Did you know Thursday marked The Art of Education University’s 13th Online Conference? It’s true! Nearly 2,400 registered attendees viewed and participated from around the country—and around the world—from the comfort of their own homes!
The Presentations
The day was jam-packed with dozens of incredibly relevant topics and one exceptional featured presenter – educator Ron Clark. All in all, there were 20+ dynamic presentations curated to match the needs of art teachers and to provide the freshest and newest ideas happening right now in art education.
In addition, every presenter made sure all teachers walked away with something relevant to their practice, whether they taught Pre-K, high school, or anything in between.
The Freebies!
The SWAG box for this conference was nothing short of amazing! Teachers couldn’t wait to share the pictures of the goodies delivered right to their doors. The box included samples from Nasco, Art to Remember, Roylco, Sketch for Schools, Grafix, Chroma Inc., Square 1 Art, and so many more.
In addition, other companies provided hundreds of dollars in online discounts and freebies. And that was just the start! AOEU’s Events Director, Tim Bogatz, hosted the conference (with cameos from Abby Schukei and Lindsey Moss) and gave away thousands of dollars in materials and giveaways throughout the day.
The Hourly Breakdown
We want to give you a complete look at all the conference details, so here it is—the hour-by-hour breakdown! Check out the outstanding presenters, the best information, and some inspiring tweets and photos from our attendees!
Hour 1: New Ideas for the New Year
The first hour of the conference was all about new ideas that you can bring into your classroom this year. Nic Hahn of the Everyday Art Room podcast and Billy Kheel began the day with a great presentation that showed the power of collaboration.
They were followed by Melinda Moen, who tackled the idea of teaching the artmaking process and demonstrated an amazing lesson she does with her students. After that was Lindsey Moss, who shared some incredible ideas for sketchbooks and getting students working independently on a wide variety of media. Finally, Craig Huffman shared some strategies for a concept we don’t often teach – cartooning!
Hour 2: Let’s Make Some Art!
When the second hour rolled around, presenters shared some of their best ideas for hands-on artmaking in the classroom. Sculpture, jewelry, painting, ceramics, and weaving were all on the table! With presentations from Matt Young, Susie Belzer, and Megan Auman, people loved the chance to create.
Amanda O’Shaughnessy closed the hour with an awesome tutorial on how to create clay looms with your students.
Hour 3: New Ideas for the New School Year
After a quick break, Lena Rodriguez opened the third hour with a talk on helping students curate their best portfolios. We also heard from Elizabeth Peterson on Social and Emotional Artistic Learning and Caroline Gardner with ideas for incorporating art history. Finally, Yvonne Lopez Taylor ended the hour with a presentation on printmaking strategies. It was mesmerizing.
#ArtEdNow #SummerCon2019 pic.twitter.com/GXOx56JM4S
— Mrs. Rothermel’s Rock-n-Roll Art Stars (@RnRArtStars) July 25, 2019
Hour 4: The Power of Positivity
The fourth hour began with an amazing keynote presentation from educator Ron Clark. He talked about the power of passion and engagement. It was equal parts powerful, hilarious, and inspiring.
Following Ron Clark, Abby Schukei shared her favorite lessons to spread positivity and kindness through art. Next up was Amber Kane with “How to Empower Your Students to Take Charge of Their Art Class Experience”. Finally, Caitlyn Thompson closed the hour by sharing the unique technique of creating newspaper pottery!
Hour 5: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
Art Ed Now’s final hour was all about tutorials and techniques that can work for your students. The hour started off with Debi West discussing making connections through STEAM. Tim Bogatz followed with strategies on budgeting with Artsonia.
Jenn Russell put together an amazing presentation on colored pencil drawings, and Rachel Albert closed the conference by showing you how you can use games with your students for instruction and engagement!
All of these presentations had takeaways teachers will use the rest of this school year and beyond!
Join us this winter!
It was a great day of learning for teachers, and we look forward to doing it all again next February! We hope you will join us there because participants definitely found the conference worth their while.
Now it’s time to put these ideas to work! Use what you saw at the conference to inspire your teaching and inspire your students.
Start the school year off right and bring fresh energy into your classroom with all of these new ideas.
Hope to see you next time!
Did you attend the conference? What was your favorite presentation?
Who would you like to see present at the next conference?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
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