Art Teacher Interview Questions

When interview committees and principals interview art teachers, they're looking for someone who can connect with the enTire culture of the school. They're looking for a person who empowers students to create beautiful artwork, has a presence in extra-curricular activities, and can effectively manage students in a classroom full of messy, sloppy Supplies. An art program is often the proud centerpiece of a school's curriculum and schools want to fill that position with the most competent art teacher available.

Art Teacher Interview Questions

Art Teacher Interview Questions

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Art Teacher Interview Questions

Art Teacher Interview Questions

Interviewing is stressful for any candidate. My best advice is to be prepared with a complete teaching portfolio and to practice common interview questions beforehand. While you don't need to rehearse, what you'll say word-for-word, it's not a bad idea to prepareyourself by thinking about your responses to general questions that will be asked.

Art teacher candidates can expect the common teacher interview questions, general:

-Tell us about yourself.

-What are your strengths and weaknesses?

-How to you integrate technology into your teaching?

-How do you meet the needs of special education students?

-How do you communicate with parents?

But, when hiring art teachers, principals and interview committees have high expectations and often develop more specialized questions. Below are some common questions (and suggestions for answering them) for art teacher interviews:

1. Describe some ways you present and display student work throughout the school and throughout the community.

Whetheryou like it or not, the art teacher is often responsible for setting the decor of the enTire school. You'll likely be responsible for keeping the halls full of student work and updating displays on a regular basis. You'll be the one they turn to when they want a mural painted on the gymnasium wall. They'll run to your room when it's time to set up the annual display at the district office building. And, when the community art show comes around, you'll be the one that is expected to coordinate it. When it's time to create the yearly district events calendar, you know they'll be turning to the art teacher for a collection of high-quality student work samples. Art teachers have a HUGE responsibility outside of general teaching. You need to reassure the interviewcommittee that you're aware of these responsibilities and are excited to take on these challenges.

2. Show us pictures of your work as an artist.

You should have your teaching portfolio with you at an interview. Since you're an artist, your portfolio should include pictures of your own artwork, in addition to lesson plans and student artwork. Be sure the works you show the committee are appropriate for a school setting. Don't show them your latest nude sketch or a violent scenes. Keep the content of the material in your portfolio light, upbeat, and positive.

3. Describe some of the art projects your students have loved.

This is a simple question. Describe your "best work" as a teacher. In other words, you're looking to tell them about project that was engagingto the students, educational in terms of artistic developMent, and well received by others when it was displayed. Pass around some pictures of this lesson from your teaching portfolio!

4. How can you make the most of a small budget for art Supplies?

Many school districts can't offer you huge amounts of money for art projects. Explain that you're a natural bargain shopper. You'll always seek out the best deals on art supplies.

You should remind the interviewer of your no-waste philosophy. You don't let kids throw away big scraps of paper that can be used again. You'll try to unclog those stuffed up glue bottles, rather than throw them away.

Also, let them know that you can make artwork from simple, everyday household objects. Maybe you know how to makeChristmas ornaMents from light bulbs or you can turn empty soup cans into lanterns.

5. How can you connect your activities in the art room into lessons taught within other subject areas?

You can easily connect art to Social Studies by teaching cultural art. Example: If students are learning about Australia, you can teach kids to make Aboriginal Dot Paintings in art. You can also connect art to historical themes by making connections with art history. You can also tie into Reading and Writing by teaching kids to describe and critique artwork.

6. Why do you think art is an important part of a child's education?

This answer, of course, will vary from person to person. Some things you might want to think about: Art is a small, but important partof a well-rounded education program. Art teachers stimulate students ' imaginations, by encouraging them to express themselves creatively. Art teachers develop students ' self-esteem, by allowing them to discover other talents they may have that go beyond the rest of the school's curriculum. And art teachers help students to better accept the world in which they live by inviting them to view things in different ways.

7. Art teachers have a unique set of classroom manageMent challenges because you see so many kids for such a short time--what would you do when a kid is off-task, unmotivated, or not participating in a lesson?

The most effective way of avoiding behavioral problems is to keep students interested, involved, and engaged from the moment they walkinto your room to the moment they leave. It is essential to have classroom rules posted clearly in your classroom. Routines are important-- kids should know where to sit, when to get materials, what the clean up procedures are. As the teacher, you must enforce the rules "and routines consistently each and every day.

Hopefully, you use positive reinforcement to encourage the best behaviors. You praise your students ' efforts often, and you offer constructive criticism in a positive way. When do kids misbehave, it's best to handle situations on your own, when possible. (Only the most severe cases of disruption or violence should be sent to the office.) Taking away privileges or responsibility is often an effective method for managing classroom behaviorproblems.

8. Art is an elective, which means you'll have to promote student interest in your courses. How will you do this?

This question is for candidates that are interviewing for high school art positions. The simplest answer to explain how you engage students in worthwhile art activities. The final projects come out so beautifully that students are proud of their work, see their talent, and have a strong desire to create more!

Happy interviewing!

For more teacher interview questions, I invite you to download my eBook Getting the Teaching Job of Your Dreams (http://www.iwantateachingJob.com). In it you will find 50 common interview questions and answers as well as practical advice for getting the teaching job you want.

Art Teacher Interview Questions

Canvas Art Project Ideas For Kids

Ah, the lazy days of summer. A time to relax, rejuvenate and unwind before the craziness of another school year descends upon us. Unfortunately, the peace and quiet that summer offers is often short-lived, soon to be replaced with the all-too-familiar, "I'm boooorreeed ...I don't have ANYTHING to dooooo???! " What's a mom to do in order to keep that battle cry to a minimum? The answer comes in two simple words that offer a multitude of options-canvas art. With a quick trip to your local craft store you will have everything you need to keep busy minds occupied.

Canvas Art Project Ideas For Kids

Canvas Art Project Ideas For Kids

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Canvas Art Project Ideas For Kids

Canvas Art Project Ideas For Kids

All large craft stores-and some of the discount departMent stores-sell pre-stretched canvas in a variety of sizes and shapes. The easiest one for little hands to manage is a square piece, usually 12 x 12 ". Pick up afew of those, and some of the individual Supplies listed below, and you are well on your way to a plethora of projects.

Scrapbook on Your Wall

Before you head to the craft store, allow your child to look through some of your old photographs and choose a few to turn into a wall hanging scrapbook (a possible theme could be a family vacation or special holiday). Paint the canvas in a favorite color of acrylic craft paint and allow it to dry for a few hours. From there you can make it as simple or ornate as you (and your budding artist) wish, adding scrapbook embellishMents to their hearts desire. You can even try stenciling, stamping, or hand lettering to title. Glue all the pieces in place with craft clue and viola! A scrapbook page your child canhang on his or her bedroom wall!

Celebrity Collage

If you are the parent of a lucky "tween age" girl you are most likely very familiar with the fan magazines filled with pictures and articles of her favorite stars. When the piles of magazines begin to take over the house, this project offers a great way to eliminate the clutter while allowing your daughter to save pictures of her "faves." Again, paint the canvas with acrylic paint and allow it to dry. In the mean time, have your daughter cut out pictures of her favorite stars. Use decorative-edged scissors if you have them; if not, a twist of the Wrist does nicely! The pictures are then glued onto the canvas, overlapping each other as the artist chooses. 36 pmembellish with glitter, jewels, stickers-the possibilities areendless! Finish with decoupage glue in order to seal the project. Your daughter can create a collage of all her "faves", or individual tributes for each one. They will last a lot longer than individually cut out pictures, and will look much nicer on her wall!

Bas Relief Painting

Ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were just a few societies to experiment with this "low relief" form of 3-D painting, and now your budding artist may too! Simply paint the canvas in a favorite color, and then glue lightweight 3-Dimensional objects on the canvas. One option that lends itself easily to this project is a bas relief solar system. Using a sponge, "stamp" paint on the canvas in different shades of blue, and allow it to dry. Cut foam balls of various sizes in half, and paint themto look like planets and moons. When they dry, glue them to your canvas. Your child will have the universe on his wall. Other objects work well with this type of project, including letters (for a monogram piece of art) and small wooden cut outs. Allow your child to create a bas relief masterpiece that is a reflection of him!

Just Paint It

Of course, there's nothing wrong with just grabbing a canvas and some craft paint (or even finger paint) and going for it! With this option, your child can be as abstract as Picasso or as deliberate as Seurat! For the smaller artists in your family, finger paints also work well. Add some sponge shapes for extra, easy, fun. The resulting masterpieces from this option can be a wonderful memory for you to hang onyour own wall!

The options mentioned here are just the beginnings of all the possibilities that bloom from a simple, stretched canvas. Try these or create your own, and you're sure to keep the "nothing to do" battle cry at a minimum this summer!

Canvas Art Project Ideas For Kids

Wallpaper Designs

The design of your wallpaper can really lift the look of your room. From simple, subtle colours to bold and bright prints and patterns, your choice of wallpaper design can make all the difference to your décor-as well as giving you a chance to reflect your personal tastes through your choice of decoration.

Wallpaper Designs

Wallpaper Designs

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Wallpaper Designs

Wallpaper Designs

Plus, if you get it right, your wallpaper design will see you through for years to come, making it a great addition to any room. This means it definitely makes sense to choose a wallpaper design that is not only visually appealing to you, but that is of a very high quality so that it will stand the test of time.

But how should you make your choice? There are so many different wallpaper designs to choose from, it can be a little bit daunting trying to decide whichone would be best for you. Some people are able to choose straight away and know exactly what they want, but for others, a bit more thought and research might be required.

One really good option is to consider a service such as that provided by JW Walls. Here, you can browse through a range of different wallpaper options so you can see what is available and find one that you love. If you have a specific image in mind, you can even upload graphics or a photograph onto the website so you can create your very own wallpaper design.

This helps to make your wallpaper is personal to you and means you're sure to be absolutely satisfied with the final results. Once you have uploaded your photo or chosen your design, all you need to do is enter the relevant measureMents so that your designcan be printed onto 600cm-wide wallpaper for you to put up.

This gives you great control over the process. If you're still unsure which wallpaper designs you want to go for, here are a few things you might like to think about when making your choice.

Size of the room

How much space you have in your room can be one thing to consider. For instance, choosing lighter colours can make small rooms look more spacious. You might also like to think about having a striking wallpaper design on just one or two walls if your room is small, as this can help it to feel more open and give you a greater sense of space.

Personal taste

This has to be one of the most important things to consider-no matter how big your room is, you need to be happy with your choice ofwallpaper. What colours do you like? Do you want patterned wallpaper, printed design or a single striking image?

The décor

It can also be worth considering the rest of your interior design when choosing your wallpaper design. This way, you're more likely to get something that goes really well together. Thinking about compleMentary colours is a good idea; you could also give some thought to furnishings so you can be certain your new wallpaper design will go perfectly with the rest of the room.

Wallpaper Designs

Wall Mural Painting - DIY With These Simple Tips

A painted mural can be a fabulously eye-catching feature, indoors or outdoors - and it isn't just for experienced artists. The possibilities are almost endless, whether you are looking for something to brighten up a child's room or to create a visual focus in an elegant living room. With a bit of planning and practice, and with the help of the various aids on the market, painting an attractive mural is within reach for most of us.

Wall Mural Painting - DIY With These Simple Tips

Wall Mural Painting - DIY With These Simple Tips

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Wall Mural Painting - DIY With These Simple Tips

Wall Mural Painting - DIY With These Simple Tips

Ideas for Murals

Whatever you like to see can become a mural! Landscapes are a popular choice for covering large areas of wall. It could be an enchanted forest for a child's room or a peaceful vista in a living room. Trompe l'oeil paintings (paintings that deceive the eye into thinking that the image is real) are also popular - for example, faux picture windows that seem to open onto a rural scene, a seascape or even a cityscape.

Murals can also be images painted onto walls that serve the same purpose as framed pictures. Motifs that compleMent your décor and architecture are another idea. Tuscan murals, with grape and foliage motifs, provide an attractive finishing touch to a room and are popular for their old-world charm.

Floral designs always look decorative. A geometric or abstract mural can add pizzazz and style to a contemporary room. For the workplace, including offices and schools, appropriate imagery can banish that institutional look, adding color and warmth.

Before You Start

Prepare your surface well. It needs to be clean and grease-free. Fill holes and cracks with putty. It may not matter if the surface is a bit rough, depending on what effect you want to achieve. Apply a good quality undercoat or primer.

Paints

Water-based acrylic paints are a good choice for interior murals. You may need emulsion paint for exteriors. Options for outdoor murals include hard-wearing, waterproof paints with a built-in 'sunscreen' to prevent fading. A good quality clear sealant completes the Job.

Applying Your Design

If you are creating a scene such as a landscape, you will typically start by covering your surface with the background color(s) and building up your image in layers. Your final layer will be the fine detail. Once you have a background coat you can sketch out your design. Few of us can do this freehand! Work from a picture, which you can then scale up, marking the design contours onto your wall. (There is Computer software that can help you do this.)

For the less experienced, stencils are the perfect solution. You will find an extraordinary range of designs that even the novice decorator can use to achieve effective results (or you could make your own stencils). You can also buy kits that let you transfer a design onto the wall. All you have to do then is apply the paint - not unlike painting by numbers.

As a stylish touch inside or outside the home, or even as a community project, using paint and creating faux finishes can be fun as well as enhancing your living environMent.

Wall Mural Painting - DIY With These Simple Tips

Kids' Chairs Go Great With Kids' Tables

What better way to personalize a kid's bedroom than buying him or her, their own kids chAirs? Children love to pattern themselves after their parents, so why not allow them to design his or her own kid's bedroom. With all the wonderful décor and a child's vivid imagination, the options are limitless.

For the sport's enthusiast boy, why not make his room the hot spot for all the neighborhood boys. Find out his favorite sport and surround his room with that motif. Perhaps this particular boy loves all sports and does not have just one favorite he wants to go with. That is also ok, just incorporate multiple sports décor, and top the room off with three different kid's chAirs. There could be the catcher mitt plush chAir and the basketball and soccer ball upholstered chairs with ottomans.

The little girl in one's life always wants to be mommy and daddy's little princess. Make this kid's bedroom a magical fairytale. Incorporate a wall mural of a castle with a mote. Make her window look like a window in a tower where the little girl can imagine she is looking out over her subjects. Have her bed be a four-post princess canopy bed. Among other décor top the room off with her own throne, a plush purple and pink princess crown, or a regal princess form kids chair.

Toddlers love animals so why not make these kids bedrooms look like a petting zoo. Decorate the door as if it is the door to a barn. Paint the walls with life-size animal murals and hang curtains with clouds on them so the toddlers feel as if he or she is in the barn looking out. Insert a round play rug with different barn animals and their names on it so the toddler's learn as he or she plays. Finish the kid's bedroom off with different kids chairs designed in the shape of different animals.

Older kids are starting to form their own taste in things including how he or she wants their bedrooms to look. Being a preteen, he or she may decorate the bedroom with whatever he or she may be into at the time whether it is posters, mirrors, or just pictures of themselves and friends. Therefore, he or she wants a more casual comfort zone for them and his or her friends to hang out. Try adding several box kids' chairs with ottomans. These chairs are square in style but made of the same materials and stuffing as the beanbag chairs however, easier to get out of when one is ready to stand up.

The perfect kid's bedroom atTire for preteen and teenagers is a virtual world. Most all kids are video game enthusiasts. So, why not make his or her bedroom look like a mini arcade? Decorate the walls with his or her favorite gaming décor. Have a flat screen TV on the wall with shelves on either side baring multiple games of his or her choice. Add several physical games in various corners of the room, such as pinball, a mini hoops game, or a speed pitch. Do not forget the kid's chairs. For the preteens, add a two-seat child's theater recliners with storage or for the teens single gaming chairs.

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What Can a Full Wall Mural Painting Do For Your Home Improvement Decoration

Full wall mural, self explanatory, covers an enTire outdoor or indoor wall. It is a decoration, usually painted by an artist - muralist and customized to match the client's taste and expectation. The meaning of the word "mural" depicts any artwork, painted on a large, permanent surface like a ceiling, window or a wall of the building - indoor or outdoor.

While the first murals date back to prehistoric times and have been done in many different styles and techniques from abstract to "trick the eye", today's full wall murals have become more easily available and affordable.

It seems like the full wall murals are popular in celebrity nursing rooms, in kids' rooms and private bars, in cafes, restaurants and waiting rooms of the doctors' offices. They cover big or long empty walls, bring in an outdoor feel, and make every living space brighter - especially when depicting a view of the body of water, a meadow or a scenery.

Sometimes the full wall murals turn one's room into a fAiry tale of "faerie" tale, an African plane with wildlife, a jungle, into a prehistoric time with dinosaurs or field of sunflowers, a sky with Airplanes or birds and clouds, or calm sea with tranquil sales boats, sailing by at all times.

Only imagination is the limit to what image a single wall can be turned into. A dull, dark room can become bright and inviting with a motif, borrowed from mother nature.

Boring, uninviting spaces can turn into lively and homely with an image that makes one feeling good whenever glancing at the painting.

Even better, if there's something that makes you smile every time, that precise picture should be painted in your living space as a full wall mural, to cheer you up and make your heart sing.

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Designing Your Own Wall Mural For Kid's Room Is A Lot Of Fun!

Have you ever thought of creating your own customized wall murals? It doesn't really require a great artistic talent. Actually, you don't know whether you have one because you have to try it first to find out. I believe talent is something one can acquire, especially when it comes to designing your beloved child's room. You will not believe how easy and fun this is and you'll pride yourself on your artistic abilities when your family sees the results and will give you a pat or two on the back!

Customized wall murals consist of peel and stick stickers that we can affix to walls in any position we'd like resulting in many design variations. If we ever wish to reposition the stickers, we can simply peel them off the wall and stick them to another place on the wall without any damage to the surface. Sticking the mural stickers to the wall doesn't require a wallpaper paste because they're self-adhesive. Moreover, putting them on the wall is so easy you can let your child help! Now, this is going to be fun!

Before we start affixing the wall stickers to create our mural, we'll need to paint a wall background with suitable colors. In choosing the right colors that will best suit your wall mural, it all depends on the mural's theme. If we want to put an ocean-themed mural, we can use a light blue or deep-blue colors; for a tropical mural, we can use a sandy color in the foreground where we can put animal wall stickers and a sky-blue in the background.

Unlike many other murals that are fully printed as a single sheet of wallpaper, customized peel and stick wall murals allow you to discover an artist in you and your child by positioning the mural pieces however you'd like, the possibilities are endless! And it's also a great educational activity for your child! Did I Mention it's fun?

To sum it up, creating a custom wall mural provides the following benefits:

It's easy and fun! - You can design your own do-it-yourself wall murals together with your child. It requires no artistic talent but your finished work will look like you're born artists!

Convenience - If you need to reposition your mural stickers, simply peel them off the wall and stick them to another spot without damaging the surface.

Educational activity - Allows your child to acquire visual/spatial thinking skills and try themselves in the field of artistic design.

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