Thursday, October 05, 2006

Reason #28393 Why I Love My Job

Last night I taught an evening class and I have to say, I came away feeling really, really good. I have decided that I have one of the best jobs in the world. Not only do I get to make a living, but I have the pleasure of seeing people come into class unsure of what they can do or what they are going to learn and by the end of the class, they are smiling and feeling confident in their own artistic abilities.

One of my favourite things is when I ask my students to share a bit about where they are with art making and most of them downplay their abilities. Sometimes they say "Oh I am not artistic at all!" or "I am not very good, I don't know what I am doing." That just fires me up because I think people always underestimate themselves. I love to see as the class progresses how their attitude changes. It really is magical and it inspires me as a teacher. It's so important to me not to ask someone to copy what I've done, but to take what I give them and then parlay that into their own unique style. All I am doing is giving them the tools and they are providing the magic.

It's hard work preparing a class-hours go into writing it so I can offer the best instruction possible and use the time the most effectively, but when I see that work result in success for my students, it makes it all worth while.

I am sure you are wondering why I posted a pic of a bag of chips. Well, after such a great class last night, I was hungry and dying of thirst. It's a bit of a drive home from the city, so I stopped at this gas station I usually get a slurpee at and I wanted some chips. My all time favourite are these Munchos. They remind me of chips I loved when I lived in Barcelona and this gas station is one of the few places I can find them. Of course once I got there, I discovered they were out! Not a single bag to be had and I was terribly disappointed. I mean if you are going to eat chips at 10:30 at night, it had better be good chips! So I "made do" with some inferior chips and called it a night. But...I want a bag of those Munchos and I want it bad. I just have to figure out where I can find them close to home! LOL!

Yeah, I know, I'm nuts. But I am not a sweet tooth. I am a chip fan.

2 comments:

Laura said...

I love your description of your teaching philosphy! I hope I am lucky enough to be in a class of yours someday! This little blog entry really makes me happy! I wish we could all have a Muncho party!!

One Crabapple said...

except a sweet tooth for jelly beans...not red ones...and not black ones

I can only imagine that they go perfectly with MUNCHOs and I want some right now!

with you in spirit

I would love to take a class from you someday!

Love, S.