It’s been a little slow to get my room ready for Monday. So after playing volleyball Saturday morning, I recruited BJ to come to school and pitch in. (Thank you1 Thank you!) We hung up some chalkboard decal, work by Andrew Bannecker, Mike Perry’s zine, Readymade WPA style posters, and one of my student’s NAHS promo poster to balance out the more traditional posters in the room. And B made sure the students could see my slight name change.
What we’ve been up to: cooking breakfast almost every day (and sometimes having it for lunch & dinner), using the immersion blender to make orange-blueberry smoothies, hanging out with Igby who loves to exert herself and her little legs running up the stairs, discovering that all the smudges on our window were from Igby rubbing her dirty nose against it while spying on the neighbors, stuffing ourselves at White Linen Nights, celebrating Brandi’s birthday with filet mignon and red snapper at Del Frisco’s for Houston Restaurant Week, playing sand volleyball with our family, watching several episodes of So You Think You Can Dance on Hulu (That would be me. Go Lauren!), falling in love with The Kids Are All Right, and getting back to the grind with lesson plans, cleaning my classroom, and mini but fewer “omg it’s coming so soon” freak outs.
This summer is going by way too fast and we’re getting pretty frustrated that there are way too few hours in the day after we get back from work, make dinner, clean, etc. This + all of the other things going on has put us in a little funk.
With the school year approaching, I’ve been filling a lot of professional development hours with workshops. Some are not so exciting but still helpful—like the two-day sessions on classroom discipline. And others—like the ones at the MFAH and Glassell—are much more enjoyable and relevant. The sessions were only a few hours each, but I got to dabble in collograph printing, pinhole cameras, enameling, ceramics, and, well, just having some fun. It was just the boost/kick in the butt I needed, and now BJ and I are considering taking an evening class during the school year.
Instant pick me up. I used to by these by the strip, but I spied a bulk pack at Candylicious in the Rice Village.
Our plates and cups seem to be chipping at record rates. I wish I knew how to do something like this.
I tried enameling for the first time and decided to do something simple and not so “art teacher”. You know what I mean?
Yes! Got to go back into the darkroom and learned how to use a paint can as a pinhole camera. The weather and lighting were unpredictable, but I still had fun shooting in the sculpture garden.
Working on a few projects and still figuring out my footing.
hah. excuse all the hand shots. not feeling so creative. again.
I woke up at 5:50am Saturday morning in a cussing storm because I’d slept through one alarm. And I was laying on my cell phone so that its alarm would have awakened me if my back hadn’t been pressing snooze! Luckily, I live super-close to work so I was just a few minutes late to leave for our state art competition. This is the mayhem that went on all day:
This year 2,000 of 24,000 pieces submitted advanced to state. It’s always a little odd for me when I go to this event because not too long ago my friends and I were here running around the campus and nervously awaiting our results. Some of my best memories from high school took place here.
A lot has changed within those few years—mainly how people view the student exhibit. Back then, teachers would take photos of other work to show their classes and people walked slowly through the exhibition. Now, 9 out of ten people had a camera and you can barely stand and enjoy a work because you’re in someone’s camera view. Many took pictures of almost every single piece. Now, I understand that inspiration and looking at other artist is an important part of creating a piece, but there was something off about how snap happy everyone was and the pace at which they were consuming the art. I’m not sure how I feel about it.
I was a proud teacher that day though—4 out of 5 got the highest possible rating. And the one other student missed it by only one point. One!!!
While BJ was organizing his books, he handed me a copy of Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman. The first line in the preface read like this:
It’s a safe bet that in random high schools all over the United States, some kid has just set the bathroom wastebasket on fire. And deep down, all of us know why.
I was hooked. Someone is always setting the trash on fire down the hall! This happened at other schools too?!I’m only through the first two chapters, but I am certain this will be an invaluable resource for teaching. During my graduate studies, we were assigned more than enough books about pedagogy and what-have-you, but this gathers advice and insight from students themselves who tackle sensitive topics with honesty and directness that is hard to get from “experts.” In a way it makes me want to travel back to the first day of school and do some things a little differently.
I didn’t realize how consuming a teacher’s job can be until I became one. Students, lessons, and endless lists of tasks linger in my mind well past the end of the school day. Lucky for me, BJ has always been understanding about all the work I have to do during the weekends and all the things we have to pass over. Heck, he even pitches in and helps me with the workload. And I’ve got to be thankful for my cohorts (hehe, do you guys remember hearing that word all the time?) and teacher friends like Andrew (whose calisthenic detentions we’ll cover in their own post) who continue to challenge me to reflect upon my own teaching practices and who allow me to vent about extremely short class times, overcrowded classrooms, and all the crazy things that go on in a school.
Mmkay, That’s all. If you are an educator, I highly recommend picking up this book if you haven’t already. I’m off to the rodeo to enjoy the last few hours of break before I start grading again.
An imaginary, ideal outfit that can easily transition from work to Lost watching parties at BJ’s. I know we have plenty of throw blankets, but how comfortable does that wool blanket from Dace look? Maybe if we move north…
I’m feeling a little sick towards the end of the week, and I’ve been curled up on the couch watching ABDC. I’m a little sad the crew from Providence with former Hope High kids didn’t make nationals, but thank God this season isn’t so gimmicky. I overheard some pretty funny conversations when I mentioned to my class that I watch the show. Speaking of which, I realized Friday that my ear can’t pick up certain frequencies anymore. I prided myself in the fact that I could pick up on the mosquito ringtone when students texted each other. It must be annoying for students who hear it but don’t want to be the tattletale. Fortunately, some kids don’t care about that, so when one called out his friend for using the ringtone, I quickly fibbed and said I could hear it too!
Shabd SS10 Collection. So beautiful. Hat tip: unruly things.
Hi. Outfit #1 for July? Hmm. Growing up, tie dye was a staple for field day uniforms. I especially loved the event where the entire team had to maneuver a gigantic beach ball around the obstacle course. The second picture perfectly captures my mood this week: relieved it’s Friday and ready to spend some time outside!
Starting new projects like those that involve clay can be exciting but exhausting. Students are eager to begin but don’t want listen. I think I impressed a few with my (ahem) loud voice—I just don’t like to bring it out much. Also, high school kids are not sneaky at all. Why would you ask if you can make a bong, shot glass, martini glass, or ash tray? I wonder if they sincerely thought I would say, “Sure, as long as it has great surface treatment!”
Some Christmas books that I need to spend time with. I got BJ Painting Today, and he also recieved American Illustration 28 in the mail, so we’ll be set for awhile. At least that’s what we always say, but you know how it goes. 
One of my favorite gifts was a jewelry torch kit from BJ. I loved the intro to jewelry course at RISD, and the size is perfect ’cause that’s all I used for my projects. I’m super excited to get started but also a little nervous—I hope I don’t blow something up!
I’m brainstorming ways to use all the beads and charms I’ve been collecting, like these skull pieces from International Beads & Novelty, a little place near Michigan Avenue in Chicago. They had an awesome vintage stock, but after 90 years, they closed their shop. Lucky for me and you, some of their goods can be found online here.
I don’t want to say I’m busy and tired because that’s all I ever feel like/complain about, but man, I am busy and tired. My grades are due tomorrow, final exams begin, and contests are approaching. I feel fortunate at my job, but arriving at 6:40am and not leaving until 6pm—plus taking additional work home—is hard. Today, one of my colleagues discussed the possibility of me taking over painting courses next year (something I would love to do), but that would mean 4 preps and that class is a combination of different levels. And don’t even get me started on how my class sizes increased from 25 to 35 this year. But I am lucky…
Olly Moss’s film poster remixes. Genius. I really admire how he uses limited tools to perfectly capture the essence of the subject—something I try to reiterate to my students. I can’t blame them for thinking kitchen-sink maximalism is good; ads and magazine pages today are so crowded. I got a headache flipping through my sister’s Seventeen magazine last night. Those layouts are craazzzzy.
Gah. These are so good. And he’s only 22!
