A few weeks left of summer break and I am starting to think about lessons and students and how to arrange the classroom now that I have relocated to a new room. It will be a fresh start with more time before the "gate opens". Last school year I had 2 days before school started to get prepared! (a late hire) Cleaning up after the last year's teacher's chaos was disheartening. Why does anyone leave a terrible mess whether or not they know if they're coming back? Teaching art is a messy business and requires so much time to stay on top of the mess! Sometimes I think of myself as a waitress who takes orders, cooks, serves and cleans up after 150 kids a day. Anyone want this job? No one really knows what the drill is unless they've done it. It's fun but can be grueling. I like to keep it a bit spontaneous so it doesn't get stale and too routine. I thrive in a bit of chaos where there's excitement about the process and kids are so engaged that we all lose track of time. On the flip side, my job is to watch the clock, fire up their brains, provide stimulation, cover them up, invite them to work, reteach if needed, assist, encourage, discipline, and then help them cleanup, wash up, line up and head out! All this in a 35 minute window. Wait a minute. Who came up with this schedule???? I don't think it was an art educator.
I am very pleased with my new classroom that has a wall of windows facing north. My old classroom had no windows...you deal with it but there is nothing like natural light to inspire. There's also a tree right outside the windows where we can look out into it's branches--we're on the 2nd floor so we can see into the tree! It's the little things. Drawing is so much more of a pleasure if you have natural light to play with.
I will try to load some more pictures of artwork on this page and hopefully learn some more about doing this...still challenged by the process but know I will have a breakthrough eventually. Time to start checking in with other art blogs to get inspired by all the brilliant teaching out there. Blogs are awesome! Art Teachers are awesome! The creative process is a miracle to witness. Yeah ART!
