Oh Boy--It's Koi!

Hello, and welcome back to another school year in Sarah’s Art Room.

As you rightly suspected, the summer raced by with lightning speed.

And so here we are, facing another fall—and I use the term lightly. It’s still quite warm but the retailers are putting pumpkin spice stuff everywhere, so apparently it’s fall.

How’s it going, you ask? My first day back teaching involved my losing my voice, at least partially. It seems that over the summer I got out of practice with my Loud Voice. And so another school year has begun. There are the kids who still wear a sweater even when it’s ninety degrees. There are the ones who think art time is break dancing practice. There were erasers thrown on day one. But all in all, it was a creative day and I got some sweet kiddo hugs and some banter with the teens. There are more kids than ever but I’m indestructible.

So what have my students worked on this month? I thought you’d never ask.

Kindergarden: these sweet kiddos did frog art. I gave them blank coloring pages I drew, and they filled them in with marker. We discussed the fact that frogs come in lots of colors, and I encouraged them to go wild with color. 

First grade also colored frogs, and we traced lily pads using paper plates as our templates. Two funny moments happened during first grade art class. A couple of girls returned from the bathroom to tell me there were ghosts appearing and disappearing. I raised an eyebrow. Ghosts? Hmmm…A few minutes later, we discussed sharing of art supplies, and I told them they can say, “Can I borrow your supplies, Mrs. Sarah?” One kiddo immediately chimed in with, “May I borrow them?” Touche. Mateo will be in charge of noting all manners transgressions on my part.

Second grade: there are about a million of them and they have the energy of Olympic gymnasts and the speed of hummingbirds. Good thing I’m indestructible. (But check with me in April.) Second grade began work on a project I’ve been contemplating for a few years: koi fish. Koi seemed like a great subject because their splotchy skin makes for good artistic inspiration. The kids enjoyed starting the project and I always like seeing what they create.

Third grade also made koi fish. Their approach was to cut out pieces of construction paper so that we could use collage techniques. I explained that the splotches on koi are irregular, and that they could think of the shapes like puzzle pieces, “wiggly shapes” as I put it—like camouflage shapes, one kiddo said.

Fourth grade made three-dimensional leaping frogs. We used cardstock, as it is stronger than paper, and this allowed us to fold and bend our frogs so that they appear to be about to leap to their next adventure.

Fifth grade also made koi fish and I love how much detail and shading they added to their koi.

Sixth grade had the privilege of being the only class that got to paint their koi. This particular class is very artistic, and I thought they’d have fun experimenting with watercolor techniques for their koi ponds.

Seventh grade painted frogs, peeking out from reeds. I like that some kids used the wet-on-wet technique. You apply water to your paper and then add paint, which causes the paint to feather out and blend in unexpected ways. Aren’t these frogs fun?

Eighth grade began with abstract art. I had them color in two spirals and experiment with interlocking them or layering them in different ways. I asked them to put pattern and color on their spirals.

That wraps up our first month back at school. I joke about how exuberant these kids are, and there are times when it is exhausting, but I really do feel lucky to teach kids and to see how their imaginations work. This reminds me of my first blog post after I began teaching, six years ago. I wasn’t even sure I’d make it through the first semester back then—teaching felt almost impossible! But now I know to expect a mix of challenges and happy surprises So if there is anyone out there, facing a new challenge, doubting your own ability—be patient with yourself. It takes time to adjust to something new. We are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for. Just look at me—I’m a little older, and a little creakier, but I’m doing something meaningful, and those crazy kids make me laugh. So far their energy hasn’t crushed me. I’m indestructible!