Keep it Classy Campaign 2012-13

First day of school went well.  With the first of two "traditional day" schedules (all 8 classes, of which I teach 4) and 45 minute periods it went by really fast and all I had time to do was go over the course description and tell my traditional first day of school stories (more on those another time).

Here's a good look at my classroom, just the way I like it.  Clean, organized and empty.  Wait, is that bad? Seriously, I do love my job and my students but those last few moments of appreciation when all is tidy, clean and neat make me so happy.

The Calm Before the Storm

I did get a chuckle out of a classic prank, the good ol' TP'in the school.  Nice work, kids.

Every year I have some sort of new goal, usually art related, (last year it was to give 50% for missed work instead of 0's as while 50% is still an F, it's a lot easier for a kid to work their way up to passing from 50% than it is from 0%.  Of course there are kids I love to give the old  F.U. (Fail, Unsatisfactory) come grade time, but that's not why I got in this business.  This year, my goal is to instill some old fashioned MANNERS into these brats.  Ok, they're not all brats, but I've had enough potty mouths, rude interruptions, talking back, and entitlement issues for me to launch my official K.I.C. Campaign, 2012-12.  Keep It Classy!!  

Students are to greet me when they enter the room (such as, "Good morning, Mrs. M," "You look nice today, Mrs. M."  You get the idea.  They need to use "excuse me," "thank you,' and "please." on a regular basis.  I know they learned this in Kindergarten as I have been reliving these lessons through my children, but somewhere around Jr. High many have lost their manners and I'm gonna bring them back, damnit! Part of my commitment to the youth of America is to turn out productive and respectful members of society, right?  It should be noted that I also told them that I love Flamin' Hot Cheetos (fried, not baked), Taki's and Tootsie Rolls. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to keep her emergency snack drawer stocked and I aint rich!

I came home to find this scroungy beast in my yard. A loitering pooch that my husband found wandering around in our driveway after I left this morning.  Mind you, I already have a 150 pound beast named Rudy messing things up in my back yard so the LAST thing I need is another furball stinkin' and shedding up the joint even more.  This mutt (obviously, ew, NOT neutered) lifted his leg on every surface of my back yard and kept trying to hump Rudy.  Thankfully, with the help of my neighbors we found his owners and he is gone. Whew!

Tomorrow's another traditional schedule, which is like the drive-thru of teaching, but I plan on making a seating chart and starting those batik name tags I mentioned yesterday. I doubt I'll be writing this much this often, so don't get used to it.  (Ha! I should be so lucky!)

Oh, and I just put my soon-to-be 3rd and 1st graders to bed with this book.  

I know, you're wondering how I manage to be Teacher of the Year AND Mother of the Year.  It's not easy, but I try.  Keep reading my blog and you will learn, sensei.  Wax on, wax off.

35th First Day of School

Ok, I'm not going to get creative here... yet (kind of ironic to say for an art teacher), but want to start documenting my school year from the beginning and I'll get to the aesthetics of this site later. (Trust me, it's killing me for it not to be perfect RIGHT NOW). For now it's a generic blog template.

It's Monday night, Labor Day, and tomorrow is the first day of my 16th year teaching but, with 19 years as a student before that, this makes my 35th first day of school in my life. WOW!

Of course I let this day slip away from me (laying in bed with my People Magazine, drinking coffee, checking up on important things like Instagram, Facebook and my "Hanging with Friends" (only one of them is actually my friend), completely gutting both of my daughters' closets and dressers to reorganize and make room for the new school clothes that, of course, I've been collecting all summer.  They must start the school year with organized closets, rid of the things they never wear, right? I couldn't possibly do that NEXT weekend.  It would be too late and the world would end.

 So the majority of my day was spent organizing (hence, the name of my blog including the words "Left Brained"), plus making a week's worth of PB&J's to freeze for their lunches this week.  Whew! Now I sit down to put the finishing touches on my first week of school (and first time ever teaching calligraphy), I'm exhausted and it's 7:00pm.  I really want to get back to the book I'm reading right now ("Divergent," a Hunger Games-ish book recommended by a colleague/friend of mine) pop a couple Melatonin's and catch some Z's.

I've been tossing around ideas how to start the year. Teaching an elective course there is a lot of turn-around with all the schedule changes so I don't like to get in too deep until the 3rd week or so.  I really want to try teaching about Zentangles and spent quite a bit of time on that this weekend, but I got this really great idea from, where else, Pinterest- a woman's blog called "Make it a Wonderful Life"  It's a crayon batik and I'm going to have all of my classes (3 periods of Design Craft, 1 period of Calligraphy and a handful of International Baccalaureate Visual Arts students) participate.  She made bookmarks, but I'm going to have my students make name tags for their storage cubbies.  I am a thief when it comes to finding ideas, so I cannot take credit for this. 

 Cut the paper into 5.5 inch x 2 inch strips.

Color your design with crayons. Using lighter colors works best. Press hard so the paper is completely covered.

 

 Now crumple your paper. Crumple and smooth, crumple and smooth out two or three times, taking care not to rip the paper. Too crumpled may mean more "batik" effect than you want. Oh, and see in the photo how the paper on the left has a fold all the way across? Try to avoid that unless you want a black line there, as you will see in my later photos..

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 Rub over your artwork with the liquid shoe polish.

 Cover completely and wipe off quickly with a paper towel or soft cloth.

You can use paint, but this works better and easier. And a bottle of shoe polish goes a long way. (Most of my students have no idea what shoe polish is actually used for!)

 Once it's dry, I like to buff it a bit with the cloth or paper towel. It's hard to see in the photo, but it gives a bit of sheen to the paper.

If you're making bookmarks, mount on 2 1/2-inch by 6 1/2-inch card stock. Laminate if you'd like.




Ok, I could go on and on, but I gots to go for tonight.  Wish me luck!!