Your time is important when choosing a school fundraiser

When it comes right down to it, the most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a fundraiser for your elementary or private school is time! It's the one thing most of us lack but want more of.

We recommend that you look for an easy to run school art fundraiser when comparing your options.  This will give you more hours in the day to do the things you love like spending time with your family.

How do you know it's going to be easy?

I've listed some important features to look for below :

• Organized
• The artwork and orders are sent back organized by class and student for easy distribution.
• Easy One Time Artwork Shipment
• The art fundraiser provides an easy way for you to ship artwork by including shipping labels.
• You don't have to put in the work of uploading artwork because the company photographs all of the artwork for you.
• The school fundraising company keeps the artwork in their database for orders after the fundraiser is over.
• Ideal Order Experience
• The art fundraiser provides a family friendly shopping experience by providing three easy ways to order: Paper order form, online ordering, and phone orders.
• One woMan Show
• The company prints the school, student, and class information on the school fundraiser take home documents and fundraiser orders to ensure that you could run the fundraiser by yourself or possibly with one other parent volunteer.
• Excellent Customer Service
• The company should provide you with 100% customer satisfaction.
• Their commitment should be to offer you excellence in school fundraising programs and ease of use.
• The art fundraiser should have an 800 number with a customer care department that is available to answer your questions during the fundraising process.
• Some companies only allow you to deal directly with one representative and you should not have to wait for only that person to respond to your question.
• Your inquiries should be answered in a timely manner and shouldn't take more than 24 hours for a response.

Have you had the joy of experiencing the key features above for your easy to run school art fundraiser? 

Please feel free to connect with us at (888) 332.3294.

We welcome the opportunity to speak with you in more detail about how we offer a true fundraiser partnership with school parent organizations just like you!

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Quick, think of the best art teacher you know!

Sharing the National Art Education Association's post!

Take a few minutes out of your day to nominate the art teacher of your choice. Your nomination will make a difference in our future!

"Quick, think of the best art teacher you know! Who immediately comes to mind? Perhaps she/he was your cooperating teacher when you were a student teacher, or he/she was your mentor in your first teaching position. Maybe it is someone in your district who you can always ask for help. Maybe it is a teacher who always steps in when needed in any capacity in your state association. Maybe it is a veteran teacher who has taken on every state office over time. No matter the reason for your choice, think about nominating one of these deserving art educators for a national award. Individual members, state/province associations, and special issues groups can nominate members for awards by the deadline of October 1. You can find everything you need to make a nomination at http://www.arteducators.org/grants/NAEA_Awards_2014.pdf.

Visit National Art Education Association Elementary Division"

Easily teach drawing through right-brain exercises

Are you an art teacher or student teacher having a hard time teaching your students to draw?

I highly recommend reading the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by author Betty Edwards.  This book shows you how easy it can be to teach drawing to your students.

Through positive and negative space you can instruct learners how to draw by learning how to see.

Right Brain-Left Brain

The book also talks about the right brain-left brain dominance theory.  Many believe if you are right brained you are more creative and expressive. If you are left brained you tend to be more analytic and orderly.

As a former art teacher, I highly recommend keeping this interesting theory in mind when it comes to analyzing your students.  As you may agree, many of them have different learning levels and think in really different ways.  This theory will help you to connect with them and get your message across efficiently and effectively.

Read more about the left brain-right brain theory and how you can incorporate this easily into your art teaching.

Is your creative brain a righty or a lefty?

Your brain is structured into two hemispheres called the Left and the Right side of the brain.  Each side of your brain is said to control different types of thinking.

The right brain-left brain theory grew out of the work of Roger W. Sperry who discovered if you cut the structure that connects the two sides of the brain one could reduce or eliminate seizures.

What does it mean to use the different sides of your brain?  In this article, you will learn and feel the difference between the two!

Left Brained

People who use the left side of the brain tend to be critical thinkers, excel at numbers and language.  They are typically logical, analytic, and objective.

Right Brained

People who use the right side of the brain tend to be more expressive and creative.  They also tend to be intuitive, thoughtful, and subjective.

Developed in the late 60's and early 70's, Betty Edwards came up with the theory that we need to use the right side of the brain to learn how to draw.

It is an interesting concept.  It states when learning how to draw most people view objects as symbols. Betty teaches us to view objects as shapes and lines. She does this through positive and negative space.

The picture to the left is an exercise developed by Betty Edwards and is a great example of the difference between using your left and right brain.

When viewing the vase, instead of looking at it as the object itself try to view the lines and shapes that make up the vase.

The black portion of the picture is the vase.

However, if you reverse the colors, the vase now becomes two faces!

Drawing on the right side of the brain teaches us to look at both the positive space and negative space.

In the examples above, the white space is the positive and the black space is the negative. By reversing the two you truly receive an entirely different view!

Below is another example of positive and negative space.  Use your mind to switch your focus from the black space to the white space.

What do you see when you focus on the black space?

What do you see when you focus on the white space?

In my mind, I switch from vases to people standing facing each other.  Amazing!

How does this apply to drawing?

What Betty Edwards shows us is that sometimes we can’t draw because we are too busy thinking with our left brain and not with our right.  Once you are able to recognize how to switch your brain back and forth between the two sides you will learn how to see.

According to Betty, “learning to draw means learning to see”

As a former art teacher, I used to teach this principle to my students.  I would teach contour drawing.  This exercise is an easy and informative way to get students started on learning how to “see”.  I would ask them to bring to school an object of their choice that had significant meaning to them.  They would be really interested in what they are drawing which allowed me to get them to focus on using the right side of the brain.

All in all, knowing how to use both sides of the brain is a very important task to learn.  One can achieve great accomplishments if they can consciously switch back and forth.  You will use your left side when you are critical thinking or working with language and numbers.  You will use your right side while drawing or being creative.

Are you a lefty or a righty the majority of the time? Leave us your thoughts below.

Sources:

http://www.barriebramley.com/the-theory-of-left-brain-and-right-brain-isnt-what-you-think-it-is/

http://www.ucmas.ca/our-programs/whole-brain-development/left-brain-vs-right-brain/

http://www.theflorenceartstudio.com/BLOG/vases-and-faces http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/left-brain-right-brain.htm http://imadocent.blogspot.com/2012/10/positivenegative-space.html

http://www.learn-to-draw-right.com/right-brain-drawing.html

Join us. Be part of our team

New! Coordinator's Forum

Communicate with other coordinators running the Square 1 Art school art fundraiser. Become a member of the Square 1 Art Coordinator's Group on Linkedin.

• Share best practices, artwork lesson plans, and school fundraising ideas 
• Ask questions regarding elementary school fundraising
• Teach fellow PTA/PTO , art teachers, and volunteers how to promote effectively and efficiently

Join the conversation!  What are you waiting for?

What are the features that you look for in a school fundraiser?

Give us your thoughts by leaving a comment

Thank you to Helen Goren Shafton for the nice comment below. It got us wondering what you look for in a school art fundraiser?

"I have used Square 1 Art at both of my schools for the past three years. It is an excellent way to fundraiser for my art program. One of the best features is not having to scan the student artwork. We just send it to Square 1 Art and they photograph all of the art, create catalogs, take orders and ship the merchandise, which is excellent quality. Over the past 3 years I have received a combined total of almost $3000 from two schools. Don't mean to sound like a salesperson, but this has been a wonderful addition to my program."

Check out our school fundraising programs.  We offer art fundraisers for elementary and private schools.

WANT 20% OFF YOUR NEXT ORDER?

Email us an electronic version of your kids art lesson plan with artwork photos toLisa@square1art.com  Subject: Art Lesson Blog Contest

One art lesson will be chosen weekly to be highlighted on our art fundraising blog!

If you are the chosen you will receive 20% off your next Square 1 Art order.

Be the first to send yours in!  What are you waiting for?