Stunning the young draftsmen and women

I love freaking out the 9th grade students with assignments they can't quiet grasp. Initially. Like this week when I praised them for their right brain capabilities and threw wadded balls of paper on their desk tops. "Now do your best, and draw," I said. "What?" they asked. "That!"

wads from the still life

Turning the clumps about in their hands they seemed to go into trances. "Wake up!," I roared. "Look at the edges! Notice the relationships. Go slow and don't let your mind freak you out. It's all just shapes in space!"
They did it, and they are proud too.

After this, drawing paper airplanes will be easy.