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| Aptly illustrates how I feel this week |
There is a ton going on in the studio this week. I cannot believe it is only Wednesday, and that we are just three days in from our holiday break. We are neck-deep in:
- Soap stone carving
- Mosaics
- Sumi-e ink painting
- Paper marbling
- Mural painting
- and everything else
I have no one to blame but myself - it's just that there are only two weeks left in the quarter and 6th-graders keep bringing up things they want to do before they are done with art. Done til next year, or, in many cases, until the year after that. We are in a frenzy trying to get everything in that students love or want to try.
Meanwhile, my new batch of 8th graders are being treated to a couple of "8th Grade Only" options, like working with soapstone and designing mosaics. Add this to that, and, whew! It's a lot!
Today's button-popping pride moment went like this:
"Nan, can we grout our mosaics?"
"Of course" I say, pulling out all the gear and materials needed for this and swiftly setting up at the end of a table, on our last scrap of newspaper.
"Do we mix the grout?" asks one 8th grader to another
"No, Nan has to do that."
(Nan thinks - um...why do I have to do that? I bet they know how...)
"No," says Nan, "You guys can mix it up."
So they did. Perfectly.
Note to self: Release control of the things kids can very-well-do on their own, or with minimal supervision or coaching. Why is this such a hard lesson to keep learning?