New Works

card from last week

 Cath and I bought this old window to make into a glass table. but first, I painted it.

a work in progress

a slow week

wow! look at the great artwork below!

first grade pointillism butterflies: we worked on patience and concentration - that's a lot of dots!!

2nd grade value scale desert landscapes.

This week, we had state testing, and the day off today (wohoo) which means I didn't teach much art. Here are a couple projects we've been working on during this slow art week.

slithering into my heart.

I have some students that I wish I could scoop up and take home with me.

I don't know why I did a snake project. it was cool and we had fun, and the kindergartners used a lot of fine motor skills, but snakes really creep me out.

You Must Learn, My good citizens, The ways of art.

this morning, one of my fourth grade girls came in and handed me this. She wrote it for class - they had to create a new constitution for something. It pretty much made my day - maybe even my week. I didn't even mind that she called me Mrs. or wrote about me dying.

The Constitution of Art:

we the young artist (age 4-13) have a right to choose who we want as an art teacher for the school Y.R. Elementary. Plus, you have one choice and the choice is mrs. jill rokos the best art teacher in are generation. So now Y.R. elementary has mrs. rokos as an art teacher.  Also students have to be good and if they do they earn a star sticker and when they get ten they earn a free art day. Also mrs. rokos needs to teach students about a few artists a year. Mrs. Rokos also needs to have fun with her job. The person in charge of art class will be Mrs. Rokos.  You must learn, my good citizens, the ways of art.  also, when she retires, is sick, or dies, I will be in charge. Mrs. Rokos will make the rest of the rules of her art classes.  Plus you must obey mrs. rokos and listen to her or else you have consequences and sit by yourself in the time out desk. Also remember ya'll love mrs. rokos cause she is a loving, successful person.  This has been a word by Haley R. good day!

best conversation of the week.

The Situation:


4th grade class comes into my room. I've just blown my nose: I'm almost over being sick (I hope).

The Conversation:

Kameron: "Miss Rokos - I love your red nose!!" (yes - he's completely sincere)

me: "What?!? Kameron - you can't SAY that!" (at this point I have self-consiously covered my nose with my hand)

class: what did he say??? ( imagine 20 kids saying this at once....)

me: "he said, Miss Rokos, I love your red nose."

Derron: "I wish I had a red nose. and a red face. I wish I was all red. and I would live in a red house. with red walls, so I would blend into the house and no one could see me."
 
and then i felt better about looking like a sick person with a red nose.

carded.

Week 9 :: Feb. 28- March 6 :: pushing the curtain up to reveal life.

Week 10:: March 7 - March 13 :: mapping life in interlocks.

this is the first week I've finished before the week was over. and it was finished on Tuesday. I was inspired.

maracas and monochromatic

Fourth graders are making crazy creature clay maracas - they have small balls of clay inside, so after firing, they rattle around. Ole! 

Fifth graders are learning so much: face proportions, monochromatic value scales, and the meanings of colors.  This is super challenging for the students, but some, like this boy are excelling! I'm super proud.

View from Two

I babysat this cute little artist on Saturday. He took lots of pictures - mostly blurry, but these few I really liked. I think he has an artist's eye.

the tale of till.

(actual vintage jill signature)

So since I finally decided to listen to everyone in my life, and my body, and take a sick day from work to camp out on my bed and rest, I thought I'd explain the title of my blog.  when i was little, i wrote my j's backwards, so when i wrote my name, it looked like till.

ok. that wasn't much of a story, but that's the tale of till.

cycling

Feb 21-27::
last weeks card is about cycles, breaking cycles, turning things on their head and re-imagining the way that things could be.

Red Velvet: my new favorite color.

i made red velvet cupcakes last week. the color was amazing. and so was the taste.