i did it!

I did all the things I said I was gonna do! feeling accomplished. and also tired. 

I'm still trying to figure out how I want to structure the art class.

Like if the first unit is drawing then I'll ask that the portfolio have some combination of a comic, a zentangle, a drawing from a reference, an invented aircraft, an invented creature. They can pick 5 or whatever.

And then each week I'll sample one and give some criteria. That could work. And then if they get really into something,  I'm open to them taking more time or redoing something as long as they can show their process. 

yeah, that sounds good. 

check in

I went to the dentist this morning. Everything looks good. I need to go back Thursday morning and they're going to fix one of the fillings they did for free. I also need to schedule to get my truck inspected and call the renter's insurance people to set up my payment. I've been wanting to do that for a week but it's been hard to find a free moment between 9 and 5 lately on weekdays.

I went to the school where I'll be teaching art. I'm excited to have my own space and be able to make my own curriculum but also a little overwhelmed. Right now I need to focus on the first day and setting up the room. I can do that during the week and also on the weekend if I have to.

We had the open house at the elementary school tonight and I saw all my afterschool kids. It was great. I was really happy to see them. My memory might be rose-tinted but I think the culture is where I want it to be and I really want to focus on having fun and engaging with the kids. They really like the spontaneous stuff and I'm going to do my best to document and display it for them.

Tomorrow I'm going to get up and run. Eat. Go to the school to talk more about the art class and start setting up the space and organizing. Then I'm gonna go over to Meriwether and set up the space for the opening day. That shouldn't be too hard. We want to set up one corner as like a photo booth area and then I'll think of some other stuff to put up. I also need to find time to call the garage to get my inspection and the insurance people. That should be easy. If I'm really ambitious I'll mow the yard in the evening. That would be something. Yeah.

Then Wednesday is the first day of afterschool!

8/13

-took kids to Paul's Creek. it rained. I tried to make a big rock stack. It fell over.

-found a really cool deer skull in the woods. named it Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies. it had crickets living in it.

-went to afterschool for the first planning day. thought I was safe to fart in the closet, didn't think I would be followed. shortly after my other coworkers showed up. oops. my fart was not safe.

-got locked out of my house. texted my roommates and mowed the yard while waiting.

-good workout in the evening. I ran around this neighborhood twice. it's 2.3 miles long per loop.

-had a yummy tex mex meal and grapes again also.

some highlights from the day

- I got a bunch of hoses and turned the camp gaga pit into a huge mudpit. that's pretty much what I did all day at camp. we were completely covered.

-I went for a run and there's this pipe bridge that I cross over to get to some trails and I found a guy sitting in the water, beer can in his hand, yelling/singing. so I did a different run

-I'm really tired, probably from the mudpit and I thought about treating myself with compassion. Like, recognizing how you feel and being nice to yourself. it's something I should do more often. Not that I don't take care of myself.

-I'm eating yummy grapes.

good day.

cool idea

today we took a long piece of bamboo and we laid it down across the width of the pool and everyone lined up and took turns trying to walk across it. it was endlessly entertaining. wipeouts, triumphs, defeats. super fun. I wish I had pictures but I'm writing it down to remember it and reuse.

also it's raining really hard right now.

i'm gonna be an art teacher

I should plan for that. Maybe here.

First Day: introduce myself. get to know the kids. I'm thinking I'll make some kind of powerpoint that has some art I've made and talks about past jobs I've had. or whatever. Then I'll come up with some kind of activity to have the kids talk a bit. Maybe find out an interest and their feelings about art.

Second Day: lay out expectations for the class and a general overview of what the year will look like. I was thinking that every six weeks they would get a portfolio grade to assess what they've worked on and they would also get a daily grade that reflects behavior and being on task. Art is just about doing it. You need to practice. The space and time is for practicing and doing art. If you do that, good job.

I was also thinking about offering a new activity every week. I will see 4 groups twice a week, each week for about 50 minutes. So it's really not a lot of time. But for the ones that can't focus on any one thing or don't really enjoy art, I'd offer some variety. At the same time, if somebody gets really into something or wants to do a larger project, I don't really have a problem with that. As long as they're using the time well. So maybe you'd knock out 5 projects for your portfolio or maybe you'd have one or two really detailed, in-depth projects. I don't know. I can see it not working out. But I'd rather have a few excellent projects than a bunch of ones that could just as easily be thrown away.

The second week I would want to show them how to do the abstract doodles that I like, that I got from Peter Draws. The way I do it is just a few easily repeatable lines and patterns. I feel like if you break it down into a few easy steps, it's really easy to do. Just fill a page with some patterns.

The third week would be drawing from a reference. It's a good skill to have.

The fourth week would be designing something. The theme at the school for the first six weeks is aviation so I was thinking the kids could design their own aircraft. Planes, helicopters, flying saucers, zeppelins. Whatever. You could make it by doodling or you could get a reference and modify it. Or you could just do your own thing.

The fifth week I planned to do posters. But I might change that to something that builds on the previous weeks a little better. This weekend I discovered Amik, the 1976 Montreal Olympics mascot. It's a beautifully simple design. So maybe we could look at that. Kind of minimal design and iconography. That could be fun.