Alternate Title: 6th Graders, the New 1st Graders.
I was watching this 6th grade
student in class the other day. He was struggling to wet his paper towel with a spray bottle. I watched in amazement as he squeezed the trigger over and over, with nothing to show for it. After each attempt, he glanced at the bottle, excuse me, he glanced at the empty bottle, and then tried spraying again, clearly confused as to why it wasn’t working. He finally got frustrated, set the spray bottle down and walked away with his dry paper towel. Guys. He was standing next to the sink. The functioning sink.
A 6th grader asked me, “is it true the world has always been in color? My parents told me the world has always been in color, but I don’t think I believe them. If that’s true, then how come old photographs are only in black and white?” Before I could answer, another student replied, ” I don’t think they had any color ink back then.”
I had just finished explaining glaze and how the kiln works and everything involved in firing clay
pieces. My 6th graders began glazing their pieces, when a student comes to me, with glaze on his finger, and asks, “if I put my finger in the kiln with this glaze on it, would it come out shiny and bright blue?”
Art Teachers Hate Glitter 
from a fifth grader, ” if I draw on my eyeball with oil pastel what will happen?” um yeah, go for it buddy.
LikeLike
Yeah, have fun with that, kid.
LikeLike
4th grader spilled his tables water bucket (they were painting)… water was spreading all over the table. He came over to me and asked me “what do I do? I spilled the water.” (We have 3 sinks and 3 paper towel dispensers… they were right behind him.) *facepalm
LikeLike
The most face palmiest one is “where do I put my artwork?” as they wave around a paper dripping with wet paint RIGHT NEXT TO THE DRYING RACK THAT THEY HAVE USED A GAZILLION TIMES.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OH MY GOD!!! That question is the worst. WE GO OVER IT EVERY DAY. I have an entire bulletin board dedicated to it. It’s even titled, “Where do I put my work?” And yet, I still get students putting clay pieces ON THE DRYING RACK instead of the clay cart, wet paintings in the finished work basket, and 4th grade work in the 1st grade work drawer. *facepalm*
LikeLike
Not too shocked if a K/1st grader begins to draw or paint on their hands. Understanding through tactile experience – got it. Just a little redirection and good to go. But to find a bored “but-I’m-finished-with-my-art” 5th grader doing the same stuns me silly. *facepalm with mouth opened*
LikeLike
Oh Good GOD! It’s the same all over!!!!!
LikeLike
YES! We have ONE shelf with ALL the supplies they usually need…glue, scissors, crayons, markers, brushes, pencils, erasers, sketchbooks…. and yet every single class I get asked, “Where are the [insert art supply here]?” Every. Single. Class.
LikeLike
Same here! Why is that? I never move the supplies. They are always in the same place. HOW IS IT THEY DON’T KNOW!?
LikeLike
When talking about political cartoons a student says “You can tell if someone has mental health issues just by looking at them!” * high schoolers face palm*
LikeLike