Yay!

On Wednesday, I got called in for an interview for a position at an alternative high school. We scheduled the interview for the next day, Thursday at 1:00. At about 3:30, the principal called and offered me the job!!

Here are a few stipulations...I have a job only because the previous art teacher is on leave for medical reasons. She'll be gone for a semester for sure, and she could come back anytime after that. She also left me all her lesson plans. It's kind of a bummer that she could come back, but I'm still excited about the opportunity! I'm kind of worried about the whole "alternative school" situation, and as the principal put it, "I walked out of my office and I honestly thought you were a student waiting for your schedule." Gee, thanks. So, some students are as old as 21, ALL students test their boundaries, and I need to show them who's boss.

Overall, I'm grateful for the opportunity. I know it will be difficult, but I'm ready!

The problem...
Students come back on the 24th and I have no lesson plans, and to top it off, I don't know what classes I'm teaching. I mean, obviously I'm teaching art, but I have no clue what art classes I'm teaching. Oh well, it will work out!

Why So Interested?

So I haven't posted in a really long time. I don't know why I have so many hits and who has been looking at my blog and why, but whatevs, it's a free country. It surprises me that I even look at this blog. I forget about it all the time. I am thinking of changing the direction of this blog once I start teaching. It's going to be about the funny things students say and funny things that happen to me at school. I just need to secure employment first.

Working for the Weekend

So, this is my big weekend of interviews. (When it's summertime and you're not working, everyday is the weekend.) I had one this morning, which I was totally prepared for. I practiced interview questions with my mom, who claims she does not interview well, but helped me tons. I am so grateful for her. Speaking of gratitude, I am one lucky girl to have the opportunity to be a long term sub for some awesome art teachers in the district that I want to work in! My mom helped me pick out an outfit, and even helped me with my high school teaching portfolio. So today was the big day. I woke up bight and early, had pasta salad for breakfast and tried to make myself look as old as possible, which never seems to work. (People tend to underestimate my abilities and don't take me seriously because I look like I'm thirteen. 'Where's your hall pass young lady? HA! You're not a teacher, prove it to me.')

Anyways, the interview went well. I told some unintentional jokes that made everyone laugh.

What is RTI?
um...(five seconds of silence)...ummm... (a few more seconds) Oh! (light bulb) Something, something, intervention?
(Polite, genuine chuckles. From the four interviewers.) Yes, RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION. Can you tell us what that means?
Oh crap. 'Well....(more silence I KNOW my mom talked to me about this, I just couldn't remember.) ...is it creating a behavioral plan for students who are having trouble in my class? Could it also be creating an academic plan for a a student who is having trouble with his/her grade?
Yes! Good. This is how it works at our school. Boring explanation of RTI blah blah blah...


What a stupid question. While you're at it, why don't you ask me what all these very important stand for... PLC, IEP, 504, IDEA, NCLB, AYP, DBAE, IAEA, NAEA. I don't know if it is sad that I know what all these stand for, but still, the question was equally stupid.

What would you do if a student you didn't do anything to, just didn't like you?
I don't care if a student doesn't like me. Teenagers seem to hate a lot of people for no good reason. 'Kill them with kindness' was my brilliant response.
All the interviewers laughed a real laugh. I didn't think it was funny and really didn't mean that as a joke. 'That's good. No one around here seems to share the same idea.' The principal said, glaring at one of the art teachers in the room, who forced a smile. I later found out that this particular teacher yells at students and has a bad temper.


After the interview, the art teachers gave me a tour of the room I would be teaching in, with my 40+ art students per class. Yep, 40 freshman! They were really nice and answered all my questions. I was thanking the principal on my way out when he shook my hand and said "I know you have an interview on Monday at the middle school. We all agree that you did really well in your interview here, have you had any other interviews lately?" I was honest and said I'd been interviewing out of state, looking for better offers, then he shocked me by saying, "Don't you want to stay in the area? Wouldn't you like to teach in this district? I'm asking you to please not say yes to anyone before I'm done interviewing a couple of applicants for this position." Whoa. First of all, I will say yes to anyone I dare please, but also, it kind of sounded like he didn't want to lose me to the middle school or anyone else. Oh my gosh, I can't believe it went as well as it did!

The problem: The sad news is that I went into the interview thinking it was a .71 position, later to be informed that it is a .57 position. After some fancy math skills, my mom and I found out that I'd be taking home between $700-$800 a month. I made more than that working... well, pretty much everywhere. I had a paycheck in May that was over $1800, just for subbing. This is obviously depressing. I will only take this job if it's my ONLY offer. Of course, you can't expect two art teachers to have the skills to do this kind of math either, so my mom and I could be wrong about how much I'd be earning. We factored in how much insurance and taxes would be, but we're not pros at this kind of thing.

Positives:
I have two interviews on Monday. One is a phone interview, out of state. I don't really care about this position, but I will interview nonetheless. The other one is a FULL TIME position at a middle school. I am really excited for this opportunity, although I think the competition will be stiffer.

We really do live in a man's world, Tina. When asked if I would be able to coach anything or be a part of a club, I said I wasn't athletic but I'd be willing to start an art club. The principal liked the idea and told me that one of the two art teachers, who are both male, is in charge of the skiing club and the drag racing club, while the other is a football coach.

On a More Positive Note

On a more positive note, here are things I am grateful for.....

Getting ready for yet again, another long-term substituting job where I get to be in a high school! I decided last week that given the option of teaching art in elementary, middle, or high school, I'd choose high school.

The long-term sub job will likely last the whole rest of the school year starting somewhere around March 21st!

I'm thankful for my education and look forward to finishing my masters degree in the near future. 

I am grateful for all the principals out there who support the arts. Without principals using extra FTE towards art, there would be a lot less art teachers out there.

I'm grateful for the students who register for art classes, the less students there are, the less need for art teachers there are. That's why I've got to be a really good teacher that teaches fun and educational lessons.

I'm grateful that I received such a sound education in art, that I can push my students to be the best artists they can be because I can help them expand there talent as much as they're willing to. 

I'm grateful for other art teachers out there that show me it can all be done. Not without a lot of work, of course, but eventually I'll be in a spot, teaching what I want to teach at the school I want to teach at, and it will be so much fun. 

I'm grateful for all the examples that paved the way before me in both art and education. Faith Ringgold, for example, started teaching art at public schools in New York City, before she became recognized for her story quilts and children books. She is influenced feminist artwork in a big way.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due...

First, have I mentioned how brilliant Marc Johns is lately? I love him. Lastly, if you plan on using lesson plans in your class that were prepared and taught first by me, the one person you stuck your nose up at because I was teaching what I thought was best, most fun and more creative, (opposed to easy, stiff and outdated lessons that students couldn't relate to that you wanted me to teach) the least you could do is mention my name on a measly blog. Just sayin'.

And Happy Valentine's Day

From Robert Indiana

Value

I often ask students if they know what value means in terms of art. I always emphasize the 'in art' part, but I always get the same answer: How much something is worth. No, that's what students know from prior knowledge, in fact, it's the only definition of value they know. I define value (when referring to art) as the lightness and darkness of a color. I don't think it's very concise though...I'm searching for a better definition.

Here are some others I found: Shadows, darkness, contrasts and light are all values in artwork.
An element of art that refers to luminance or luminosity — the lightness or darkness of a color. This is important in any polychromatic image, but it can be more apparent when an image is monochromatic, as in many drawings, woodcuts, lithographs, and photographs. This is commonly the case in much sculpture and architecture too. 
The relative lightness or darkness of a hue. Black is low value. White is a high value.
the lightness or darkness of a color; contrasts between light and dark.
The lightness or darkness of tones or colors. White is the lightest value; black is the darkest. The value halfway between these extremes is called middle gray. Because a painted image is physically two-dimensional, a painter must have some tool to create a false, but convincing illusion of three-dimensionality. Value is that tool. The effects of value are most easily seen in a black and white drawing. In such a drawing, one can find a range of tones from pure black, across a spectrum of gray, ending in pure white. By using such a scale of tones, a painter is able to recreate in two dimensions the effects of light and shadow on a three-dimensional object. In a painting, such tones are usually found in spectrums of color instead of gray, but the effect is the same. Value is extremely important to a painter because without its proper use it would be impossible for a painter to create convincingly realistic imagery. It’s also a useful tool for adding further definition to forms, of which line alone is incapable of doing. Value also works in conjunction with contrast.

Okay, so I guess my definition isn't so bad. I need to gather some good lessons to teach value because it's so important. I think it's the most important concept to grasp, because it makes a huuuge difference in drawing, painting and photography.

I'm going to gather them together and post here when I'm done.