrong builds trust, it doesn’t make you look weak or inferior. That’s universal, even secular. You might even call this “Restorative Justice” on the personal, individual level.
Saying you’re sorry and trying to make amends is a way to be kind. Kindness always brings joy.
Now, if you think of yourself as Christian, think about this- “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” I John 1:9.
Be honest about it when you hurt people and both you & they can heal.
Deny it and you’ll probably just keep hurting more people.
I think the King James said “Blessed are the poor,” but I’ve tried hard to read through at least half of the versions of the Bible found on BibleGateway.com and pretty much most of them don’t just say “poor,” they say “poor in spirit.”
I remember that when I first heard a version in church say “poor in spirit,” I worried that some wealthy person had changed it or something. Since I’m not a member of the clergy and therefore can’t read Greek or Aramaic, I searched as many different translations as I could, including Eugene Petersen’s paraphrase, the Message, because I really wanted to dig into what Jesus was really getting at. RSV, NIV, NKJV, ESV, Oxford, New American- they all talk about being poor in spirit.
I knew God doesn’t dislike the poor. There are estimates that the Bible mentions the poor or poverty anywhere from at least 178, to 300, to as many as 2,000 times. Obviously God wants us to help the poor. After, the Beatitudes, later in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), Jesus says that if someone asks to borrow your coat, give them the coat of your back. And of course in Matthew 25 He tells us to feed the hungry, clothe the needy and visit those in prison.
So what the heck does it mean to be “poor-in-spirit” and why the hell would that be a GOOD thing?
I appreciated the way that the Amplified Bible clarifies things sometimes. It’s like reading with a dictionary and thesaurus by your side. Being “spiritually poor” is the opposite of having a “puffed-up spirit.” In Matt 16 Jesus warns his disciples about the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He seems to be really angry about their hypocrisy of wanting to be honored and treated special in Matt 23 and Luke 14.
This makes me think that to be poor in spirit simply means to be humble, to not go around thinking you’re the boss all the time. It’s sort of the opposite of being narcissistic. Is it just me, or have we been having to deal with a lot of narcissistic, sociopathic, self-centered, entitled and bossy selfish people in the world lately?
So how do we make sure we’re aren’t one of the artificially puffed-up people with inflated egos? How can we take a vow of spiritual poverty? How about if we try to connect with people instead of trying to control everyone. Choose a life about love, not about power. As John the Baptist said in John 3:30 “He must become greater; I must become less.” I believe that God is god and I am not.
Being “Christ like” is pretty antithetical to how many supposed “Christians” act these days.
Love, joy, peace, patience, & kindness aren’t just ends in themselves, they are means to the end of building community. What do you think? Is Jesus on to something?
When Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world, He meant His way of doing things isn’t the way the world does things; Jesus does things through connection, rather than control. The power of love, as opposed to the love of power. Try it, I dare you. #beattitudes#sermononthemount#kingdomoflove#thejoylist#joy
maladjusted.us 