Whether you are a newbie or a veteran art teacher, the beginning of the school year always offers a fresh new start and an opportunity to set high expectations for your students. To renew or reinforce your enthusiasm for teaching art, it is a good time to reflect on the reasons you became an art teacher.
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Doing what I like best: sharing the successes of art teachers. This photo was taken at the NAEA New Orleans convention. Left to right: Michelle Lemons, John Lentine, me, Thom Knab, and Susan Bivona.
I asked this question on several Facebook groups and received some engaging and thoughtful responses.
Why Are You an Art Teacher?
When I step into my artroom, I am home. When I am with other art teachers, I am with family.
—Ted Daniel Edinger, tededinger@gmail.com
I originally got into art because I felt I had a talent in making art and really liked working with kids. Today, after being an art educator for twenty-seven years, I can say I have stayed an art educator because I feel a calling to serve others, especially those who will someday impact our world in incredible ways. In addition, art is such a powerful form of expression and I want to be an educator who brings that experience to young people.
—Bob Reeker, breeker@lps.org
I became an art teacher to empower children. As an art school college student, I felt ill-prepared for the level of rigor expected of me, and yet I also felt that my college teachers were ill-prepared to teach effectively. I thought there was much room for improvement in the field of art education, and my goal was to prepare students for art school. Now, I see my job as educating students to empower their self-confidence. Often, visual art seems to be created only for the arts-educated. My job is to make sure my students are arts- educated, and that they, too, belong in the world of art.
—Suzanne Nall, suzanneenall@gmail.com
I am an art teacher for many reasons. First, I had an amazing art teacher when I was young. He inspired me and made me feel talented, and he passed his love for art along to me. Secondly, I am a people person. I cannot stand sitting at a desk all day, staring at a computer screen. There is a bit of a performance element to teaching, and it lends itself well to my extroverted tendencies. Finally, there are a lot of kids who struggle academically, and it makes me happy to know that for the forty-five minutes they spend in my room they have the freedom to try new things and simply create.
—Kaitlyn Palumbo, kaitlyn.strang@gmail.com
In fifth grade, when we were asked to write what we wanted to be when we grew up, I wrote that I wanted to be an artist or a teacher. My district didn’t have art until high school, so I didn’t know they could be put together! I wanted to help and work with people and to be a good role model, like my teachers had done with me, and when I found out that I could do that with art, I made up my mind pretty quickly.
—Katie Lehmkuhl Morris, lehmreallykuhl@yahoo.com
As for me, I share many of these sentiments. Making a difference for my students by teaching art was meaningful and rewarding to me. Now that I am out of the classroom, I want to make a difference for teachers just like you by sharing your efforts, ideas, joys, successes, and concerns through SchoolArts. Let’s get started!
Email Nancy at NWalkup@DavisArt.com
Email Nancy at NWalkup@DavisArt.com
Start the beginning of the school year with fresh ideas and a spark of inspiration. In this issue, an elementary art teacher promotes kindness through a schoolwide art presentation; middle-school students participate in a humorous rite-of-passage pinch pot lesson; students interview one another and create abstract continuous-line portraits; and more.
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