Why I Teach

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  Background:  

    I have always enjoyed teaching people things. I am the oldest of four sibling, so I am used to being a role model to younger people. I try to teach my little brother just about everything I know how to do.

    When I was in high school my jobs consisted of snowboard instructor, guitar teacher, after school program employee, and I worked at a Montessori summer camp. I learned a lot about handling a larger group of students while teaching snowboarding lessons. I learned more about really helping a student to understand something from teaching guitar. And the summer camp taught me that there are many many different, and equally valid ways for students to learn. Everything in life is an opportunity for learning and growth.

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Philosophy:

    The reason I enjoy teaching is that I see myself as a life long learner, and teaching is my opportunity to focus on this. As a kid I didn't always feel this way but as an adult I discovered that I truly love learning and I think I always have. Since I found this passion for myself, I want to share it with others. Teaching facilitates me to continue learning through practice, pushing myself and self reflection. It's a win-win for my students and myself.

      When it comes to learning, I don’t think there is one best way. Perhaps there is a most common way that works for the majority, but it is just good practice to touch upon every different learning style that you can, at least until you get to know your students. In my experience, when I am trying to show a student how to do something I will first try and put myself in their shoes, because they don’t have the background or the understanding that I do. Then I think it is extremely important to make the content relevant to their life as much as possible. Art is all around us, but I should be able to explain to a student precisely why we're doing it and why it's so important. 

       The most important thing I want to give my students is a safe place for them to stretch out and explore, both the room and materials, and within themselves. I want my classroom to be a safe, supportive, and encouraging place for students to make discoveries about themselves, make new connections with peers, and harness new skills and creative problem solving techniques. My classroom environment focuses on consistently equitable expectations. Every student is welcome, and every day is a new day.

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Inspiration:

    My high school art teacher inspired me to pursue art education. I liked the idea of doing something that I enjoy, like being a practicing artist, while also teaching kids what I learn as I learn it. Since then I have had some professors that really took it to another level with the depth of their knowledge of their focus. My painting professor seemed to always know exactly what I need to do to my painting in order for it to look right. But he only told me if I was ready to hear it.

He was a painting wizard, and he inspires me every day.

    Things that inspire me in my own art are a sense of nostalgia, representational work about abstract or complex concepts, and the passing of time and degradation that comes naturally as a result. I pull a lot from my own childhood experiences, one’s own perception of color, light, and form, and illustrations in books and old etchings. I like to work with line and texture a lot in my drawings, very expressively but also realistically to an extent. With my painting I like the idea that everyone perceives light and color in a different way. And in all areas of art, I use my own childhood experiences, because they are the most meaningful to me.

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