5th Grade Charcoal Still Life Drawings

Teaching a charcoal still life drawing to my 5th grade students has been one of my favorite and most rewarding lessons since I began teaching. I use a desk lamp as a spot light, and all the vases are spray painted white, so there are no details besides the shadows. All the vases are glued to a board, so they stay put when I quickly transition between classes (one thing college doesn't teach you is how to quickly transform your art room from a 5th grade classroom to a 1st grade room in a matter of 5 minutes or less!).

I think one of the reasons I love this lesson so much is that I personally don't enjoy working in charcoal (I hate getting my hands all black!), and the subject matter of a still life is one of my least favorites. Yes, you heard that right--I like teaching this because I don't actually like doing it! When I teach something I love (like ceramics), and I have that one student say, "do I have to do this?" or "is this good enough?", I take it personally; I just shared one of my favorite things with these students, and they don't appreciate it?!?! But with a charcoal still life, I have to try to get the kids excited, and I have to try to engage them, and keep them  focused and on task; and when I succeed with the majority of them, I feel wonderful! And when one student says, "do I have to finish this?" I can truly sympathize.

I'm curious if any other art teachers have a lesson about something they don't really enjoy doing themselves, and how you feel about teaching it? Leave me a comment if you have any stories to share!