New Position Revealed

I hinted at change in the last entry... no, that wasn't a hint, that was a definite statement of fact... change was in the air for me, and now I can speak about it openly.

Today I had a formal job interview with my principal and assistant principal for a position I had applied for. The job is mine!

I will be the CSI instructor... but before you go asking how I could be a crime scene investigator at an elementary school, let me explain.

CSI stands for Creative Subject Integration. This is a position integrating math, science, social studies and literature with art. In other words, the CSI instructor finds out what each grade level is teaching each month, then creates art lessons that integrate a particular academic area in that grade level.

The former CSI instructor did a fine job creating lesson plans for each grade level from month to month. She is going to share them with me before she leaves. (I am so grateful! I'm going to pick up where she left off.) For example, fifth graders were learning about Native American Indian culture in one social studies unit. The CSI instructor taught the kids how to make tribal masks from masking tape and foil. And as the kids worked, she told them stories and historical facts, while in the background she played selected tribal drum music. She would bring the history of what they were learning in their social studies classroom into the art project. That's art integrated with social studies.

I am an EC teacher. I have taught reading-writing-math for the past eight years, and now I have an opportunity to teach 600 students art. Not just art for art's sake, but art for learning's sake.

I believe that most kids have some inherent creative talents from the time they are born. Some kids are better observers than others, which is why at some point some kids start to draw and doodle more often than others. They become good copiers, and they win the awe of their peers in elementary school.

Then, I've noticed, that the number of kids drawing and doodling dwindles between middle schooland high school, and by high school, you have a distinct population of kids who do art and kids who don't. My theory is that kids stop drawing somewhere in elementary school because they have heard comments like "What is that?" or "That doesn't look like a monkey, it looks like a horse." or "You can't draw like Mikey can." etc and etc.

Often, kids do find another area to express their creative talents, such as through sports, dance, music, or other clubs where their organizational talents are needed, or where they can apply their math talents. These are all good places for a kid to be.

By the time a kid is in middle school, he pretty much knows if he can draw or not, based on the words of encouragement he's received or the lack of them. When a kid gives up drawing, doodling, sketching, etc, he is giving up more than a chance to be an artist. He is giving up his sense of inner freedom, his confidence, and possibly some part of his innate desire to create.

I'm thinking that as the CSI instructor in my school, I can help reverse that thinking for these kids... as many of them as I can. I want to instill in them a desire to learn the academics through their desire to create with their hands. Using clay, watercolors, tempera, sculpture, paper mache, oil pastels, and various other media and materials, I hope to be a part of opening their eyes, their minds, and their hearts to the joys of discovery, creation, and learning.

I am now on the "Specials" team!!! Specials are classes like computer, library, music, PE, art, LightSpan, Read 180, and Guidance. Those are the ones we have in our school. But instead of art, we have CSI: integration of art with the core academics. For me, it is something new... very new, challenging, and I must say, very exciting!

This summer is going to be a busy one for me. I've got to move into the new classroom, inventory materials and supplies, and plan lessons for the year.

Thank you for your comments and giving your support, and sorry I had to play mysterious for awhile.

Now I'm off to school. I have one more car load to bring home.