Getting Into the Routine

This year our middle school and high school times shifted from 7:50 - 3:00 to 8:30 - 3:30. Last year, the husband drove our daughter to elementary school because it was way out of my way. This year, I will drive her to middle school. So I can leave the house at the same time as last year but still get to school on time. The students seem to like the new schedule.

We are in full swing. Animation & Video Game Design I have done thaumatropes and are about to do a strip of 12 frames for a zoetrope.  II is about to start creating an animation illustrating a concept from one of their core classes. One student has chosen the planets, one chose electricity, and one chose Napoleon.

Ceramics I is in the middle of a bookbinding unit making their sketchbooks. They each get to choose their method of binding, and we have students choosing coptic binding, Japanese stab binding, and more. Ceramics II is working on their entry to the NCECA K-12 art competition.

Art II students have done value scales in preparation for their big gridded portrait. Before they made their value scales, I had them play around with the charcoal for a little bit and see how many different values they could create.

Most of the students had never worked with charcoal.

This is the second and smaller of my two Art II classes.  They were so quiet!

And there's always the student who draws all the time and already knows what you are teaching - she is hanging out and watching everyone else because she's already done!

The only kink in my system is that normally I stay after school anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to catch up on things. My daughter used to be dropped off at my school from the bus. This year, she gets out at the same time as our students, and I have to stay another 15 minutes before I can leave, and it's another 15 in school traffic to get to her school. So she's left sitting from 3:30 - 4:00 pm, and then we have to rush to get to drum lessons, voice lessons, art teacher meetings, and anything else. So I have lost about 3-5 hours a week in planning and paperwork time. I am still trying to figure that out!