Crayon Melting - Final Product

WHAT I LEARNED...
Print out coupons before you go shopping.
  - I could have saved $8!
Buy Crayola crayons.
Use a hair dryer TIP.
Tips that break look weird when melting if you don't glue them RIGHT NEXT to each other.
  - Cut them all shorter anyway. You don't need full-sized crayons if your canvas is 12" x 12".
SuperGlue doesn't glue wax.
Don't glue the crayon... put hot glue on the canvas.
Just glue the farthest part away from you, so the glue doesn't show on your final one as much.
I take a lot of pictures (91)! But I'm glad I have them for my presentation, for sure.
I still need a lot of practice being patient!!!

WHAT I STILL DON'T KNOW...
Sometimes it spurts, sometimes it drips. I don't know why... That's what I'll learn next time??

BEST TAKE-AWAY...

Art is editable. We can change these canvases at any time!

DID I SUCCEED?

Yes. I was able to make art that hopefully will inspire my students! I already inspired others - by sharing my art on Twitter, even showing Robby Novak!

"You got air coming through your nose. 

You got a heart beat. 

That means it's time to DO SOMETHING!"

~Robby Novak, "Kid President"

This is my final presentation...

Crayon Melting - I need to try another.

After finishing the first quote I wanted to share with students, I had to try my favorite one from Kid President, and I wanted to do this one in a different, more perfect shape...

A heart.

Steps for this one...
  - Make a heart the right size on paper.
  - Trace this on the canvas in pencil.
  - Write the quote on paper, and try to make it fit right aesthetically.
  - Write it on the canvas in Sharpie.
  - Become frustrated because your marker slipped on the exclamation mark!
  - Grow more frustrated because you spelled "through" wrong!
  - Realize you can paint over it with white paint and start again.
  - Be grateful you've got white spray paint!
  - Tape the heart shape, and paint it white - outside.
  - Wait.
  - Check it, and notice you need another coat of paint
  - Paint it more, but it's okay if you can see some of the words... just not the "throug."
  - Bring it in from outside, because it's going to rain.
  - Choose your crayons. I chose reds of various shades, with a few purples thrown in.
  - Strip crayons of their paper.
  - Try to glue the broken ones back together with Super Glue.
  - Realize that doesn't work.
  - Decide the crayons are too long anyway, and cut them in half, on an angle.
  - Tape the heart shape again, but this time covering the quote fully with paper, too.
  - Arrange crayons in the order you want. Keep these close together this time.
  - Glue crayons on canvas, realizing (again) that you need to put the glue on the canvas, NOT the crayon.
  - Ask husband/friend to make an attachment to the hair dryer so the heat is more concentrated.
  - Fire up that hair dryer outside again and have FUN with it!
  - Bring it in, take off the tape and paper to see what leaked through.
  - Outline the heart shape in Sharpie to make it pop.
  - Decide whether you are a true perfectionist or not... should you cover up the small color with White-Out or just deal with it as it is???!!!

Crayon Melting - My turn.

Throughout the time we were setting up and melting Robert's crayons, I was thinking of my design. I wanted to make two pieces, as we'd originally thought. I wanted to use a quote in each one, as sharing quotes is one of my passions. I wanted to inspire students with these quotes. Choosing quotes was a tough decision, but I recognized the fact that I had five canvases to play with if I needed them.

I looked through The Passion-Driven Classroom, by Angela Maiers. All that I'd highlighted would be for nice for teachers, but not for students. I checked The Element by Sir Ken Robinson once again, but it was the same deal. Where would I get my quote from?

Robby Novak. A.K.A. "Kid President."

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kid_President_in_White_House_2013_Easter_Egg_Roll_Promo.jpg

YES! I love Kid President, my students love Kid President, and his pep talk has the message I want students to hear. I chose two quotes (which I will share later), and decided to do two different types of crayon melting designs.

First, the simpler quote, and a starburst design, much like the one Robert did. Of course, being the perfectionist I am, I organized my colors in the ROYGBIV order, as much as I could. I also had the exact same number on the "top" of my quote as on the bottom. It wasn't quite a circle, but the flattened oval was fine with me for this first round. The issue here was the length of the crayons. Easy fix. I cut them with a paring knife over a cutting board.

Pencil the quote on, rewrite in Sharpie, then glue on those crayons. Step outside, and fire up that hair dryer!

What I'd learned from Robert's trial, was to go with the flow. It's okay if it isn't thick, and it's okay if the colors run into one another. I also learned that the colors might collect in the middle, so I hastily taped a cardboard circle over the quote. This didn't really work, but it looked better than being totally covered. I dealt with it by going over the words with the Sharpie one more time.

I am happy with the outcome, as it was the second try, and I think I can hang this up in the classroom without being too embarrassed...

Crayon Melting - We try again!

This is it!

Robert and I went outside and plugged in the hair dryer. "Fire it up, Aunt Joy!" he squealed. With his direction, I began to melt the crayons.

I was actually surprised. The crayons did not melt thickly, like I thought they would. The melted together, and blended a lot with each other on the canvas. I thought it would leave thick crayon wax along the white spot, but it was really thin - except for in the middle, where it covered up Robert's words, "Be happy." He didn't mind. In fact, he was way more satisfied with the outcome than I was. I could see the imperfections - the hot glue leftover, the thick, mottled crayon wax and the thin colors alongside.

I know I have issues with perfectionism. I want everything to be symmetrical, exact... perfect. Robert, being seven, sees more of the fun in it than I do. As it turns out, he taught me how to enjoy the imperfections - what I really liked was the way the crayons spurted off the edges of the canvas! That was beautiful in my eyes!

What was next for us? I put off my turn, as I wanted Robert to be able to get his art finished before his parents came to pick him up. We had six more canvases, but he wanted to add more color to the one we just finished. Which made me think - we don't EVER have to be finished with these! We can continue to add, melt, and add more if we'd like! How neat that this could be something we keep changing over time.

After a bit more decision-making as to the placement of the crayons (I do love that Robert is okay with randomness!), we were ready to blast it with heat once again. This time, Robert did ALL the work! Oh, did he seem to enjoy this!

This is Robert's final crayon melting art...

Crayon Melting - First Try

Robert and I brainstormed our ideas for our crayon melting art. We were both going to have a "burst" circle, and words in the middle. Robert made his words tiny, and they said, "Be happy." He then chose random crayons to come bursting off of the circle.

Before we glued them on, I wanted to see how they would melt. Bob had tried to heat up a white crayon (one we wouldn't use) in the microwave, in an attempt to get the paper of easily, but it didn't work. In fact, it hardly got warm in the microwave! We decided to check right away how they would melt with the hair dryer.

We glued on a gray, unwrapped crayon onto the cardboard Bob had spray painted white for us. After the hot glue was dry, we took the hair dryer to it. I put it on high right away (as a result of my new knowledge about the microwave). Woooooosh... The hair dryer is on. And still on. And we keep trying. Nothing. Not a drop. Finally (after 4 min.??) we start to see the crayon has some shine to it. But it's still not melting. I'm thinking I'll be buying a new hair dryer soon. The cardboard is getting hot to the touch. The spray paint is melting! We stop. We go shopping.

Dominick's has Crayola crayons. We bought two 64 packs (one for each of us). Another $12 later, we're back home, trying to melt a gray Crayola on the cardboard. One with paper, and one without. Success! Sure, the plastic table cloth wavered a bit, and there was some mess, but the crayons melted much easier, and we found out we don't want to keep the paper on them.

There we were, stripping the crayons - again. Bob helped a ton - he took his box cutter and cut a slit in the paper on each crayon we wanted to use so the paper would come off easily for us.

When Robert's crayons were staged on the canvas, I glued them on carefully with the hot glue gun for him. I had an idea for mine, as well, but it had to be put on hold as Robert was ready to try the melting right away!

What did I expect? More of a mess. We'd cleaned up the paper from the crayons, but what would the wax do? Bob got us a box and suggested we work outside. Good plan, as I also expected the melting to make the crayons stink...!

Crayon Melting - Preparation

We went shopping...

Of course, I didn't think to print out a Michael's coupon for 40% off (like they always have available online!) We got there, and now the issue was size. What size should we get for our adventure in crayon art? We took about 5 excruciating minutes (for my nephew Robert, at least) looking in the aisle that had all the canvases, and finally decided on a package of seven square ones for $20. They are 12" x 12", and seemed like the perfect size for putting up on a wall.

At the dollar store, we purchased four packs of 24 crayons (some off brand), and a table cloth for the mess we were going to make. (Good thinking, Joy!) We already had a glue gun and glue sticks at home, and we had some cardboard we could practice on, as well. Earlier in the day, my husband Bob had spray painted the cardboard white, so we could practice on it to see how the crayons melted and how they looked on the white background.

We decided to take the paper off of the crayons, so we didn't see the sunburst decoration on them, and then start brainstorming what we wanted our pictures to look like.

Crayon Melting Idea

July is coming soon, and I'll be involved in my very first MOOC - Massive Open Online Course. It's about 20% Time or Genius Hour, of course! Anyway, one thing they'll be wanting us to do is to try our own project.... WHAT?!

This gave me my first problem, which I imagine my students encounter. WHAT WILL I DO? I know what I like... teaching, photography, inspiring quotes... But if I want this project to be authentic, I want to do what I ask my students to do - Read, Be Inspired, and Act on it. And all this, while trying to help or inspire someone in some fashion. What books did I read this year? A TON! What inspired me the most? Sir Ken Robinson and Angela Maiers. (I love fiction, to be sure, but I get so much MORE out of nonfiction!)

Sir Ken Robinson is famous for his TED Talk, "Schools Kill Creativity." My Twitter teacher friends and I read his book, The Element, this year, and chatted about it during a #geniushour chat back in the fall. What I took from this book: You've GOT to do what you like to do to have a fulfilling life. You've got to keep looking if you haven't found that thing you love that puts you in the zone - where you could keep doing it for hours and not even realize any time has passed... you love it that much. I, myself, have found my tribe - and I love to teach students, and plan for school, as I really want to inspire students to love learning.

Angela Maiers is famous in teaching circles for telling people, "You are a genius. The world expects your contribution." She also makes sure all of her students know they matter. "You matter" is something I keep trying to help my students understand, and that message comes from Angela. How many times do we tell children they matter?? The book of hers I read this year, The Passion-Based Classroom, was another one the suggestions from fabulous teachers of the #geniushour chat. My copy is autographed, as I met Angela in Boston in July of 2012, so I was excited to have "permission" to read this next! My take-away: Have students SHARE what they are learning. I have been neglecting to ask my students to share with each other - they've only shared with me, and I've shared their ideas with other teachers on Twitter, but they need to share with EACH OTHER! But what can I make, or create, or DO for my Genius Hour project? I want to do something to inspire others, and help students find and sehre their passions.

Harrumph. I took a break from thinking. I spent a day with my nephew. And what did we do??

We decided to create Crayon Art.

I was looking at my Pinterest pages, and he happened to see them. "What's this?" Hmm... "Could we try this today?" My brain was ticking. How can I use this to my advantage? Could the two books that inspired me the most this year also inspire me to make crayon art? Crayon art?? Seriously?!?!

My next step... go shopping! What do I expect from this? A HUGE MESS, but one happy nephew!