Welcome Back, Cougars!

StudioOur dazzling Maury art studio!

Year five, here we come!

StudioMaury is up and running and now that some of the nitty-gritty is out of the way (procedures, how boring), I am looking forward to some really awesome art units for the 2015-2016 school year. Many of our units will be brand new, but per your request, a few of our favorites are back. Look out for Face Jugs, Sock Super Heroes, Intaglio printmaking, and clay galore (shameless plug time–a donorschoose.org project is coming soon if you’re interested in helping sustain our ceramics instruction at Maury)!

Our beautiful studio is fresher than ever due to the courageous work of our custodial staff this summer! It takes a brave soul or two to tackle a space that hosts a years worth of elementary art making but these guys did it!FullSizeRender (22)I wish the studio could stay this squeaky clean all year!StrorageI spent the week after school let out organizing and labeling every inch of my storage closet

New Sketch Books, fresh tape on the floor, and the Platinum Palette award (ask your K-5 student about this) are all on display to remind us of the hard work and fun that awaits. Our week 1 assignment was to create our Hopes & Dreams for the year. They are now blowing in the breeze, reminding us of what our behavior and work ethic will have to look like in order to achieve our dreams.

hopes and dreamsOur creative display of Hopes & Dreams hanging above our work stations flags

rows K-5 has assigned spots on our colored rows to keep procedures moving smoothlySBSketch Book bins arranged by grade level and classSmart BoardOur Smart Board allows us to watch relevant videos and project images for Close ViewingTeacher Desk Ms. Bomba’s desk!Studio 2Our naturally lit space

I look forward to keeping you all updated on what’s happening in the art world as well as meeting you all at Back to School Night this Thursday from 6:30-8:00 pm. In case I don’t see you, here is my Back to School letter, which will make its way to Tuesday folders this week.

Looking forward to making my 5th year at Maury the best one yet!

Ms. Bomba

first day meMs. Bomba’s first day of school photo

Dear Maury Families,

My name is Lauren Bomba and I am the visual arts teacher at Maury Elementary School. For the past 4 years at Maury, I have designed my own unique, standards-based art curriculum that aims to make learning and creating art a rigorous and authentic experience for students. I am proud to share that the amazing work of our Maury art studio has been recognized, city-wide, and this summer I had the privilege of writing the Visual Arts Cornerstone Assignments for all DCPS elementary school art teachers. The goal of Cornerstones is to bring the same rich work that students are doing at Maury to all schools, in order to create a more equitable education for all. I am honored that Studio Maury was recognized as the example for all DCPS visual arts instruction!

My goal as your child’s art teacher is to inspire students with a lifelong love and curiosity for the arts. I want to expose them to different and challenging media. I love creating cross-disciplinary units that bridge science, math and literacy as a way to reinforce the learning happening throughout the building. Our units are theme-based, so instead of working to master a skill or technique in art like painting or drawing, we aim to explore concepts or ideas and use a variety of media and develop the student not only as an artist but as a person. A few of the themes we will explore this year are Contrast, Becoming, Trusting, Community and Movement.

Students are held accountable for their progress and behavior in art class. Due to the potentially dangerous and messy nature of art materials and tools, I hold students to a high expectation when it comes to being a responsible and trustworthy member of our classroom community. I adhere to the Responsive Classroom Philosophy of Logical Consequences (You Break It/You Fix It and Loss of Privilege), as well as a positive, class-wide, intrinsic behavior incentive called A-R-T, which stands for Act, Respect, & Try. Classes that work together to “make ART” aim to bring home the Platinum Palette for their homeroom!

Platinum PaletteBehavior Expectations and Classroom Community Building
Sketch & ReflectStudents visit Sketch & Reflect when they need a break Color captainsColor Captains rotate every few weeks and lead the clean up charge for their table

I encourage families to follow our blog, www.studiomaury.wordpress.com, to witness the step by step creative process and culminating products of our work together. It is my goal that this blog, along with my twitter account @studiomaury, will help keep readers updated about the thoughtful work your artist is involved in. Please subscribe to our art blog for regular updates on your child’s art education in our DC public school. My intentions are for this blog to serve as a parent, school, and global resource for art enthusiasts everywhere.

I am very excited to meet our new families this year and welcome back our returning ones as I continue (or begin) establishing a unique relationship with each of your children individually. I truly believe that art allows each child to feel successful, original, and confident.

Thank you,

Lauren Bomba

Art Teacher, Maury Elementary

Posted in Art, Specials Posts.