In today's episode, educator Flavia Zuñiga-West joins Candido to talk about the benefits of showing contemporary art and working with contemporary artists in your classroom. Listen as they discuss the ideas of windows, mirrors, and sliding doors, talk about ways to make art history accessible, and list some of their favorite artists to share with their students.

Resources and Links

• Learn more about Narsiso Martinez, Chakia Booker, and Carmen Lomas Garza
• Incredible Contemporary Artists Your Students Will Love
• How to Connect Your Students with Contemporary Art
• Find Flavia on Instagram and learn more about Adding Voices

In today's episode, AOEU Instructor April Malphurs joins Candido to discuss her mobile art studio and how she brings art to her community. Listen as they discuss the benefits of community-based education programs, how they motivate reluctant learners, and the joy that comes from teaching art outside a traditional classroom setting.

Resources and Links

• Connecting with the Community (Ep. 223)
• Using Art to Help Our Community (Ep. 147)
• 6 Ways to Partner With the Community for Your Art Show
• Find April on Instagram and on her website

In today's episode, Candido speaks with educator Trinity Villanueva about working with English Language Learners. Listen as they discuss celebrating language and culture, programs that help students in meaningful ways, and Trinity's best advice for teachers that work with English Language Learners. 

Resources and Links

• How to Support ELL Students to Thrive in the Art Room
• 5 Tips for Teaching English Language Learners
• 5 Strategies to Help Your English Language Learners

In today's episode, Candido talks with his colleague JT Harris about Jt's experiences this year as a first-year art teacher. Listen as they discuss how to navigate the challenges of your first year, how to establish yourself with both students and colleagues, and why self-reflection can make you a better teacher in the long run.  

Resources and Links

• Dear First-Year Art Teacher . . .
• 4 Lessons Learned as a First-Year Teacher During the Pandemic
• 10 Things You Need to Know Your First Year of Elementary Art
• View the First-Year Teacher's Guide on YouTube

In today's episode, Candido explores the intersection between special education, disability rights, and arts education. Joining him to discuss these topics is Jenna Gabriel, a Ph.D student in arts education at VCU. Listen as they discuss their understandings of disability, our approach to special education, and how we can refine our systems to best help our special education students. Resources and Links

• 3 Ways to Eliminate Ableist Language in the Art Room
• Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau
• Follow Jenna on Instagram

Photography—with all of its necessary equipment, knowledge, and technology—can be a difficult medium to teach. Today's episode tries to break down some of those barriers and tell you how you can bring photography to the elementary and middle school level. Listen as Sarah DeKett joins Candido to talk about organization, lessons, creativity, and how she started a photography program without a budget. 

Resources and Links

• How to Bring Photography Into Any Art Class
• 2 Engaging Projects for Beginning Photography Students
• How to Get Your Students Thinking Deeply With Photography
• View Sarah's Photography Classroom Website

In today's episode, Candido welcomes Jess Karr to the show as they talk about how important it is to be resourceful as an art teacher. Listen as they share some ideas and experiences with resourcefulness and also talk about LEGO in the art room, their ideal setup with centers, and how to embrace working with what you have. 

Resources and Links

• Follow Jess on Instagram
• How to Embrace Limitations to Tap Into Creativity
• Listen to Ep. 223 with Levar Robinson
• See AOEU's IG Live episode with LEGO artist Ekow Nimako

Following his presentation about NFTs at the NOW Conference, Candido uses this episode to dive a little deeper into the topic and how we can teach about NFTs in the art room. Fellow art teacher John Hansen joins him today to talk about how we can explain NFTs easily, the research we should do as teachers, and a great lesson that can show your students what they need to know. 

Resources and Links

• Follow John on Instagram
• Check out Candido's Monster Squad post
• A Brief Look at NFTs and How They Fit in the Art Room
• What it Means to be a Lifelong Learner

Following her incredibly popular NOW Conference presentation, Khadesia Latimer joins Candido today for a discussion of all things tech-related in the art room. Listen as they discuss their favorite apps for artmaking, how we can make technology more accessible, and how digital art can empower students to find their voice.  Resources and Links

• Follow Khadesia on Instagram
• Listen to Art Ed Radio with Lauren Yates-Jones from Procreate
• Easy Ways to Get Started with Procreate

Teacher morale and appreciation are at a complicated crossroads right now, in the midst of another very difficult year of teaching. We may not be able to fix the problems teachers face, but we can do some things to make the situation better. Candido is joined today by Jonathan Juravich to discuss why we need to appreciate our colleagues, how we can improve morale in our buildings, and why recognition is such a powerful tool. 

Resources and Links

• Find all of Jonathan's articles for AOEU
• Follow Jonathan on Twitter
• Episode 267 with Jessica Provow: Favorite Teacher Portraits

Self-reflection is a valuable tool for every teacher. In today's episode, Candido discusses how self-reflection has benefitted his teaching. He also talks with Alisha Mernick about one way she approaches self-reflection, as well as tips for creating an inclusive classroom and what we can do to help students find their voice.

Alisha describes strategies that may not be acceptable in all districts. Ensure you are following all district guidelines when implementing new strategies into your practice.

Resources and Links

• Follow Alisha on Instagram and Twitter
• View Alisha's Substack
• Listen to Episode 225 of Art Ed Radio
• 5 Ways to Help Create a Culturally Sensitive Classroom