I recently have asked myself what drives me to continue teaching. I have done it for over 30 years. With all the budget cuts, and new changes in the district, new discipline procedures, and curriculum protocols sometimes it can feel quite overwhelming. Sometimes I have to give myself pep-talks throughout the day. I have to remind myself of the "why."
Teaching art is more than just a paycheck. It's seeing the pride of my students after they realize I wasn't kidding when I told them they would learn to draw. They struggled, and sometimes they didn't like me that much. I pulled and pushed them along until they started to believe it. As a teacher there is no greater feeling than to know that your students' are actually learning. I am not just teaching, my students are learning.
This trimester my 8th grade students explored a different way of writing reports by creating a Pablo Picasso "report" using Bitstrips for Schools. Bitstrips is a really cool program that provides the user with tools to create avatars that can be used in a comic strip. The program provides backgrounds of different scenes, and ways you can move your avatar around, creating various facial expressions, hand movements and postures. If you haven't heard of Bitstrips check it out.
I thought I would showcase one of my students' Picasso projects. This student incorporated her comic strip into a movie with narration, music, and sound effects. What can I say, she is a delightful overachiever!
So, sit back, grab yourself a bowl of popcorn and take a tour of Pablo Picasso.
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