How has your life been indelibly touched by a teacher who utilized the arts for whatever reason and acknowledge how they were instrumental in breaking the mold to allow you to become who you are today?
We had a huge sandbox in the classroom in which we put mountains and rivers, houses, people and animals. They all had to be counted; that’s how we learned math.
I’ll never forget when she came [to class] with a chocolate bar that had to be divvied up among all the children in the class. That’s how we learned division.
Art was part of everything we did. And Miss Kieser drew me a fabulous color pencil study of two shells along with a poem by a famous poet (Eichendorff):
“There is a song that sleeps in all things,
As they linger in their dream.
And the world will start a-singing,
Once you’ll find its magic beam.”
And it did.
“I have learned a lot about my students’ interests and needs. The sketch books are a wonderful tool for teaching and have encouraged writing immensely. (Juan Paredes, 4th grade teacher, PS 115,
“My students are paying more attention to detail! They have become visual thinkers. They approach my projects with much more confidence and have really taken art seriously as a subject. (Integrating art making with reading and writing ) has changed the way that I teach my students.” (Wiley Nelson, Art Specialist, PS 8,