Teaching Philosophy

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           I believe that no matter how much pedagogy you may know, no matter how many degrees you may have, unless your students know you care about them then they will not learn from you. For me, it is so important to be not just a teacher, but someone the students know is on their side. When I was a student in high school, my art teacher was someone who pushed me but also was always there for me. And because of that my art flourished. I want my classroom to be a safe space. A space where students come and can express their art freely and without fear of judgement. My goal is to show students all of the possibilities of art and push them to be the best they can be.

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          I think there needs to be a balance of structure in the art room and “play” time to experiment with different mediums. There needs to be time for each student to learn their own style of art. Each student is unique. Cookie cutter crafts are out of the question. The projects I will assign will have prompts instead of directions. Students need the freedom to explore and learn for themselves. Children have 100 languages of learning. They can be taught in so many ways. The Reggio Emilia learning style is something I will put into practice within my classroom. The teacher is there to guide and ouch the student to be the best they can, but the teacher should not assign cookie cutter projects. Those kinds of projects do not help the individual student develop. It may look nice up in the hallways, but it does nothing for the individual development.