March was a busy, exciting month that kicked off with… Art Teacher Bowling! That’s right, we have a duckpin bowling league just for art teachers. As a matter of fact, our next game is on Thursday! Not only is duckpin bowling super fun in itself, it’s rejuvenating to get together with other art teachers in a non-school related event. Each time we play, we set up a tournament at the end to determine the trophy winner. Whoever wins the trophy has to add some flair to it for the next game. The trophy has certainly evolved over the past few years (the league started back up two years ago after a hiatus), and here’s what it looks like now:
Last year a group of friends and I got together to run the Shamrock 5K in downtown Baltimore. This year only two of us were able to make it, and we had a blast! We hung around after the race to take advantage of the free beer and live music down at Power Plant Live.
This year marked the 2nd-Annual Community Diversity Night event, held at Cockeysville Middle School again. The event was larger than last year, in that there were more activities throughout different parts of the building. The co-coordinator and I agreed that although it is an amazing event (largest one of the year), it is a LOT of extra work on our parts. We will probably hand off the responsibilities next year.
I attended a Mindfulness in Education Conference a few weeks ago in DC. I learned a lot of new information that I hope to expand on, and share with colleagues in the future. One of my biggest takeaways from the conference was general awareness/observation with limited judgment. This habit of mind is something that I continue to practice and strengthen in all aspects of my life. Below is a visual reflection from some of our mindfulness exercises, including meditation and mindful walking. We also read two poems by Mary Oliver, which the quote at the top is from.
My mom and I went to the National Portrait gallery to see Barack and Michelle Obama’s official portraits. Since we arrived just before the museum was closing, we went to the portraits right away. They were unbelievable! The photos don’t quite do them justice, plus they are each about 7′ tall. We plan to return this summer so that we can spend more time in the museum.
Ahhh springtime. Weather is getting warmer, flowers are beginning to sprout… but then last week (beginning on March 20th- the first day of spring) we got a pretty significant amount of snow, which caused us to get out of school early on Tuesday, and then we were off on Wednesday and Thursday, the 21st-22nd. It was kind of unexpected. I used those days as opportunities to make art and just relax. On Thursday I felt compelled to create some patterns in the snow by walking through the yard. It reminded me of the mindful walking exercise from the conference. I walked slowly and intentionally. I noticed where the yard had a slight incline or decline. I also had to be sure to keep my balance as I stepped toe to heel, and the wind made that task a little challenging.
Today marks the final day of March, and the middle of my ‘Spring Break’. I’m borrowing the phrase Spring Pause since we are not getting the usual full week off from school. We were off yesterday and we are off on Monday. I’m trying to use my time well, in between our various family events. Like clockwork, I’m back in jewelry-making mode. I seem to take a break from it during different times of the year, then I return to in the spring. I guess one of the catalysts this time is that I have an upcoming craft fair. Here’s what our kitchen table looked like not too long ago…
For Youth Art Month this year, I created a page for students to do their own Daily Drawing Challenge at home. I’m looking forward to what students came up with. I plan to display all of the completed challenges. My completed page is below!
What types of things did you accomplish in the month of March?
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