Musings on an Art Class

I never would have thought the simple art lesson of blending would cause a fourth grade class to erupt into insanity. The hour began as usual. I was explaining how to blend colored pencils to the sea of confused faces, asking only “¿Queeeee?” Switching to Spanish, they quickly understood and set out to the task at hand. My favorite student, the ever amusing Montiel, deemed this assignment worthy of his time (for once), and rapped in Spanish as he worked. Sure, he colored the sky purple and the grass yellow, but I have to love him for thinking outside the box. In between making high-pitched robot noises and singing, he began to rub his paper, desperately trying to blend the unique colors of his landscape. When this failed, he used his knuckles, which began to burn from the friction against the paper. Finally, while yelling that the paper was burning him, he tried using his face. Logically, if something burns your hand, why not test it out with your cheek? This is when everyone got creative. Suddenly the class had burst into mayhem with colored pencils being pushed aside for better instruments of art. Legos, rulers, and their lunches soon became tools of blending. To mixed results, of course. Papers were flying, kids were running, the teacher was screaming, legos were bring thrown into the air… but amidst all the mayhem, the little rebel rouser who started it all sat, cheek against his paper, in sleep.