When you teach at a little school you find yourself in a unique little world of having to know everything about art. OK, so not really, but you have to pretend you do, or at least act like you do. It seems like a normal high school teacher is expected to know one subject and teach it all day. For me, in class calendar year, I teach 8 different preps. Which means 8 different sets of lesson plans, 8 different curriculum maps, and no textbooks.
That was probably the scariest thing coming out of college and walking into a classroom. Not knowing everything. Give me a giant floor loom and I could rock it out, hand me a piece of metal and I was clueless. But I am getting better, I think...Being an art teacher requires constant learning. I had to admit, as hard as that was, that I just don't know sometimes.
I love my high school kids, they aren't afraid to try anything once, therefore we become guinea pigs together. Although I am going on two decades of teaching soon, I am finally enjoying the learning process. I don't feel like I need to have all the answers. It is really more fun to say "I don't have a clue, let's try it" and together as a class, sometimes we fail and sometimes we succeed with great results. You just never know.
This week, my students are exploring in exploding color in photoshop, creating in porcelain, designing and constructing shoes in cardboard, creating clothing from non-traditional items, and making art from recycled magazines, just to name a few things. It should be a fun week of learning...for all of us!
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