Last winter, on a whim, I applied for a middle school social studies teaching job thinking I had no chance of getting an interview, let alone being hired. Fast forward a couple of months and not only had I interviewed for the job, but I’d been hired! I was ecstatic! I was going from an hour long commute to a 10 minute one. I would be working in the same district as my kids. I was going to have SO MUCH more time!
After being hired, I was taking a tour of the school with the principal and she mentioned that there was still an opening for an elective teacher, and so she wouldn’t have a firm schedule for me until after that had been filled.
My wheels, started spinning. I somehow managed to muster the courage to ask (in a somewhat soft and totally fearful voice, I’m sure) if it would be possible for me to slide into the elective position. See it’s been a long standing dream of mine to be an art teacher. In fact, as far as real, grown up jobs go, it’s my dream job.
She made some phone calls, and after what seemed like FOREVER (probably only a week or two really) she got back to me with a yes! I was over the moon. Seriously, I was getting my dream job!!!
Fast forward a couple of months and the excitement was masked behind an art room stacked floor to ceiling with boxes. Boxes full of random supplies. Some of them from the 50’s and 60’s. Not kidding. Also, I should probably mention that I had no formal training in how to teach art to middle school kids. In fact, the closest I had ever gotten was an hour every other week with 6th graders. I might have started to panic a little.
Luckily, I am not the only lover of art in my family, and my sister came out to help me sketch out a rough plan. I found a full classroom set of art textbooks, and while they provided the foundation for what I would do, the bulk of the creative genius was on me.
I laid out a rough overview and when September rolled around, I dove in head first. That first semester was a whirlwind of learning, making mistakes, and finding eureka moments. I fine tuned what worked and revamped what didn’t. I spent hours searching Pinterest, Google and everything I could find to piece together a winning curriculum.
While I am certain it will change as the students change, the standards change and the world changes I want to share what I’ve done with you. In case you, like me, find yourself in this position! So, check back often as I add more and more lessons, notes, projects, and stories!
As always share comments with me below if you try any of the posts linked up here or if you come up with a brilliant idea that you think I should try!
