Spring Break Fun & Food

Last week was spring break. Huzzah! It was nice to not only have a short break from school, but to get out of the crazy Ohio weather. My wife, daughter, and I flew to Atlanta, Georgia and then drove to Macon in order to visit family. The weather was in the low 80's and absolutely wonderful. We visited the Georgia Aquarium and I got to view an animal that I've always wanted to see first hand- the whale shark! They actually have four whale sharks in an absolutely massive tank that also holds manta rays and countless other examples of marine life. 

It's hard to get sense of how large the whale shark in this picture is. This one was approximately 30' long!

 After getting back from Georgia, I had some time to relax, read, and have fun with my daughter. I also spent some time in the kitchen. One of my secret "real person" talents is cooking. I absolutely love to cook and would consider going to culinary school if I weren't teaching. I've been on a fresh pasta kick lately, so I decided to include a couple of my creations for you to enjoy. 

Scratch made linguini with spring vegetables.

Scratch made short rib and wild mushroom ravioli served with sautéed brussels sprouts.

Skeletal Fun!

I have a plastic skeleton in my classroom that has been here for years. Last year, I began moving the skeleton around the room from time to time to have a little fun. It started out on top of a cabinet, relaxed and reading a book. Later I moved it to a plastic bottle cap bin and made it look like it had gotten stuck inside. My students get a big kick out of the skeleton, so this year I decided it needed a Halloween costume. I used some fishing line to rig it so it would hang from the ceiling just like the classic Spiderman pose. This is why being the art teacher is the best job in the whole school.

Kids can constantly amaze!

 Toward the end of the day today, I had a first grade class quietly working on some free drawing after they had finished another project.  I'm used to seeing great drawings from the Thomas students, but I saw one today that was especially impressive.  Trisha, a first grade student was working from a "How to draw Lion King" book.  Some younger kids want to trace or will diligently work on each small step from the book.  Trisha wouldn't ever think about tracing and completely skipped the steps.  She loves to draw an is obviously very good at it.  It is these types of things that really make my day as an art teacher.