Adapt Your Thinking​.

       I am a young art educator, fresh with excitement about learning and a craving for positive educational experiences.  I am a teacher as well as a student, encouraging collaboration between all members in a learning community.  In order to expand on a student’s academic knowledge, educators such as myself, must have an understanding of our learners.  Students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with information, but are young people with ideas, passions, and talents all their own.  As educators, a crucial element of our job is to develop a trust between our students and ourselves. This trust will enable us to better understand the child’s needs and interests, in order to involve these ideas in learning experiences.  

       I will not teach at students, but I will learn and grow with them in developing art projects that interest and connect to their lives.  This interactive process is crucial to my teaching.  Integrating students’ previous knowledge into my teaching objectives engages them in a way that is self-motivating and values what they bring to the classroom.  Three questions that motivate my teaching are “What is it that I want my students to learn? What is it that motivates the learner?  How can I create a teaching response that fulfills both goals?" Asking questions of myself is a strategy that enables me to reflect on and develop art teaching practices that encourage creative growth and learning.  Considering myself both a teacher and a learner is essential in creating a classroom community.