Mid-Autumn Check Up
Well by this time you all should be into your grove. Some of you may have even had your first grades issued, first parent conferences, and first problems solved and you are moving forward. Please remember the blog forum that is here for you. If you need to vent, or have questions, or just need to share or brag …that is what this forum is here for…YOU. I sometimes feel as though I am talking to myself but since I have been known to do that upon occasion that doesn’t really bother me but I do want to be of help. When we come together at the conference in the fall each year you guys have plenty of questions but you probably have more if you just jot them down on the blog. Remember, I read them before I post them so I will not embarrass you. Last year, my school started a blog for the teachers the problem was that everyone felt self-conscious because they thought their peers were evaluating their intelligence by what they wrote…which they were in fact doing…but that is not the case here. Your question or comment comes to me and I can take your name off and you can be totally anonymous. You could also write it in word, so your spelling will be right and then copy and paste. The thing is you guys have got to get used to using technology to communicate with each other. Your students are leaving you in the dust. You have to stay current or what you are teaching is not practical to the students.
At the Fall Conference in Florence this year at our Secondary Meeting I am going to show you some ways to use technology to improve the promotion of your art program and your art students. I personally am now on Facebook, which my students love, have a You-Tube account, have a JPG account, and have a personal website. I have learned a lot about all of these and am eager and happy to help any of you to get these things going for yourself. Now don’t get me going by saying, “but I only have one computer”. Yeah, well I have been there, done that, kicked tail, took names, and have a t-shirt to prove it all…so you have ZERO excuses. I have helped so many people do this over the phone and with literally one hand tied behind my back. You CAN do this, so DO it.
Remember competition season is starting soon. Please I encourage you to do this for your students. It is so good for their self-esteem. Also, lets do the National Art Honor Society thing too. Remember your special ones are probably not special in any other class. Let them know what they do in your class is as important as what they do in the “academic” classes. Example: my youngest is applying to colleges this Fall and one of the essays she wrote was about being a dance major at Alabama School of Fine Arts. She was recruited in Math and Science but chose to audition and was accepted in Dance. She told the school the things she learned in dance had practical applications to life and life situations that can never be learned in an academic class. Humorously she declared, ” I learned to perform difficult tasks while someone is screaming and cursing at her, I bet my Math and Science friends could not solve difficult equations while someone was screaming at them.” I know you don’t scream at your students but the environment that they problem solving in is not always optimal.
Lastly, colleges are looking for the well rounded student and all the big schools want the ARTS!!!! so lets give it to them and our students.
