The Beginning or the End?

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As we get closer and closer to the start of another school year, a little voice begins to chime in to my personal thoughts and planning..."I will do this", "I will not do that".  I begin making tiny promises to myself about how I will approach the new school year to make it even more dynamic than the last.  After a summer of time spent rejuvenating and clearing my mind, this little voice wakes up to reflect and give some perspective.  It tells me what to stop doing and what to start doing in my teaching practice and it won't shut up.  So here are a few "beginnings" and "ends" I've settled on to guide my daily practice.  Simple changes in thinking, routines or habits that I believe will make a big difference in our art studio this year.

For me, this school year will be the end of:
  • Setting meaningless limits on students that stifle their creativity.  Making "yes" and "why not" a stronger part of my (and my students') vocabulary.
  • Talking for more than 5 minutes at the beginning or end (or middle) of class.  The less I talk, the more they can DO.
  • Holding on to "special" art materials for projects and either never using them or being too stingy on how they are used.  Students are artists, they deserve to make those decisions themselves.
However, this school year will be the beginning of:
  • Even more voice and choice for students (as highly requested in their end of year reflections).  I'm looking forward to experimenting with "skill stations" and "choice boards" that help students work more independently and develop their ideas/skills throughout the year.
  • Finding new ways to highlight the creative process to parents at our schools' "Spotlight on the Arts" events and in our elementary art gallery, "Innovasia".
  • Helping students to utilize sketchbooks on a more regular basis for experimenting, taking risks, and documenting the creative process.
Just something solid for me to bite my teeth into as the year begins, I set up the classroom, and students add their smiling faces to the mix.  Something to revisit throughout the year when I need to center myself and refocus on why I do what I do.  More to be added to the list, surely, but this is a comfortable start, thanks to that little voice...

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