Hi everyone!

Truthfully, this week has been rough. It's always tough around progress reports as students and sometimes their parents become more demanding. Please review how work is graded in this class. Students are to meet with me face to face, to get portfolios reviewed. Many students are still not following the procedure. I won't grade work "on the fly" either. A progress report is not a report card.Since it's merely a snapshot of where a student is on a given day, I won't reprint them for individual students, unless it's me who has made an error.

This week most periods have been working on a paper weaving project which should conclude next Wednesday. If your students are talking about warp and weft this is some of the terminology they are learning. This project is in a step into weaving on a cardboard loom which will be the main project for a unit dealing with the Navajo Culture. (P.S. WE STARTED PAINTING WITH ACRYLICS TODAY. PAINT SHIRTS SHOULD BE HERE).

Sadly, however, we had an "event" in fourth period on the 18th. Our classroom was vandalized by an art student or group of art students in this class. The students refused to come forward and be honest with me, so the administration took over at that point. It is for this reason that fourth period has lost their 'Studio' privileges for a week since the event. I expect that all of my 12-13 year-old students know better than to color on freshly painted walls, countertops, and furniture. So my 4th period is confined to their regular desks and are doing art related activities for the next week. Very specifically they are studying the Principles of Design--yet another part of our curriculum. They are also hating me in a big way!

My hope is that my room is no longer vandalized by students currently taking art. Destruction of school property is taken very seriously at BTMS--so is misuse of art materials.

Some weeks are not all rainbows and roses.....Thanks for listening.   

TLH