Tuesday, May 28, 2013

From start to finish

One of my absolute favorite parts of my job is seeing each year begin and end. The beginning of every year is always filled with promise and challenge, while the end is full of accomplishments, relief, and the anticipation of a revitalizing summer. The pace of teaching is so strenuous - with about 750 students each week coming into my room, expecting a dazzling art lesson each and every time - there is never a time to be bored or resting on your laurels. The 8 weeks or so we get for summer each year are critical for recharging our teacher batteries. I think I would also be happy with the year-round model too, with built in breaks throughout the year, as long as there is at least a 6 week summer. I just can't imagine a job for me that seems to never end - I love that feeling of a fresh start.
As I close out this year, I am very proud of the accomplishments we achieved in and out of the art room, including our first attempt at Free Art Friday and personally, making it through a year of much transition and change in the professional side of my teaching. We also connected with many students around the country during our Valentine's Day ATC exchange. I am looking forward to a few new ideas, as I am every year - gotta keep it fresh! - including the possibility of expanding ATC's into APP's (Art Pen Pals) and sharing more work in the community.
Enjoy your summer everyone. Recharge those batteries and share what is exciting you for the start of next year... I'd love to hear from you.
This is a (blurry) photo of me with my son Mak, who just finished his 5th grade walk on his last day at our school before he moves on to bigger things at middle school. Next year will be the first year for me to drive to and from school each day by myself - weird!

3 comments:

  1. Enjoy your well earned break and enjoy yourself I have a month still to go but feel stretched thin at this time of year teaching is like a stage performance and you need to recharge and allow time for your own creativity.

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  2. Hello Hope! I would be interested in Art Penpals! We do not have an art room so our projects are fairly simple. I teach grades 3-8 in a small parochial school in Philadelphia, PA. We post some of our art on Facebook under the name of St. Mary Interparochial School, https://www.facebook.com/stmaryinterparochialschool?fref=ts. So, keep me in mind.....donnabridy@aol.com. I love your blog and your student's work!

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  3. have a great summer! cant wait to see whatcha got cookin for next year:) i like the art penpals idea:)

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