In a message dated 04/07/2001 10:51:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
smckenna@cc-amana.k12.ia.us writes:
> He daughter had
> twisted things to make me an evil
> teacher. Which yes, I can be. But I am
> not there to make them feel better about
> themselves. I am there to teach them
> visual skills. It is a perk if we have
> a lot of fun along the way. When did I
> miss the class on edu-tainment?
>
Dear Lurker,
Are you saying that you feel you are sometimes "evil" because you speak to
your children without regard to what might be hurtful? If so, the positive
in all this is that you recognize and accept responsibilty for your attitude.
I am hopeful that you wrote to the list because you need support and help to
change. I really care about your concerns, so I want to take the time to
respond.
Now, if I can only convince you without sounding judgemental, lecturing, and
attacking, to change your priorities. IMO, the first priority ALL teachers
should have, IS to allow the child to feel good about him/herself. The
"project" which, by the way, is semantics for the material results of
creative thought, is the bonus- at any grade level. That's why good rapport
and respect between teachers and students are the first building blocks to
healthy teacher-student relationships. Everyone wants to feel worthy of
being liked or loved.
May I suggest that you try two approaches? One is to assess student art in a
different way. Perhaps student self-assessment by a written rubric would
help the student understand the goals and his/her successes of the lesson.
Also, how about thinking of positive reinforcement in an honest way. For
example, if a student asks "Is this good?" answer, "Are you happy with it?
Why? Or whynot?" If the answer is "No", then say, "Well, what do you think
you would like to change?"
The second approach I use is probably because I'm very sensitive, tend to
internalize, and I am maybe overly sensitive to hurting others. But still, I
know that anything I might say might impact on a child for life! Therefore,
I always separate the behavior of the child with the child himself. If a
child is misbehaving, he/she must always know that it is the behavior that I
don't approve of, not the person. There's always two ways to say the same
thing. For example, I try to use humor a lot- you know, "I've got good news
and bad...The good news is your painting has wonderful warm colors. The bad
news is the goals were to use cool colors."
In a previous post, I just expressed how I see my ultimate goal as an art
educator- to inspire kids to LOVE art and have an appreciation of it! And
that goes along with having FUN! Having fun isn't a "perk"- it's vital to
teaching art without being boring or clinical. Having fun is contagious, and
it begins with us.
Susan on Long Island
