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For their journal entries today, I had my 7th graders respond to Picasso's "Girl Before the Mirror". Their response was mixed: "it is ugly" to "She looks into the mirror to see a different part of herself." "The face is messed up" to "There is a pencil in the painting." We talked about MoMA and the value of a Picasso and cubism. I found their engagement fascinating. Some of them were more willing to engage with the new and unknown and some instaneously dismissed it as stupid. I identify with both reactions-- sometimes I'm really open and curious and sometimes I'm in rolling-eyes mode. But, if they're like I am, I'm more open the second time round. I want them to grow familiar and comfortable with art. I want them to figure out what kind of art they connect with. I'm going to look at Byzantine next week. Then, Matisse, Debussy, Rothko, Van Gogh, etc.

I went to a meeting this afternoon about the new state-wide writing assessment. This year is a pilot year. It's whacked. I have to grade an extra 625 papers because of this and take a 20 hour course, which translates into over seventy hours of extra (and uncompensated) work. It took me about two hours to unwind from that news. I even blew steam at the opening of my aun'ts b-day party.

Tomorrow's a teacher workday. I'm excited to get some time to catch up on all my work.