The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?
It’s that time of year...
It’s specifically the time of year for me as a teacher where I stop remembering how I get from week-to-week and the goal becomes just to get from Monday to Friday in one piece. But, this year, it seems there’s just more ways to lose a piece or two…
For one, after still trying to wrap my brain around our hybrid schedule, we went back to all virtual starting this week. Now, in December, the back and forth of all of it feels less hypnotic and more surreal than anything.
Secondly, I became Mrs. Harden within the last few weeks.
Although I was dubbed a “sneaky bride” 😂, opting to post the mock-up of the chalkboard I had made in my FB page (I’m fairly private and only shared it with friends and family), news traveled quickly around my school. It’s a little known fact that students get very interested in the lives of their teachers. Once students learned I had gotten married and my new name, continuing to call me “Ms. Stacey” was out of the question! From elementary to middle school, upon arrival to class, the students greeted me as Mrs. Harden and were full of questions. So while I hadn’t intended to make my name change at school until next school year for simplicity’s sake, I chose to make my new name the subject of a middle school lesson. I love a project with the engagement built in (no pun intended).
H is for Harden.
This past week, I spent the majority of my time creating a screencast for students to learn how to paint on their computers using free apps.
The instructions for the project include removing the background of a photo of a drop cap they drew in a previous assignment. Then, the screencast goes through using the Gradient Tool, the Paint Bucket Tool, The Brush Tool, Layers, etc. It’s basic…but for them, that’s quite a bit. So annotating the screencast took a lot of time. Still, I’m glad to be able to show them a way to paint digitally while in a virtual classroom.
The new Mrs. Harden is also doubling as a DIY Tattoo Artist and Mrs. Claus.
I may have also joined a challenge to draw a few for one of my FB groups. 😳
Even with the prolonged social distancing this year, I do agree that the winter holidays are the most wonderful time of the year…But, I’m specifically talking about the days after December 23rd when I kick my feet up on break! ;)
