Reflection on Teaching

Teaching is hard.

And the sentence I just wrote above, a gross understatement..

My first year was a challenging. Yet, I will be better prepared for take two and I am glad to say that teaching was NOT a complete and utter disaster. It was actually pretty good and after a good month of summer vacation reflection, I am happy with my teaching experience. For it changing me, for cramming in more knowledge and experience that four (okay, five years) of college could not have prepared me for. Not that I regret my education or that I am saying that college didn't prepare me adequately...quite contrary...but there is no better teacher than experience and no better discipline than practice. As a teacher, I too am a student and shall continue to be so.


It's been a while since I have posted like this. I wish I could find myself inspired to write about art but not being a natural writer, I can only write when inspired and write about what I am inspired about. As a teacher, naturally I want to write about that. I guess that is why the past year, my postings have been limited. But yes, I do need to broaden my horizons, I need to dedicate more time to art.

Luckily, I get to teach art and it was scary at times (when you have 30+ students handling sharp objects) and also fun (when you break through and are able to reach a student, even more so when a whole class gets involved in discussion).

I have more to learn but as I continue to do so I will share my lessons with you all from time to time. All I can say now is that children need good people in their lives. In their families, in their circle of friends and in their circle of influence. If you are lucky enough to be within any of those circles, please consider them in the decisions and actions you take. Be a positive mentor and most importantly a positive example. A few times, I found myself to be the only one to offer a student positive insight or support that they had never heard. It's sad. We are losing values in our schools, in our families and in our society. To recover them is not the responsibility of the teacher, it's EVERYONE'S responsibility. When a student would be at a loss to display respect or value, it made me sad to think what brought that child to that point. Adults, we need to be less selfish and give more time to our children and essentially our future. To save us time and convenience in the present by turning to TV, video games and internet to babysit our children, we damage their development and thus we are sacrificing the quality of our future.

This is all I have to say. Enough spilled. I hope to write more soon and not just about teaching, cause one has to mix things up...but for now God speed!