teacher  

my 7th period class (photography & visual art) and i had a great big heart-to-heart session today. i spoke on the topic of unity and how this class needs to work together. most of the kids are loud and rambunctious, while some are quiet and seem to lack focus because of the rowdy ones. also, they seem overly bored. so, after a few minutes of trying to get them to be quiet and listen, we went around the room and i had each person state why they signed up for the class and what they think of it so far. i was strict on the rule of only one person speaking at a time, and i didn't criticize any of the student's comments. most said our recent class work has been boring and they don't understand how looking at art connects to photography. the comments were honest and i really felt good when the class remained quiet throughout the go-around, letting each students speak her/his mind. unfortunately, we don't have cameras that the students can use yet, so i have been trying to teach them the basics elements and principals of art using research on the internet. bad idea. they just get bored looking at photos and when i lecture to them about composition and style, they stare back blankly. today they communicated to me that they do not want to study art, they want to do art.

sometimes i need to step back and analyze myself, and remind myself not to become the teacher who loses touch with the student's perspective. teach how i would want to be taught.