Teaching philosophy

Completing the Circle
In today's society, children are pressured into learning the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. These are necessary and important indeed, but to make a well-rounded, fully learned individual, you need the education of art. Learning art allows one to enjoy the math and science of the Earth and observe her natural cycles, to put prose into pictures, to stop and smell the roses and to heighten the awareness and understanding of different cultures. This is how Mankind began, not with alphabets or addition, but with rudimentary drawings on the walls of caves used to communicate, thus creating the cycle of higher intelligence.
It is in this way I feel teaching art is necessary to artistically see the crucial role art has played in the past and our current society and understand the history of Man and how we have developed because of that. I see teaching as my responsibility as an artist and educator, to help students connect creating art with problem-solving skills, personal expression, and exploring science, math and english. Teaching art also links left-side analytical thinking with right-side emotional thinking, which is essential to developmental learning. As an art teacher, I also believe encouragement in the creative process is as vital as the beauty of the outcome of a project. I view myself as a mediator between the languages of the world, because art can transcend all else to become universally recognized and appreciated. My goal as an art specialist is to help facilitate the students comprehension of all aspects of learning art; I know I have succeeded if the child goes out of my classroom having a broader sense of understanding the world around them.
Art has been created since the dawn of man and played an integral role in human history. The education of the arts to students is just as crucial in their development. Through the expression of imagination and the learning of appreciation and understanding of art, a student is able to get the needed elements, which connect with other skills to contribute to a well-rounded individual.