Help Students Make Their Creative Process Visible

The creative process is rarely a straight line. Artists research, experiment, revise, reflect, and sometimes return to earlier ideas as their work develops.

My new Creative Process Posters & Student Planning Tools resource helps make that flexible process clear and accessible for middle and high school art students.

The collection introduces six stages:

Define • Research • Generate • Prototype • Implement • Reflect

It includes:

• Six individual process posters
• Portrait and landscape overview displays
• Printable student planning sheets
• A digital Google Slides process portfolio
• A helpful resource guide

The posters establish shared classroom vocabulary, while the planning tools help students document their ideas, research, experiments, revisions, and reflections throughout a project. Teachers and students can choose the printable or digital format that works best for their needs.

The regular price is $12.00, but during TPT’s 25% off sale (August 4–5), you can purchase the collection for $9.00!

If you’re looking for a practical way to encourage more thoughtful planning, experimentation, and reflection in your art room, this resource is ready to support the entire process.

Shop the Creative Process Posters & Student Planning Tools resource on TPT before the sale ends August 5!

Day 6: Chobe, Lupani, and Lessons in Conservation

Day 6 started in the dark, which felt fitting because we were headed into a day that we never saw coming. We left early for a safari drive through Chobe National Park with our driver, Moses, who quickly became one of the highlights of the morning. He was knowledgeable, funny, and clearly enjoyed sharing the park with us.

As the sun rose, Chobe slowly came into view. Moses stopped near elephant bones and explained that elephants are known to return to the remains of their dead. It was a reminder that the animals we were seeing were not just “wildlife” to check off a list. They are part of complex social systems, family structures, and landscapes that people here are working hard to protect.

During the drive, we saw a lilac-breasted roller, lions, monkeys, impalas, kudu, giraffes, hippos, and Cape buffalo. Some animals were close enough for us to study their movement and behavior, while others appeared in the distance, partly hidden by brush or morning light. The sunrise, the dust, the quiet, and Moses’s explanations made the experience feel less like sightseeing and much bigger than a list of animals we had seen.

After the safari, we visited Lupani Primary School and spent time with students connected to Children in the Wilderness, a program that uses environmental education and leadership development to help young people understand conservation and their role in protecting their natural heritage.

At Lupani, we were welcomed with a student dance performance, visited a classroom, and observed an Eco-Club lesson outside. The lesson focused on photosynthesis, giving students a chance to connect science with the plants and environment around them. What stood out most, though, was the students themselves. They were curious, energetic, and eager to participate.

One of my favorite moments of the day came when I drew a blind-contour portrait of a student. I loved that this small drawing exercise created an immediate connection. A few curious students huddled around to watch, and their eager energy was contagious. 

Lupani made me think about how education moves beyond the classroom walls. Conservation was not being taught as an abstract science topic. It was connected to community, responsibility, leadership, and the future. Learning is more meaningful when students can see how it connects to the world around them.

After leaving Lupani, we crossed into Zambia and made our way to Livingstone, where we checked into the Zambezi Waterfront. It had been a full day: sunrise in Chobe, wildlife in its own environment, students learning under trees, and a reminder that education and conservation are deeply connected.

Day 6 was another day that was full from beginning to end. It gave me stories, images, and questions I will carry back into my classroom. It reminded me that teaching is not just about content. It is about helping students pay attention, care deeply, and understand that they are part of something larger than themselves.

Day 1: Leaving North Carolina and Arriving in South Africa

In the next few posts, I’ll be sharing about my experiences in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. I was selected to participate in Go Global NC’s Global Teachers: Southern Africa 2026 program, a professional learning program for North Carolina educators. The purpose of the program is to help teachers develop a deeper understanding of southern Africa through direct experiences with history, culture, education, conservation, land use, development, and shared global challenges.

Throughout the program, I will be thinking about what I can bring back to my students and classroom, especially as a visual arts teacher. I am interested in paying attention to schools, public art, community spaces, murals, classroom environments, student work, symbols of identity, and the ways people and places communicate who they are. My hope is that this program will deepen my own understanding and eventually grow into lessons, projects, and conversations that help my students see the world, and their own place in it, with a wider lens.

This first post covers “Day 1,” our travel day: leaving North Carolina on June 23, flying through Newark, and arriving in Johannesburg on June 24.

On June 23, Jeff drove me to RDU. It was raining, and I was more nervous than I expected. Before I left home, I hugged both boys goodbye. I have traveled plenty in my life, so I can't really explain why I was so nervous, but by the time I got out of the car at the airport, I felt like I was about to board a roller coaster.

The first person I saw was Tyler, who recognized me from our Go Global group bio and called my name. I was immediately grateful because, in my state of anxiety, it probably would have taken me ten minutes to read the directions and figure out how to attach the luggage tag to my checked bag. Tyler had it done in less than a minute.

Our group leaving from RDU had a little trouble getting started. Because of weather, our flight was delayed a couple of hours. At one point, we even had to deplane and then board again, which added a little extra stress since we still had an international connection waiting for us in Newark. Thankfully, everything worked out. Once we arrived in Newark, we met up with the rest of our group, including those who had flown from Charlotte.

From Newark, we boarded a United Dreamliner for Johannesburg. The flight was about fifteen hours. We boarded around 9:00 p.m. on June 23, ate dinner, and I went to sleep soon after. When I woke up, it was daylight on June 24. I slept on and off, stared at the flight map, and before I knew it, we were watching the sun set again.

One of the most beautiful moments of the flight was looking out the window as we flew over the Namib Desert. From above, the land looked almost unreal, full of lines, textures, and ridges with no visible signs of human disturbance.

We landed in Johannesburg around 6:30 p.m. on June 24 and made it through customs fairly easily. After collecting our luggage, our whole group gathered in the airport: tired, relieved, and officially here.

Our guide, Darryl, met us at the airport, along with our bus driver, whose name was Nkululeko, to the best of my spelling ability. On the ride to our hotel, Darryl began introducing us to Johannesburg. He explained that the airport is outside the city and spoke honestly about some of the realities here, including deep inequality and high unemployment. He also talked about language, currency, religious diversity, and the importance of greeting people warmly before getting down to business.

One idea he shared that stayed with me was Ubuntu, a South African moral philosophy rooted in shared humanity and connectedness. It is often described as “I am because we are.” As I continue to think about that idea, I want to keep listening for it throughout this program: in schools, in conversations, in hospitality, in history, and in the way people care for one another.

We are staying at the Garden Court in Johannesburg's financial district. After we arrived, my roommate and I got settled, put away our luggage, and headed downstairs for dinner with a few members of our group. I ordered three mini cheeseburgers, a bottle of water, and a glass of wine, and the whole meal was 230 Rand, about $14.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted, but grateful. Day 1 was mostly airports, delays, long flights, and luggage, but it was also the beginning of a bigger learning experience. We left North Carolina carrying our usual pace and assumptions. We arrived in South Africa ready to slow down, listen, and learn.

Remote Learning: Art Class

I am currently in my ninth week of remote learning, and I have never worked so hard in my life! I also decided to complete all four components of National Board Certification this year... so that definitely factors into the workload. 

I am ALL about sharing content to help other teachers out during this time. It occurred to me that I haven't posted on my blog in a long time, and this is the perfect place to share some of the things I've been doing. 

First, let me give you some background information. My high school is fully remote right now and will be until at least January. I'm on a block schedule with four class periods- three classes and one planning period. When we are in person, those classes are 90 minutes, but the synchronous Zoom meetings are cut down to 60 minutes. We take attendance, and 70% - 80% of my students are attending, which is fairly comparable to when we are at school in person. 

I've gotten into a groove with how I run my Zoom meetings, and I would LOVE to hear your own success stories in the comments- I'm always willing to shake things up a bit and try new things. Basically, here are a few "procedures" that have been working for me. I grade student work throughout the day and try to make sure that everything has been graded before my first class meets each day. While I'm grading, any time I have specific feedback that needs to be shared with a student, I make a note in my notebook. Sometimes, I include the feedback in Speedgrader (in Canvas), but if it's something that I want to have a conversation with a student about, I make a note. 

At the beginning of each Zoom meeting, I deliver direct instruction and outline what the students will be doing for independent practice. This part of the Zoom meeting is recorded for students to view later if they missed something or were absent. 

Then, I put all of the students in individual break-out rooms. To do this, I click on break-out rooms, assign automatically, and I make more rooms than there are students... just in case some students join late. First, I visit each of the students that I made a note to give feedback to. We go over the feedback and I move on to the next student. Every time I speak to a student individually, I record their current grade on a printed spreadsheet so I can see how it goes up or down over time, and I can see how often I meet with them. After I meet with students that need individual feedback, I meet with students that I haven't met with in a day or two. Generally, I'm able to meet with each student individually every 1-3 class periods. Here's a sample of what my spreadsheet looks like. 

If I have a row with several empty spaces, that is usually due to absences, and I know to contact home or to let our admin / guidance counselors know. 

In our district, all of our middle and high school teachers are using Canvas as our learning management system. As I go along, I am sharing my modules into Canvas Commons so that other art teachers can use them. Here's an example of one of my modules and how to find it:

If you aren't using Canvas, but you are looking for tutorial videos, check out my YouTube Channel. I currently have demos on shading, linear perspective and a few other things. My tutorial on drawing boxes in one-point perspective is shown below.

If there's anything else I can share, send me an email and I'll do what I can! I would also love to hear about any tricks or tips you have about teaching remotely during this pandemic!

Student data tracker for a Visual Arts Class

I teach Visual Arts at a high school in North Carolina. I am the only visual art teacher in my school, so I have the unique opportunity to teach many of the same students four years in a row, and some of them achieve AMAZING levels of growth. Below is an example of a watercolor piece that one of my seniors did in her Beginning Art class and then another that she made in AP studio drawing.

Beginning Art

         

AP Studio Drawing

This example is so important for other students to see. This student worked very hard to achieve this amount of growth; she wasn't "born with it." This year, I created a student data tracker so students can keep track of what skills they are working on, and what they have mastered. I'm sure I will make multiple adjustments to it as I continue to use it, but for now- check it out and feel free to adjust it for your own classes. On the bottom of the google sheet are tabs- Beginning, Intermediate, Proficient and Advanced- these are Visual Arts courses that we have in NC. My students keep this data tracker throughout their high school career with me. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!