Elementary school art projects

At the elementary school were I currently teach, we have at least one parent assigned to each classroom for the purpose of teaching art. It's been great for me because about every other week another adult comes into my room and I do not have to have something special planned. I can sit back and enjoy doing something with my kids. Today my art volunteer brought clay to the classroom for the kids.

It's a fast drying clay that does not have to sit for two weeks and then be fired in the kiln. It's an instant gradification kinda project. I love it. The idea was that the kids would make a flat circle with the clay and write something on it for Father's day. This was a really great idea and I think that at least three of the twenty-one students actually did that. The rest were just like me and had to roll it into a ball and see what they could do with it.

After almost an hour we had several different clay projects in the room. One child made a piggy bank, there were a few that made snowmen and one really cool kid made a shoe shaped structure to hold his dad's guitar picks.

What did I make? An ashtray. The kids didn't know what it was. I called it a container. But it's really an ashtray.

I don't smoke. So why did I have to make an ashtray? I just can't stand the goody goody stuff that goes on in schools all of the time. It is very draining on my personality. I want the kids to be happy and learn so much but does everything have to be so freak'n PC? I did refrain from yelling the many other things that came to mind during the day such as, shut your face and sit on your ass or I'm sorry that the other kids called you retarded but you are kinda retarded and you should just be happy that they are talking to you at all.

I had to make that ashtray. I just had to so I would stay sane.

Sign me up for Teacher of the Year. I educate the leaders of tomorrow and that is a very scarey truth.