When did you know you wanted to be a teacher?

I knew I wanted to be a teacher during my junior year at Iowa State. But I was scared and especially worried about not making enough money. I took a few education classes at ISU and loved them, but the idea of commitment was too daunting for me. After I graduated from ISU I forgot about teaching for a while and just floated along through life for a bit. I moved to Michigan, lived in a beach house and worked at a restaurant. It was fun, but I was stalling. Then I moved to Chicago and got a job at Northwestern. It was pretty sweet at first; I made money, had benefits, wore suits and had friends in Chicago. Eventually, I came to loathe Northwestern; I was anxious, I gained weight, I hated everything and felt stuck. Then Matt decided to go to law school and we moved to Iowa City. I was excited, but that excitement quickly drained, I interviewed at a ton of places and then the economy went really bad; I had no job, no friends, I felt depressed, unsuccessful and mostly unfulfilled. However, I learned a lot about myself, I matured, found focus and I found my sense of humor again (Northwestern had taken it!). I reevaluated things and I decided to go back to school to get my teaching certificate- and I’m totally stoked about it. I had missed art. I missed school. I think that my love of both is why I want to be a teacher. It took a while to get back but I have always been the kind of person that had to try out a bunch of things before making a decision. I feel like this is right and that I’m finally doing what I wanted to do years ago.

Artist Trading Cards

We made artist trading cards in class last week and here are some that I made. It was a super fun project, I could totally see doing this with a class or with a bunch of friends just for kicks.

Finally! A piece of my artwork...

It took awhile to find a piece, but here is a print I made in Intaglio. Sorry about the quality, you will have to ignore the glare of the light in the upper right corner.

This is Catt Hall at ISU, one of my favorite buildings on campus. I love printmaking; I don't do it anymore because of cost and access, but would love, love, love to get more experience with this medium.

1.23.2011

How
 do 
you
 think 
your 
practices 
as 
an 
artist 
will 
help 
you 
in 
the 
classroom? 
What
 skills 
do 
artists
 develop
 that
 also 
lend 
themselves 
to
 the 
art
 of
 teaching? 
How
 will
 you 
incorporate
 your
 work
 as
 an 
artist
 into
 your 
teaching?
 How
 will
 you 
continue 
to 
make 
art
 while
 you 
teach?
 Why
 is
 this
 important?

I think that being a practicing artist will help in the classroom for a number of reasons. I think that students will have more respect for an art teacher that actually makes art than one who doesn't. I also think that you need to know about what you're teaching and the more you know about it the better you'll be able to teach it. The best thing about making art to me is that I am constantly learning new and improving upon existing skills, making me a better artist but also expanding my understanding.

Being an artist is partly about problem-solving and looking at things from different angles. I think that both of these skills are applicable and important to being a teacher.

I hope that I will continue to make art throughout the school year, and especially in the summers. I think that being involved with or exhibit at art shows throughout the year will be a motivating factor to make my own art outside of the classroom. This is important for many reasons, among them: the aforementioned continuing education of myself, keeping things fresh and new, and not letting the grind of day to day politics in education keeping me from doing what I truly love.

1.20.2011

Coming from a small town in Iowa I considered my high school experience a typical one which seems ridiculous now that I've moved away, made friends with people outside of high school and experienced more of the world. There is not really a "typical" high school experience, each is unique and different. I now consider my high school experience to be be like one portrayed in a movie about Americana, which is also probably ridiculous, but I really can't help but think of Varsity Blues or Friday Night Lights without considering my own experience.

As a high school student I was involved with and moved around different social, atheletic and academic groups. I was able to do so partly because of my own varied interests (and propensity for trying as many different things as possible without committment to one) and partly because I went to a small school where is was possible to be involved in all the sports, academics, and arts at once. I enjoyed being able to jump from one activity to another and gaining experiences with many different subjects and people.

Teaching high school is a terrifying concept to me. I fear apathy. I fear not understanding. I fear not being able to be a friend/counselor/role model. I especially fear not living up to my own expectations. I fear parents, colleagues and administration.

I expect that teaching high school will teach me things about myself that I never knew- my own limitations and how far I am able to go. I hope that teaching will help me to become a better person and that will help me to help students become better people.

While I am terrified about actually teaching, I am also excited. I am excited to introduce a new subject, point of view or material to a student and have them become excited about it. I am excited to be the kind of teacher that students will approach with problems and to share joys. I am excited to make a catalogue of ridiculous stories to tell my friends (names changed, of course). And I am excited to be able to make things with other people who want to make things every day.