I am starting my 7th year of teaching at STS, and my 25th year overall. Prior to Saint Theresa's. I taught art in non-traditional settings. My teaching and lessons are strongly reflective of these experiences, including teaching Native American students in South Dakota, high school students in North Carolina, and most recently, Students with Disabilities at the Capital Area Intermediate Unit. I love all aspects of art, and enjoy introducing students to both common and uncommon projects. Some of these uncommon projects include Appalachian Apple Head Dolls, Native American loom beading, and Batik. 

 The Kindergarten through Eighth Grade Art Curriculum at Saint Theresa School is designed to develop student knowledge of art materials, art history, art techniques, art vocabulary, and art processes. It is my goal to introduce various aspects of art to the students, and to help them be successful in their exploration of it.  In the art room, I encourage the students to try their best, be creative and to "think outside of the box". 

 Each grade level completes different art projects based on a variety of artists, techniques, materials and art movements. Every project is set up to build upon knowledge acquired in previous lessons.  As students move from grade to grade, it is my hope that their knowledge and appreciation of the arts will increase.

The first few art projects will explore the basis of art, the elements and principles of art. These include color, shapes, line, form, space, texture, value, balance, emphasis, movement, rhythm, unity and variety. As the year progresses, I will introduce the students to various artists, art styles and art of cultures/countries. 

For anyone that is interested, I will be posting my yearly syllabus soon. It isn't an exact day by day syllabus, but it will give you an idea of what we will be doing in each grade for the year. 

For my students in grades 4-8th, I will always post the main objectives of the lesson on the chalk board at the back of the room. The students' grade is directly reflective of these objectives. For middle school students, each objective is given a number of points. The students will know exactly how much each project is worth, as well as what I will be grading them on. Every student will be graded on their Craftsmanship and Time on Task.  I believe these 2 criteria are extremely important characteristics to instill and promote for lifelong learning and success. 

That being said, I do want to let you know about a unique situation with me, my family, and my classroom.

I have two daughters. My youngest has Type 1 Diabetes. This means her pancreas is no longer working, and she is completely insulin dependent for her body to convert food into energy.  She is 10 years old and has had diabetes for 7½ years now. She has a Continuous Glucose Monitor, (CGM), which is a tiny sensor that helps us monitor her Blood Glucose levels. She is still learning how to recognize when her blood glucose is low or high. A low blood sugar can be dangerous and could lead to her becoming unresponsive.

The reason I am telling you all this is because the data from her CGM is sent to mine and my husband’s phones for constant monitoring. If she drops below a certain level, my phone will beep. If that happens, I need to check my phone, see what her Blood Glucose number is, and possibly text or call her classroom to notify them of the alert.  I have explained this, and my beeping phone to all of my classes, but I wanted to let you all know as well. The students have all been very understanding, and a few classes have actually let me know when they heard the alert, in case I missed it.

If anyone has any questions or concerns about my CGM alerts and phone use in the classroom, please feel free to reach out to me via email. (Before our daughter was diagnosed, my husband and I were clueless about Type 1. We had a million questions and many misconceptions when we were thrown into this world.)

If you ever have any questions concerning your child's progress in art, please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I look forward to working with your child/children as the school year progresses!

Sincerely,

Tanya Haller