The Teaching artist

What is the relationship between your experiences and ongoing artistic work to your curriculum and teaching? How do you describe what you do as an artist?

My situation is different from many teaching artists, or art teachers. I never went through any art specific courses during high school or college. I was drawn to the art education program several times as an undergraduate student, but stuck to my studies of elementary education. Later on, during my third year of teaching, I applied to the masters of art education. Throughout this process I have had a few exposures to what an art class would be like at the college level. Due to my background I find that I have no specific medium with which I identify the most or the strongest. I dabble in all kinds of art-making activities and this informs my curriculum. 

In a sense I feel frustrated that I am not an expert in a particular domain, however, my desire to continuously learn about a variety of techniques and skills, provides new perspectives and insights on art. This in turn has an impact on my curriculum as a general education teacher. 

My curriculum has been tweaked throughout my experience as a master's student due to the experiences that I have had in class. My curriculum has always been very flexible, and I tend to let my students lead the teaching. In addition to that, my lessons have been greatly enriched by the skills I am coming to understand, and the different artistic teaching approaches that I interact with in my classes. 

Another aspect that greatly informs my curriculum is the art teacher at my elementary school. We collaborate often in order to find the past way to integrate what I am teaching and what he is teaching in each other's lessons and projects. This helps students make connections between art class and my class and allows for us to be on the same page. I struggle to piece together what I do as an artist. I loved reading chapter one in Teaching Artist Handbook by Nick Jaffe because of the questions provided. A self-assessment seems more than needed for my situation! The questions intrigued me to really think about my art making, how I see myself as an artist, and how my involvment with art can benefit the students that I teach. 

One characteristic that I see in myself is the desire to share what I learn. Since I don't quite yet identify with a specific medium, or skill set, I am constantly wanting to learn more, about anything. Lately I have been experimenting a lot with watercolor and the different color combinations I can create, as well as layers. Last semester I took a book binding class and created a wide variety of books. These skills have carried over into my teaching as I have implemented them in my classroom. My students have used watercolor paints several times, and I dedicated a narrative story writing unit to the process of bookbinding and how that impacts stories. 

When I learn something I want to share that with my students, and that guides my personal artistic work, as well as my curriculum. It surprises me how closely intertwined my art making and my job as a teacher can be.