Monday, June 04, 2007

A New Adventure

I haven't written in a LONG time, and I know that. And many many people have told me that. I just always feel so funny about posting with no pictures, and I'm sort of in a camera funk. I hope to get a new one soon, I hope.

Anyway, I am finally writing to say what I was so excited about a few months ago, the thing I couldn't talk about for fear of jinxing it. Well, I can finally talk about it, without fear: in August I will start a new job. I am going to be an elementary school art teacher!

I had to write a grant to get funding for the position, then once we received the grant, I had to wait for the official contract from the school district. But now I have both and I could not be more excited.

My degree is in art education, and I am certified to teach art K-12, but when I graduated six years ago, I sort of thought I wouldn't get the opportunity to teach art for twenty years, or never. But this chance just sort of fell into my lap. I wasn't even looking for a new job. I just got a phone call one Saturday from the teacher that I student taught with, asking if I'd be interested in this new position. I was sort of wary at first, not ready for such a major life change. But now I realize that I'm actually super ready for a change.

The best part is that every step of the way has seemed to sort of fall right into place. I even got to plan my own schedule, so that Todd and I can take turns with the kids, and even take Zoë to and from kindergarten every day.

So, this summer I get to really spend my time thinking about what I'd like to teach. It seems that I'm going to have a lot of freedom. I can create the curriculum myself, as long as I tie it in to what the students are learning in their other subjects. It's a fun challenge and my mind is constantly working on it. I also get to come up with fun fundraisers, buy all the supplies, and design a few teacher in-service trainings about drawing, painting, and bookbinding. Oh, I can't wait!

Do any of you have any good ideas for art lessons for very young children? I find that I think of a lot that will be great for 8-11 year olds, but I need more ideas for the 5-7 crowd. Please, I'd love to hear what you've got.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm afraid I don't have any experience for you, but I know a blogger who posts kid crafts at http://scrumdillydo.blogspot.com/ -- not really art lessons but still fun and maybe some could *be* art lessons with the right perspective from an educator.

Anonymous said...

hey you! glad to hear from you, and glad everything got finalized.

i'll think about the curriculum ideas and email you if i come up with anything good.

(aren't you glad you had curriculum development with donna kay?)

i had a lame but nice student teaching supervisor for elementary. she barely let me do anything, but i had some success with drawing to music (drawing what it sounds like), looking at prints in groups and deciding (and writing) what happens next, and i think you can't go wrong with matisse-like collage.

good luck - sounds SO fun! :)

Zoe said...

Hi! I have been checking on your blog for a while now . . . I found you through the mini swap a while back. I was so impressed with your sewing projects and I was excited to see that you lived in Utah too!

I am so excited for you to be teaching art!!! I LOVE art . . . so much that at one point I thought of opening an art studio for young children.

I did teach preschool art for a while and one book that is a MUST HAVE for young ages . . . even K-5 is called Creative Art for the Developing Child.

Here is a link for it

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Developing-Child-Clare-Cherry/dp/0768202825/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-2845742-1228843?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181284605&sr=1-1

I marked up this book so much . . . it helped me so much. I hope that it helps you! Good luck!