"By My Desk" ink 9 x 6

Most days this time of year I work until after dark.  This afternoon was no exception.  A number of students work in my room after school each day, then I spend about an hour grading and getting ready for the next day. As I was finishing up this afternoon, I decided to do my daily drawing at my desk.  I have a couple of bulletin boards with pictures of my homerooms from past years, a few bumper stickers I choose to display, the daily and yearly schedules, next to an algebra poster.  My desktop displays a Colin Page painting that I love.  Often, when I am not working on the computer, I'll display a painting I enjoy as a backdrop.  I got in the habit when I had a classroom without windows, essentially providing my own window. 
This is my seventy-seventh daily drawing.  Again, thank you for your time and attention.  

Drawing Aerobics - pencil, a stopwatch, and some fun

Sometimes my students at South Shore Charter Public School can be self-conscious about drawing, and feel intimidated around their peers or when facing challenging subject.  Today I introduced them to "drawing aerobics", an exercise I came up with a few years ago to break the ice, break the surface tension, get their juices flowing.  I added a couple of suspenseful twists today, and got great results.  This exercise works with adults and child students alike.

As they arrived in class, I told them to get their sketch books and to make 4 rectangles on each of three pages, all different shapes and sizes.  As they did so, I placed 5" x 8" pieces of card stock on the tables in front of each student and then doled out a variety of objects onto the card stock; mini-still life setups.  There was a piggy bank, a jar with dice in it, binder clips, a cream pitcher, some building blocks, a ceramic chicken, jar with brushes in it, a miniature trophy, etc. 

I explained to the students that I would roll a die, which would tell how many minutes they would draw, (maximum time allotted was 3 minutes) then we drew a card from a deck.  If it was black, they could draw anyway they wanted.  If it was red, they needed to crop the drawing.  Then.. drum roll, if they pulled a face card, it would be a no eraser round!  They gasped.  

We had a ball, and they took risks, pushed themselves, and realized that 3 minutes is a long, long time when you are drawing the essence, the essentials of the object in front of you.  They cropped their images in very interesting ways, excitement!  We had a lot of laughs.  I had a large stopwatch running on my smartboard, some music in the background, and they happily rotated after every round. 

Everyone left happy, and successful, and feeling pretty accomplished... a good day.