Tuesday morning, almost time to start focusing on school things- long weekend flew by quickly. Sleeping through Saturday (literally- I don't know how Mr. Owens puts up with me)- then focused work all Sunday and Monday, Trask and Virtual school, didn't even touch grad school except for checking the mail. Groceries, a small bit of cleaning, and a 15 minute play-break that resulted in Mary, above. This is a digital collage made in photoshop in 15 minutes from five different images- an abandoned caboose, a crazy quilt, fall leaves, a sun tarot card and an photo of an old lady doll with a shotgun. Attitude. The edges on the images are a bit to sharp around the sun, but this is the raw collage- later I printed it out, put it on a clipboard I spray painted black, then worked on it a bit with colored pencil and wash until it was blended more. Then covered the whole thing with spray varnish in hopes of it becoming rather indestructible. Short, easy project but a welcome (very) relief to the whole brain thing and coping with all the technology glitches with the new system at the virtual school. Oh- and editing Mr. Owens emotional range video for the Atlanta movie. (He did fine, it was me who kept laughing and being heard on tape....)
Grendel made it to SC and back- his first road trip in the car- Curtis had come to visit from Vancouver, and had to be driven back down to Grendel's dads, a car switch, then on to the airport. Which left Grendel driving home solo for the first time for a distance. He needs a car of his own eventually, unless he ends up in the middle of somewhere like NYC, but I think the West coast would suit him better. But that is me, not he, and he will end up wherever he gets a job.
Speaking of which, I have to get on to my job. All weekend I was developing new content to teach- it is a whole new set of standards after all- and *that* was so much fun. I wish that I could just find a way to make money doing that- creating the lessons, and these are exactly the type of lessons that we are supposed to achieve. Meaningful, relevant, multi-media (I have presentations, prezi's, videos, animated shorts- everything!) and connective (at different levels it includes psychology, consumerism, hoarders, outsider artists, lawyers from Portugal and other assorted things, but mainly bic pens, which I now know are properly called 'brios' after the fellow who refined them). And I think the kids will love it- I know I am looking forward to teaching this week- which is exactly what good lessons are supposed to do. Engage both the student *and* the teacher. I know that some of my troubles last year was that I was bored- I was still an ok teacher, but I was boring myself with the old stuff. Now I am inventing the new, which I love- but it is such an amazing amount of work. The virtual school has all new curriculum as well (the whole state does) but while I helped develop the course I am teaching, I did not do it all- I just have to teach it. But through a new learning-management system, which is a bit like walking into the first day of work to discover that the doors are on backwards and someone moved all your stuff. Do able, but time consuming and frustrating. I'm not so good at frustrating. But today is a new day, the first school day of September, and even though it is 90 and tropically humid I am envisioning apples and sweaters just around the corner. And lawyers from Portugal drawing tigers with bic pens, old ladies with shot guns that live in a caboose.
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