Teacher Reflections: Back From Break

It was a fast 3-day week back from Winter break. It was supposed to be a full week, but bad weather came in. So, coming back was simple.

Since it was a couple weeks since we last had school, a lot of this week's projects needed review demonstrations. But, as soon as the students see and remember what they've been working on, they jump right in, eager to create. The 5th graders are approaching their creative maps with a method that I did not demonstrate. Most of the students tend to create their landforms based on a theme. For instance, one student made "Sportland" and so landforms looked like footballs and basketballs. It's not an approach that I encourage nor do I discourage it. But, I do appreciate the commitment to the theme-based islands. Likewise, I think the maps in which the students creatively put down amorphous landforms shows a creative element that is not hindered by the theme. Pretty soon, we'll be crumpling these maps to make them look more aged.

Another project that my 4th graders are painting is the Concentric Shapes projects. It's a rich project that covers warm colors, cool colors, tints, shades, and concentricity. It is the final study in color that the students work on before they approach their larger painting project on dragons.

This week also began the new semester of 7th graders. We first work on an intimidating project that uses a lot of observation, drawing skill, and line quality. However, I stress effort heavily on this project. It's in a way a boot camp for art class.

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