After two long days of this and the tired brain that ensued, I can not help but reflect on what a poor little kid must feel like with all the demands made in a school day. All those subjects. All that thinking. I understand why they tune out so much. No wonder many are depressed and anxious. The state of being mentally tired is depressing at best. Throw in the other middle school challenges, and it only gets worse. We did activities yesterday that simulate what it is like to try and read with a language based deficit and one that had us write simulating a graphomotor deficit. Both were really revealing and reminded me of how much I take for granted in my own head, and how brutally painful school must be for some of our kids. My classroom just got a whole lot less language based :) Art to the rescue, peeps. Going to let it do what it does best from now on, and will employ as many tools as needed to get them there.
I want my art room to be a hippy den. Lol. Bring on the soft chairs, acoustic guitars, bongo drums. Lol. Fringe. I need fringe. And lots of organized art supplies. Lots of ‘em. Time to start chopping away on my curriculum map for the year, too. Getting the teacher buzz and really want to be ready this fall. Last year’s prep was a wash with The Back situation, so this is so needed. I want to label everything down to the tiles on the floor. Yup, the teacher brain is awakening. Happy to have you back, Ms. Ropple!
Several super hot days ahead with humidity to match. I want to find a cool rock to live under for a while, but know that isn’t an option. At least I escaped the Republican convention - didn’t watch one second of it. One PBS interview with Pence was enough. The man looks like the walking undead. And just a little too peaceful for my taste...still waters are covering something funky. I like how reports are saying that male escort services are busier than ever at the RNC. Says enough right there.
For an art link today, in searching for cool hippie fringy things that meet my dreams, I came across this link. I have finally found “curtains” that I’d like in my house!! I hate to block windows and LOVE sunlight in all its ambient forms. These torans are GORGEOUS -- I love the colors, the materials, and the little elephants. . They’d look great in the classroom as well as in my art rooms, kitchen and bedroom. New fancy...oh oh! Cheers!