Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Art Teacher Haikus- Hot Glue

the Art classroom steams
hot glue strings like spider webs
cover all my clothes

covered in hot glue
and with a blistered finger
teach the children art

Bottle cap artwork is in full swing at my 4th-6th grade school! I have all grades working on the same projects- some students pick up where others left off, some start designing new panels, everyone is contributing. The students (overall) have been very motivated. Can you tell from my haikus that I have hot glue on my mind? I've gotten the worst burn so far, the worst hot glue gun burn of my life. It's not terrible, but my finger burned for a couple hours afterward! That's what I get for talking and gluing (to demonstrate) at the same time. I will be photographing all the finished artwork when we are finished. I just hope we have enough caps to make it through my last 5 classes!

10 comments:

  1. Way to mix and mingle recycled art with Poetry Month! Kudos for the cute blog and I hope your fingers come out with fewer burns!

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  2. Hot glue gun burns are the worst because initially you're like, "Oh it's not that bad, I can't even feel it!" and then twenty minutes later you're like, "Okay, I'll just cut the whole finger off. I'll feel much better then."

    We started collecting bottle caps at my school for a large mural. We're hoping to have enough to get started for next year. Can't wait to see what your kids come up with!

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    1. I have been saving them for a couple years but didn't ask for help until last fall. I think we'll just keep collecting for next year! I wanted this to be as student directed as possible so I only had a couple things planned ahead of time. They pretty much arrange their ideas, and I make suggestions before they glue. After I see how the glue holds up, I'll be able to make better plans for next year.

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  3. So sorry about your hot glue burn. Ouch!
    I'm going to do a mini bottle cap mural onto foam core panels. It is supposed to hang from the ceiling in a temporary installation. I ordered glue dots, tacky glue.....and super 77. I am thinking of spray gluing the boards outside and then letting the kids just stick the caps on. Wouldn't that be a dream?

    Look forward to seeing your bottle cap art.

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    1. You won't have to wait long, I photographed the finished projects and I'm getting ready to post them!

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  4. I've almost exclusively switched to low temperature hot glue in the art room. It really holds well, and can be used for stuff (like Styrofoam) that would just melt with the higher temp glue. You can still burn yourself, but it's not peel-the-skin-off-your-hand bad. But it sets INSTANTLY and so you have to be really fast with it. It has even held the whiskers beautifully on our cats, and is wonderful for gluing tooling foil to mat board.

    But anyhow - I love the haikus.

    No bottle-cap murals for me though - too much other stuff going on!

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    1. I have 3 full size hot glue guns and probably 6 smaller low temp guns. Some of the students had a hard time working fast enough to get the caps stuck down before it dried. I'm glad to hear that it holds up as well in the long run!

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  5. Katie, I just found your blog a few days ago and love it! Where is your email address? I would love to ask you a couple questions as I start creating my blog.

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    1. Hi Susan,
      You can email me at catharine.morris at yahoo.com.
      Hopefully typing it like that will keep the spam away! :)

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