Art Teacher for the Day

Last month Ashley had the "BEST DAY of school ever," and one of the top 3 days in her life. She was the art teacher for the day.


Each year her school hosts a silent auction. I bid on art teacher for the day and won it for Ashley (it helped fulfill our fund-raising requirement for the year). I was glad we didn't have a bunch of children at the school and that I would have to win something like this for each of them. 


Ashley's teacher is part-time. She is at her school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week. Ashley chose a Tuesday because that is the day her friends in other classes have art.


The day started with Mrs. Gladwell picking Ashley up in her classroom (the art room is in a separate building). First they had to prepare for the pre-schoolers, who were making hyacinths out of tissue paper. Ashley thought the pre-schoolers were very cute, but hard to keep focused. 


Next were the second-graders -- also hard to keep on track. It was fun for Ashley to see life from the teacher's perspective. I think she gained new appreciation for them.


Between classes Ashley worked on her own project.

After having pizza for lunch, the 8th graders came in to finish their drawings. Since they already knew what they were doing, Ashley was told she could encourage them to work harder. She knows a few of the 8th graders from drama club and had fun being the teacher.

The real fun came when the 5th graders came for art. Ashley is friends with many of them through drama club and riding the bus. Mrs. Gladwell told the classes that "Miss Ashley" was a new teacher and for them to show her a lot of respect. She had fun instilling "discipline" in a playful way with her friends, all the while everyone was giggling and creating art.

Time will tell if Ashley decides to become an art teacher when she grows up. I do know that she had a lot of fun and would love to spend another day with her art teacher.