Joplin has a 1st Thursday art walk.
If you didn't know that, it's probably because you are only aware of the behemoth that has become the 3rd Thursday event. The 'art walk' used to be part of 3rd Thursday but the artists eventually broke away as the monthly event had turned into something completely different from the original intention which was to celebrate and showcase art. Downtown streets were blocked off to make way for bounce houses and bands on flat beds. Businesses were setting up booths and tables to gain exposure, and people were out in droves for the experience, not the art. We used to go to 3rd Thursday every month. We were religious about it. We could barely walk a block without running into someone and stopping to talk for 30 minutes. Eventually, we got tired of the crowds and now we try to avoid the 3rd Thursday events. This month, my book club was meeting downtown for our monthly meeting on the 1st Thursday. I decided to venture out a little early and check out some of the artwork. I went into a couple of art galleries, stocked with the type of art and people you would expect to see in a small town art gallery. Eccentric types who run in the same social circles and crowded shelves of ceramics and pour paintings. The entire 1st Thursday 'event' consisted of a few little art galleries strung out along main street, with doors flung open and very few souls trickling in to appreciate the beauty. On my final stop, I saw Ron Erwin. Ron used to run a vintage store in town called Eccentrix. He is an amazing photographer who owns a building downtown. Usually, a few of his photos are propped up in the windows of the building, and it is closed. It looks as if it is used for storage and that's about it. On First Thursday, this downtown space was transformed into a gallery with handmade flowers, oil paintings, jewelry and many of Ron's photographs. The building was cold, much colder than it was outside, indicating that it had been opened up for one night only. Most of Rons photos are taken in Asia. His work consists of larger-than-life portraits of people in colorful clothing with vibrant lighting and lots of texture. I enjoyed looking at the realistic still life oil paintings and Ron's photographs. I found the most amazing turquoise mosaic necklace pendant on a table filled with handmade jewelry. After making my purchase, the artist working with Ron said that the pendant came from the Himalayas. As I exited the gallery, Ron was standing outside the entrance playing jazz on his clarinet. Traffic on the street zoomed by as the streets don't get barricaded for 1st Thursday. The sidewalk was deserted, except for myself. Something about that moment, made me very emotional. The beauty of the music for an audience of one, in a community where people just don't appreciate how special and beautiful this event truly is. The moment made me sad and happy all at once. Sad that other people are missing out, but happy that I was there to enjoy the serenade.
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Leslie Clark is a dedicated servant of education. She works tirelessly to create beautiful, functional learning displays for each unit that she teaches. At the end of each unit, she spends extra time displaying student artwork around the school. Leslie works many hours after school and on weekends to prepare her units of instruction and to organize supplies between two school buildings. She can often be found at school during Spring Break and Christmas break running the kiln, packing up materials at the end of a lesson, and cleaning in her classroom. She spends hours and hours making sure that each little detail of an art project is prepped in advance.
Leslie loves and cares about each of her students. She appreciates the sweetness of their work and always encourages them to make things if they have 'free time'. In her classroom, you will find a wall of artwork made by kids and given to Mrs. Clark as gifts. Each year, this wall is renewed with fresh handmade love and cherished all year long. Leslie is also a champion of new teachers in the district. She is always offering learning materials, project examples, and access to supplies to new teachers. She is an amazing mentor to other teachers. For all of these reasons, I would like say how much I appreciate Mrs. Leslie Clark as my mentor and friend. She is retiring at the end of this school year and I cannot even imagine being a teacher without her in my world. She is the absolute best!! The week is stretching out before me like so many other spring breaks of the past.
I am sure if you are not in education, you are probably jealous that I have a week off. But what most people don't know is that I have a lot of things to accomplish this week. Most of them are work or school related. So even though I'm not teaching all week, I will be spending the time 'off' preparing for the marathon that is March 25-May25. Almost every year during spring break, I head up to school to hang artwork or run the kiln. I really can get a lot done when I don't have students in the room. I try to maximize my time as much as possible so that I am not there longer than I have to be. This year, I need to prep materials for art lessons in April. I need to prep for a sub and get stuff ready for a conference I am attending in early April. I need to get stuff ready for the end of the year art show and the Conference show at Carthage. I need to run the kiln so that clay sculptures will be finished up in a reasonable time. I also need to clean and put away stuff from our winter projects. I love filling the school with beautiful artwork in April as it is that last push before we go to bare walls in May in preparation for the end of the year and taking everything home. This spring break, I also need to work on my paintings, getting as much done as I can because I know April will be busy and I need to wrap them up by the first week of May. I also have Nelliepalooza to wrap up the week, which means I have to create seating charts, name tags, get door prizes and figure out what I want to work on while I am there. So yes, I have the week 'off' but I'm going to be getting lots of work done and hopefully a little relaxing too. What factors influenced you to become a teacher?
Teachers do more than teach, and their impact extends far beyond the classroom. As a teacher, I am more than just an educator: I am a mentor, a confidant and a friend. I often wonder if my former teachers realize the difference they made in my life. I wonder if they know that I am a successful, happy, thriving adult, and it's mostly because of their encouragement? Having admirable teachers throughout my education influenced my decision to become a teacher. At every stage in my development, I can name a teacher who made a difference in my life. Growing up, my home life wasn’t always easy. There were drugs, divorce, and just general instability at various times. But school was always a stable constant. My teachers were beacons of hope amidst the chaos. With their encouragement, loving smiles and consistent praise, I knew that a career in education would be a good path for me. I feel like I owe it to my former teachers to pay it forward. They saved me. I am the teacher that I am today because of their influence and support. I hope that I can make a difference in the lives of my students well beyond their years in the classroom. Being a teacher is rewarding in so many ways. The MOST rewarding would be, my relationships with my students. I have taught art at almost every grade level, but high school is definitely my favorite. My students make me laugh every day. I’m amazed by the creativity and beauty that my students exhibit through their work. I’ve written several letters of recommendations for scholarships and colleges and just knowing that I might have a hand in a person’s future beyond this school year is amazing. When I see a student’s pride over a project that they spent HOURS making, it is so satisfying.
My relationships with other teachers is also valuable to me. Other ART teachers are my people. We think the same way, we love the same things, and I can generally find a new best friend pretty easily in a room full of art teachers. My mentor, Leslie Clark is my art mom and one of my favorite people in the world. She encourages me and supports me in everything that I do. Art is fun. Being an art teacher is fun. I think learning should be fun and I think that art is a broad enough subject that most students can find something that they enjoy. Being able to pinpoint a person’s strengths and encourage them to develop that skill is a true honor. I also love that every day, I get to ‘play’ with art supplies in some way. Finally, I often consider community when lesson planning. I try to consider the audience; how can we share this beauty with the people around us? I love showcasing student work throughout the building, the school district and the community in general. Celebrating student work by displaying artwork is very important and rewarding. There is something really special about teaching art, as I can impart life lessons that will influence my student’s decisions, behaviors, strengths, weaknesses and imaginations. I truly love being an art teacher. Modern Love in miniature, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words. (From the NYT) My mom had set me up with a guy that worked at the gas station near her house. I had recently ended a long relationship. That guy wasn't right for me in any way, but his friend was. We bonded while watching Kill Bill and he gave me a foot massage. A few years ago, we stayed at a bed and breakfast. The proprietor said to me after breakfast, 'You just get prettier every time I look at you.' To which, my husband replied, "You should see the progression over almost 10 years."
About a year and a half ago, we started noticing that we weren't getting good sleep anymore. Our mattress was close to 10 years old and the pillow top was pretty much broken down. There was a dent on each side of the bed, contouring our bodies. We decided to shop for a new mattress. We had heard great things about the Sleep Number so we went into the store to try it out. The first time that I used the remote to lift the head and feet on the Sleep Number mattress, I was sold. I knew I needed this bed. We ended up getting the new bed, new pillows, and new Sleep Number pillows. In the quest for good sleep, I have also added the following to our nighttime routine: Remote to control all the lamps in my room Bluetooth sleep mask (for listening to books) White Noise Machine Humidifier (we only use it in the winter) Heating pad (only use it in the winter when I first lay down to heat up the bed) Lavender pillow spray (don't use it every day, but it is aromatherapy) Thermostat App w/thermostat at 65 in winter (I can control the temperature from my phone) Silk Pillowcase (to keep my skin wrinkle-free and my curls protected over night) Even with all of these upgrades, there are still days, like today when I wake up at 4:45. I don't normally get up until closer to 6:00 and sometimes if I do try to go back to sleep it is really hard to wake up when my alarm does go off. It is much easier to get up when I wake up too early. What are your tips for a good night sleep? In September, my great-grandma turned 100.
My family had been anticipating this major milestone for a couple of years. We all planned to fly to Montana in order to celebrate. At that time, my grandma was living in a retirement facility but still caught the bus and had a lot of autonomy to go around town on her own. We found a cabin in Helena and booked the trip. After we booked the trip, my grandma got a hip injury. The injury never really healed and she had to move to a new facility, which wasn't as nice as the original one. She also had to start staying in a wheel chair most of the time. When we went to visit her in September, she could not hear or see us very well. She was very nervous for the party. She was excited but anxious. We had balloons and cake and flowers. My aunt's plane was delayed so my grandpa had to leave the party to pick her up at the airport, right in the middle of the party. My grandma ate huckleberry ice cream, it was a rich, purple shade of ice cream and it looked delicious. She got tired after an hour or so of all the socializing and we cleaned up the party and went back to our cabin. My grandma went to take a nap. I wish I could say that it was a fun trip, but there were a lot of headaches along the way. The road leading up to our cabin was getting repaved so we had a terrible time getting to the place. The people hired to clean up before we arrived refused to go and clean (because of the road) so we had to change the sheets, sweep and do a bunch of laundry right when we got to Montana. My grandparents were not very happy about this. And neither was I. We ended up getting a partial refund on the cabin. I guess family trips are meant to be memorable, even if they aren't perfect. I've kept a few things from my top 25 of 25 list...but it is fun to see what has changed.
35. Snow days. 34. Looking at old homes 33. Dressing up in a silly costume 32. Watching trash t.v. 31. A daily email from my husband. 30. Game nights. 29. Laughing with friends. 28. Finding something special at a thrift store. 27. Walking into my house when it is clean. 26. Having a reliable, comfortable car. 25. The way that smells can bring up old memories... 24. Soaking in a warm tub. 23. Being a high school art teacher 22. Grilling in the backyard 21. Movie theater popcorn 20. Losing 5 lbs without really trying too hard. (this never happens!) 19. Trying new things... 18. Road Trips. 17. New clothes. 16. A new hair cut. 15. Jewelry; I love to accessorize 14. Listening to a good audio book on a long drive. 13. My heated blanket. 12. Reading a good book. 11. Sunshine...but I also like rain when I am at home. 10. Relaxing at home 9. Blogging 8. Taking pictures 7. Traveling; I want to GO. 6. Having a relaxing hobby like oil painting 5. Comfortable shoes 4. Clean sheets 3. GOOD Coffee; smell, taste, warmth 2. A delicious meal. 1. My wonderful guy I recently wrote about how memorable 2018 has been...and it reminded me of the Facebook Challenge a couple of months ago to find a picture from ten years ago and display it with a recent photo of yourself.
I tried to remember what all happened in 2008. I don't remember very much about that year. My husband was unemployed for a brief time in 2008 and the economy was terrible so it was a pretty stressful time. One of my students passed away, and this was a first for me as I was a new teacher at that time. I had started to get really into crafting and had just started my first blog: This Little Blog of Mine. I found this post about my 25 favorite things at 25: Oh, and while I am posting pages, I guess I will tack on my page for the Sound of Music Challenge. I went with the 'These are a few of my Favorite Things' idea....I made a list of my favorite things...This been on my mind for a while, but this challenge finally encouraged me to do my 25 favorite things at 25 list. I think this page looks a lot better in person...but I finally got the page done, (even though it is way past the deadline for the challenge) but I guess that is the most important part!! Here are my favorite things: 25. The way that smells can bring up old memories... 24. I like to bake...when I have time... 23. Being a Close to My Heart consultant. 22. Making demo vides for school. 21. Our new big screen t.v. (60 inches) 20. Fur-topped boots. 19. Trying new things...I have tried a lot of new things this year... 18. Glitter!! 17. New clothes. 16. A new hair cut. 15. Jewelry; I love to accessorize 14. I am on a celery kick...and raisin bread toast. 13. hot coco and warm baths in the winter 12. Poetry; love poems... 11. Sunshine...but I also like rain when I am at home. 10. My JOB; being an art teacher is so fun 9. Blogging 8. Taking pictures 7. Traveling; I want to GO. 6. Having a relaxing hobby like card/scrapping 5. Comfortable shoes 4. Clean sheets 3. Coffee; smell, taste, warmth 2. Owls 1. My wonderful guy Tune in tomorrow to see my top 35 things at 35! |
Mrs. Mitchell
This is my 'slice of life' blog. Archives
March 2020
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