I'm teaching high school now, it is my 4th year at my current job. Previously, I taught middle school for 4 and elementary for 9 before that.
I also picked a night class at a community college, it's just Art Appreciation, but it's a little extra money and it's pretty easy. So now I've pretty much run the gamut as far as breadth and depth when it comes to experience teaching art. Teaching is such a huge part of my life and gives me so much purpose and fulfillment that it is hard to express in just a few sentences. It really is who I am....high school is my favorite age to work with by far, and the school that I am at is so rural, it's practically a movie set with all the clichés you would expect to find in a midwestern school. I honestly feel like I am making lifelong connections with my students. I enjoy interacting with lots of different people all day long. Teaching high school requires a certain personality type, you have to be able to take a supreme amount of criticism from teenagers who are bored by everything and inspired by nothing. It has the potential to wear you down, but honestly I have little victories that keep me going everyday. It is fast-paced and I get to be self-driven and set my own little goals for myself. There are a LOT of small details which can be burdensome, and you have to balance the details with a vision of the big picture at the same time, something I really love about education, but overwhelms some people. Being a teacher is the only thing I can imagine for myself right now. I never wake up and dread going to work. I am always excited for the new school day. I might dread certain students or classes but I absolutely love my current job and all the classes I am teaching. Sometimes I look around the room and everyone is holding a paintbrush, and they are 'suffering' through it....as artists do...its kind of a love/hate experience with yourself when you are learning a new skill....but I look around the room and I think, WOW, I get to do this everyday...I love it so much. Honestly, I could talk about teaching long into the night. But I guess this is my nutshell.
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Mrs. Mitchell
This is my 'slice of life' blog. Archives
March 2020
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