A Hectic Day
One thing they don't tell you when you embark on a temporary teaching assignment is what environment you may encounter. Because it is generally not known beforehand, the traveling art lady may find her classroom overheated, without water or lined with ceramic tile walls that amplify each and every sarcastic tone uttered by a gaggle of arguing tweens. This afternoon I tried to keep twelve children focused on the task of wet-glueing patterned paper to wooden boxes as they were jammed into individual desks meant for youmger children. This project takes a few acres of table space for even the tidiest artist. We only got to the first steps, which is fine with me. This time they all understood where the project was heading and they were into it, perhaps because my samples were better..I've learned not to be too frustrated by how long it takes for a simple task to be explained, demonstrated and absorbed in the midst of distraction. I'm new at this, too.

