I've been doing a couple of things differently this year, beginning with my Art 1 kids.  I decided to make drawing a priority.  That's not to say that this is all we do, but it is the main thing we do.  I am just finishing up with colored pencil techniques and came up with this assignment.  I had the kids take a large sheet of drawing paper, then create six squares on this one large sheet.  They then have to create six different drawings (of one object) on each square.  I had them paint in the negative space around the squares so that the squares would stand out more.  I am going to have them add shadows around the squares so they will look more 3-D.    I'll post the finished products as soon as they are done which will be in a few more days.
 Looking forward to the time off, already making a list of household chores that need to be done, including painting and rearranging my art studio.  I'm actually looking forward to that :)
Bye!

I love working with stencils, so it's natural that I would want to do them with my art students.  The images that you are seeing were created with spray paint by my Art 1 kids.  This is the most lengthy project that I do with my kids, but they can do so many different projects with stencils. 

As soon as I have more pictures of some finished results I will post them. 

Moving on to another topic, did you hear about the four (or was it five?) states that have adopted the addition of 300 hours to the school year?  Oh geez, what the hell?  So many questions arose in my mind.  I'm pretty sure our state is headed that way, our EOC scores were terrible last year and if things don't change quickly we will only be headed towards longer school days and a longer school year.  Interesting how countries with high performing students actually have shorter school time. Hmmmm, are we headed towards the wrong direction?  I don't have all of the answers, mostly I have questions.  Why don't kids turn in their homework?  Why don't they study for tests?  Why, why, why?  Yes, it starts at home and God only knows what these kids are going through at home.  I just hope we find the answers soon.  Perhaps a career change is in the horizon.