Monday, May 24, 2010

Tra la! It's May!

I worked this weekend. All weekend long. And actually got things accomplished! But I'm not going to share them today because I'm too lazy to use my scanner.

Instead, three reasons May is the best month ever...




I forget how amazing May smells. Coming home from a trip to New York when I was about 12 was the first time I realized - the place I live smells really nice. Especially in May.

Also, since they were on my camera, two final art projects with the kids. I really wanted to do something that involved both the individual and the entire class for the younger ones. So the pre-Ks did these flowers. First we each drew our own stems, grass, and... flower middles. Whatever they're called. Then the kids dipped their thumbs in paint, stamped a thumbprint petal, and passed their picture to their neighbor. It was a bit of a nightmare to get the passing and the stamping coordinating. I ended up doing "Simon Says" to get them to stamp and pass at the same time, and felt oddly like a coxswain on a rowing crew. But at the end, each kid had a cute picture that everyone helped make.




For the Kindergarteners, I decided to do something that wouldn't require much planning or preparation. First we read a story about a rainbow, and I told them we'd be making our own rainbow, but it would require teamwork. Each kid picked a piece of paper out of a jar; each piece of paper had a color written on it. The kids were given magazines with instructions to only cut out images in their color. Two of each color x three classes, and I had six of each of our color wheel colors. Then on Thursday, I put them up in the cafeteria.

Friday, May 21, 2010

School's out for summer!

Well, almost. Yesterday was my final day of teaching. We still have two weeks left of school, but from here out, it's testing, cleaning, and parties. No more classes! I find myself bouncing when I should be walking.

As promised, the middle school mural...



It's come along farther now, but this is how it looked when we sent in the picture for the contest. The turtles and eels are more detailed, and we have some great, stripey lionfish keeping the puffer fish company around the coral. I think the kids did a really excellent job with the gradation on the water - we were painting on gravel at the time, but I think the little white spots look like light in the water.

Also, the second of the auction portraits.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

What I Did Today

It's nice to close a day having tangible proof that you did something. This is the wooden stand that the air conditioner sits on in my classroom. It used to be white, and now it's not. I think it draws the eye away from the grotty carpet quite nicely, don't you?