G. Frank Davidson Elementary
Davidson is the school where I first started my teaching career and is where I continue to teach today. Davidson is a K-6 Title 1 school located in Phoenix, Arizona. At this school, I learned a lot of teaching and management techniques that I apply in my classroom regularly. For example, Boys Town behavior management and interventions, Positive Behavior Support and Interventions (PBIS), and Kagan Instruction. I also attended the Positive Learning Community (PLC) summit and I obtained my Structured English Immersion (SEI) endorsement.
In the three years I have taught at Davidson, I have written and received three grants for my students (details below). During my first year teaching, I founded the school's first ever yearbook club and still continue to work with the club as head designer. I also co-founded and coach the school's first cheerleading team after school.
Below are descriptions and images of lessons, extracurricular activities, grants, and more from my time teaching at Davidson.
Maryvale Revitalization Project
During my first year teaching at Davidson, I volunteered to participate in the Maryvale Revitalization Project. The goal of the project was to create art installations around Maryvale to brighten up a very run down area in Phoenix. The organization sent my school two giant plywood cacti. Fifth grade students who wished to participate stayed after school for several months to work on this project. All students created designs for the cacti individually. Then, everyone who was participating in the project voted on their favorite designs. Students then had the chance to choose which of the two winning designs they wanted to work on and were split into two teams to complete the project. Both designs turned out beautifully in my opinion.
Please browse the images below of the process and the finished products. Click on each image to read more about it.
Art Shows
I am very lucky to have found a district that values the arts as much as Cartwright School District does. Each spring, the district puts on a huge cumulative art show at the local Desert Sky Mall. I, along with other art teachers in my district curate the show. We each receive a large table to display 3D artwork and a six sided panel for 2D artwork. In addition to the district wide art show, art teachers in my district take turns curating monthly displays in the board room at the district office.
Below you can find images of my students artwork on display both at the mall and in the district office. Please click on each image to read about it.
Yearbook
During my first year teaching at Davidson, I founded the school's first yearbook club. I currently am still the lead designer for the school yearbook. This year, I conducted the school's first annual yearbook design contest. Students across all grade levels submitted designs for the 2019-2020 school yearbook cover. Students had the opportunity to vote for their favorite designs and the winner was a third grade student (pictured on the right).
Art Studio
Below is a collection of images from various art projects and lessons throughout the years I have spent teaching at Davidson. Please click on each image to read more about each lesson.
Grants
During my first three years teaching at Davidson, I have been fortunate enough to write and receive three different grants. I wrote and received a grant to support literacy in the art room. The grant funded a plethora of children's books about artists. These books promote literacy for my many English language learner students as well as reinforce the content they are learning about in art. The second grand I wrote and received was called "Masterpieces Are Messy." The Clorox company funded several cases of Clorox wipes for my students to use to help keep my classroom clean. The most recent grant I wrote and received was a grant to take my students on a field trip to the Phoenix Art Museum.
Below you can find photos from each of the three grants I earned for my school. Please click on the images to read more about them.
Cheerleading
Another teacher and I co-founded and coach the school's first cheerleading team. We co-wrote several grants to get the pom poms and the uniforms for the cheerleaders. Our team cheers at school events such as festivals and pep rallies. Below are a collection of images of the team cheerleading at various school events.
