A Day in the Life

5th graders creating chalk pastel color wheels

Art is never dull.  And, I've discovered that when you are teaching the very first art class that your students have ever taken, you can expect the unexpected.  Things that you take for granted, like using scissors or glue, or understanding the basic properties of certain mediums, like crayons are just not part of the inherent knowledge of your students.  

7th graders evaluating their own work (unsolicited)

Additionally, there are surprises like the seeing the hidden talents of your students in  charcoal portraiture, or when students have wide grins when seeing the fruits of their own work come together, or the audible "oooh" when a student mixes paints together for the first time to make another color.    Considering the fact that these students have never done anything artistic formally in school, they are quite good!
Even the other teachers in the school are now coming by the classroom to see what is being worked on and are impressed.  

This week I have introduced abstract art to 4th graders, drawing faces in wax resist to first graders, charcoal portraiture to 7th and 8th graders, negative space to 3rd graders, and color theory to 5th and 6th graders.  Phew!  Scroll through the blog for various pictures.

Student Working on a half portrait of Nelson Mandela in charcoal

Math teacher with abacus

Additionally, I have taken some time this week to photograph what goes on in other classrooms too.  What I thought was most interesting is that math classes are taught using an abacus.  I know the abacus has recently resurfaced in schools as a very useful math tool, but it is interesting to see it in use (especially in schools where we are lucky to have electricity on occasion and technology is simply not available).  There are competitions in mental math (based off of abacus schooling) regularly televised on Ghanaian TV.  

I really wish I could include many more pictures, but my internet time at the cafe is about to run out and they are closing.  This week concludes with mid-term exams all of which I wrote last weekend as well as a visit from my overseas UK supervisor who will evaluate my student teaching and get to see why I don't communicate often enough via internet.

Until next time, be well and be grateful for the things that you have, great and small.