A co-worker sent the link the Earth Album around school today. At this point in time I’m kind of wishing he didn’t. I can tell by the amazing, high quality photos that can be found on this site that I will be spending a good chunk of time browsing this site instead of attending to the large amount of work that has managed to pile up on my desk.
I am always on the hunt for good online art resources that I can use in my classroom. While this website might be too advanced for my elementary students, I can see how Smart History would be valuable for older students. I really like the site’s collection of podcasts and videos about famous pieces of art. In addition, they have a very clear system of navigation. You can search by theme, time periods, style and artists. This is a resource that you’ll want to bookmark.
Chinese New Year in Shanghai has been blissful. The streets have been eerily quiet, except of course, for the nightly firework assaults. A large proportion of the city’s inhabitants have left town to visit their families all throughout China.
Getting out of town during the holiday seemed like a great idea to me as well. A group of teachers from SAS piled into a van and headed out of town to the Jinshan Peasant Painter village. The town is just over an hour outside of Shanghai. Because we we went there on New Year’s day, the entire village was free of tourists. Many of the studios were closed, but those that were open had more than enough beautiful art to keep us oohing and ahhing for hours. If you ever make it to Shanghai, this village is one spot not to be missed.