wow! Christmas is over. Usually I feel sad and let down this time of year, but this year, I've managed to procure the keys to my school, and can spend some hours in my classroom! I was there yesterday, and will go again this morning. Mostly, I'm changing out the kids' art displays, getting rid of orphaned art, and sorting through my collage goodies.

We'll all be back to school on January 2, and I want the kids to come back to a freshly organized art room.

I'm hoping to work up some more menus (these are the signs that go in each center), especially for clay. The kids LOVE clay. I hate to see their sad faces, though, when a sculpture or other precious creations loses some of its body parts. The younger kids create animals and people with the teeniest skinniest limbs. I often tell them that they are sturdy enough, or well attached enough, but usually they shake their heads, "No, these are great, see I put a lot of water with it." My response is always something along the lines of, "Well, if they can stay on until the piece is dry enough to fire, then I'll fire it." Most of the time their little creatures don't even make it from the clay table to my drying area.

It's good for the kids to see this. It makes it so that I'm not dictating arbitrary objectives, but letting them learn from real life.

Their second and third clay pieces are sturdier.