Change is a permanent state of being

Buried in stone

So, I’ve been at it for 12, almost 13, years now. I’ve seen so much change and I have rolled with it as always. I have so may pictures of student work to post and I have also set up my own personal studio in a barn in my back yard. It’s time to make room for some peace after 13 years of chaos.

I was told once I feel too much. Seriously?! How does that make me weak? if you took away my heart , the essence of who I am, you would take away my conscience, my empathy, my intuition, my creativity and my deep appreciation for the little things. you would take away my passion and my deep awareness of what pain means to others. I think those very things make me the strongest person possible. It’s easy to turn your back on what’s important, it takes bravery to face it head on and embrace it!

Happy New Year!

Scroll on down to the bottom to select pages to view, that’s were all the goodies are!

I am still alive and teaching for Norfolk Public Schools!

I am almost through my first year of teaching.  What a roller coaster ride!  I have been through the entire spectrum of emotions and my brain is full of names, faces and art which makes it worth it at the end of the day.  This is soooo much better than sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day.  I wish I had made the change sooner. so if you have a moment visit the page for student artwork and lesson plans, I have something new to show you!

Now for my 1st journal entry for my 2nd plcmt

This week I spent observing my elementary school placement.  OK well I didn’t observe very long, I was excited to help my new teacher and the kids are great!  We see the entire school population in one week and there is plenty of planning time.  I’ll be writing my first lessons this weekend and may start to deliver them next week depending on how things wrap up with the current plans.  Will have more to report next week.

Another Actual Journal Entry…

Well I finished at Booker T without a hitch.  I had a great review from Dr Laws and from Ms Haywood.  I really enjoyed my time there even though I had the flu and then an ear and sinus infection there at the end.  My lesson plans were a success due to the amazing feedback the Ms Haywood provided me.  We went over them almost daily until they were immaculate.  Ms Haywood is an excellent mentor.  When I teach this lesson again I will keep it as is, it went so well and the kids were so excited about getting to work on their art.  It was personal to them and it reflected in their active engagement with the piece.  I will make sure to again have meaningful work for them to complete when they were finishing up for the day.  I hope to work in a secondary school, I really enjoyed the ability to really be involved in the art and having the students for 90 minutes 2/3 times a week.  I am proud of the lessons I deliverd, I feel the students learned valuable information not only about themselves but about the world around them.