Aesthetic
I took this picture as a tongue-in-cheek example of my sweet creative abilities at work in the classroom.
I can’t say that teaching preschool doesn’t require creativity.
Just that my problem solving is less about creating something pleasant to look at, and more about creating a physically and emotionally safe environment in which to learn (or live…my frugal meals are pretty creative).
How can I restrain this tantrum-ing child so that he doesn’t hurt himself or others?
How do I distract the student who is really weepy today?
How can I give them a measure of independence, the opportunity to take risks at making mistakes, yet still get us all where we need to be on time?
The things that I accomplish in a work day are difficult to measure or report.
The quiet kid joined in our singing today. The tactilely defensive child played in the sand box.
I can’t predict when a ray of light will break through a dark cloud. But it does happen. And I like to think I had something to do with it.
Today I’m tired. But content.
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29 August 2010, 6:38 am
Next to parenting (well, maybe sometimes equally), teaching is the hardest but quietly rewarding job. It’s hard to try and reach all the kids, especially in a chaotic classroom with lots of different personalities. But I think that just knowing how much you care and how available you are makes kids feel at-ease and happy.
The funny thing is that when I’ve told people that I was an art teacher, say “wow, that must be a really creative job” referring to the art, not the teaching. But I always found that the teaching part was the more creative, and that the art projects were more formulaic, since I had to prep and plan so much for them. The spontaneity of what happens in the class necessitated more creative thinking.