You would think that with the first week of classes being just two days long, I wouldn’t have much to write about. We’ll see about that!

I am happy to have seen all of my classes once each during these two days. The focus has been on “getting to know you”, especially with my fifth grade students. With all fifth grade classes, I welcomed them to the Miscoe Hill art program with my Prezi presentation, Oh, Mona. Here it is for you to peruse; the only thing you’re missing is my narration. Simply click on the image to follow the link through to Prezi, and once there, click through the presentation using the arrows at the bottom of the image.

Sixth graders returned to art this year to see a short video of famous artist, Chuck Close, reading a letter to himself at age fourteen (click on the image to see the video):

I chose this video because of the lessons within it. In one sense it is sobering, on the other hand, it is incredibly inspiring. The sixth grade classes have had some wonderful discussions about perseverance, risk-taking, and problem solving after viewing the video.

This week we have also been playing “Two true, One false”, which is a game where you write three statements about yourself and the others have to guess which statement is false. This has been a lot of fun, a terrific chance for our fifth graders to get to know one another, and a chance for the sixth graders to get to know each other even better.

As always, the first days of school are a time when most teachers distribute class letters, and I am happy to have written one for you add to your pile as well. I’m including it here in case your copy has not made it home yet with your child and the link to the attachment follows as well:

Back-to-School letter:  Visual Arts 2014.15

Stay tuned for a list of apps and websites we’ll be using, which I hope to post next week. Enjoy the four day weekend!