Personalized Professional Development

Personalized Professional Development

Changing The World 

One Classroom, One Teacher, One Heart At A Time

I'm so delighted to let you know that I am unleashing 

a professional development revolution for teachers.

See a timely sample of the weekly newsletter to see the format HERE.

If this sounds like something your school would be interested in subscribing or you want to know more,  contact me.

What is Brave Teachers Personalized Professional Development?

It is a content driven delivery method of professional development that is created by an elementary school teacher for other elementary school teachers to make teaching a richer more effective experience.  

Each week teachers receive an electronic newsletter that is packed with resources related to a timely topic or theme.  The information is provided in the form of articles, videos, printables, podcasts, photographs, and resource lists.

• It is creative and innovative, real and fun.  
• School administrators can be confident as they choose or ask their teachers to choose a path that this will be a valuable use of resources.
• It is flexible in its accessibility, application and accountability. 
• Selected modules will work seamlessly with school culture.
• It's a great way to boost morale and improve retention of your faculty.

Making Paper With Kids

I love to make recycled paper.  It's an earth friendly craft.  The new paper can be utilized many different and creative ways.  It's messy and fun!

I love to make paper with kids even more!  At this point I have made paper with way more than a thousand kids and a few dozen adults.

Papermaking is a great activity for close to the end of the school year.  You might even want to do it outside, as it involves lots of water and can be messy.

Here's what I use:  lots of used paper in various colors, a blender, water, dishpan, towel, drying paper or thin towels, sponge, mold and deckle--you can buy these at many craft stores or online.  That's the only special tool and the wooden ones last FOREVER!

Here's what I do:

1.  Tear paper to the size of postage stamps
2.  Add about a cup of paper to blender and fill with water.  Blend.  The more you blend the finer it becomes.  I like big bits of paper still showing.
3.  Pour the pulp from blender into the dishpan that is already 1/3 full of water.
{You may want to repeat 2 & 3 several times.}
4.  Place the mold and deckle in the water and pull it out with pulp on the screen.
5.  Turn this over on a paper and dab the back of the screen to get lots of water out.  You have gotten enough water out when you can lift the screen without tearing the sheet of pulp.
6.  Hang these to dry--a clothesline is great for this!
7.  Peel the recycled paper off the other paper.  (I use drying papers many times and then eventually recycle them!)

You can make many amazing projects with recycled paper.  I love to use the paper to make cards, journal covers, and collages.  The recycled paper is very absorbent so if you paint, don't use too much water, and I don't recommend markers but other pens work fine.

I hope you find some joy in papermaking or any artsy project.

Welcome To My Studio

Welcome to my studio!

At the beginning of April, I started moving into my own studio space.  {This is both very exciting and scary.}

The studio is inside ACoT--the Art Cent on Tusc--in downtown Barberton.  It's on a lovely block with a variety of amazing shops--totally worth the time to check it out.

You will usually find me on the floor with my computer and lots of papers planning my next creative revolution!  I am in on Sunday afternoons, 11 - 3.  This summer I'm planning to work Tuesday and Thursday during the day, too.

Summer of Inspiration

Summer is just around the corner, and I want to offer Brave Hearts everywhere a daily dose of inspiration this summer.  Five days a week I will be sending out a printable poster with an amazing quote and decorated with some of my creativity, heart, and passion.  Just opening these little gems may be all you need to keep your motivation and spirits soaring.

If you need some more inspiration you can print them out to hang on your fridge or bulletin board or wherever you look for some uplift.

Click here to receive an abundance of inspiration this summer!

Now you know I love Brave Teachers, but this summer I want to send the love and hope to everyone who can possibly use it.  

Can you do me a favor?

Can you forward this to anyone who came to mind when you started reading this?  Your sister, your boss, your best friend from college, your mother-in-law, and your coworker who is in a rough patch.  I want to touch as many hearts and lives as possible this summer!

HERE IS WHERE TO SIGN UP

And if you would like a little taste of inspiration before the official start, here is a poster I made a few years ago.  Enjoy!