And then....

    
... all of a sudden... I'm no longer unemployed. Hooray for me!

You can find the details here, Pssh... like I ever had any doubts.

The Waiting Game

    
I had a job interview today, for a .40 Elementary Art position. As the new school year is just around the corner it is quite understandable that schools are scrounging to fill their last few openings. I understand they're desperate. I understand they're hoping for the best when it comes to finding qualified candidates so late in the game. I do not, however, understand why a principal conducting an interview would begin by outlining all the negatives about the job. Was she trying to talk me out of it? Was she trying to scare me? With only three candidates being interviewed and only days before a decision needs to be made, shouldn't she have been doing her best to sell me on the position? And how come no one wants to look at my portfolio? I worked hard on that thing, I'd like someone to peruse through it and admire it, thank you very much. *Sigh* I need cake.

This has to be shared.

                         
I just received this email today from some job website that I probably signed up for years ago. I can't even begin to tell you how much this made me laugh. Needless to say, I had a few things to say to them when I replied to the email. And yes, yes I did. How could you not reply to an email like this?

Speaking words of wisdom, let 'em pee.

Principal Peter*: "Miss W, can I speak to you in the hall for a minute?"
Miss W: "Uh, sure."
Principal Peter: "Did you have Johnny from Mrs. H's second grade class in here last period?"
Miss W: "Yes, I did."
Principal Peter: "Well, he had a little accident and is in the nurses office right now."
Miss W: "Oh no. Is he okay?"
Principal Peter: "Yes, but he said you wouldn't let him use the bathroom last period."
Miss W: "What?"
Principal Peter: "He said he asked to use the bathroom during art class and was not allowed to. Is this true?"
Miss W: "Well no, that's not right at all. Johnny never asked me if he could use the bathroom. In fact, no students from that class asked to use the bathroom today."
Principal Peter: "Oh. Okay. Well, I didn't think you would tell a student they couldn't use the facilities, but I needed to check."

As any "specials" teacher can tell you, deciding whether or not to allow students to use the bathroom is a tricky thing.

I'm A Self-Taught Art Teacher

          
I've always considered myself a "self-taught" art teacher. Yes, I put myself tens of thousands of dollars into debt to obtain the necessary degrees that were supposed to make me into an art teacher, but the reality of it is, my six years of schooling didn't teach me anything about how to teach art. Everything I know, I know from personal experience.

As an undergrad, I attended a state school that had a 3:1 Art Education program with a private school. I completed all my gen. eds., my pre-requisites, my studio classes and the necessary basic education classes at the state school. I then took more advanced education classes at the private school where I also completed my student teaching. My studio classes taught me the basics of every art medium (at least the ones that would fit into my schedule), and the education courses taught me about the basics of teaching in a regular classroom. And by regular, I mean a classroom that doesn't involve a plethora of dirty, messy, dangerous materials that are necessary for the development of creative minds.