I've had an exciting summer filled with travel and educational leadership opportunities. In early to mid June I traveled around the state to various AEA locations to help spread the word about how the Art Educators of Iowa had drafted a framework for how Visual Arts supports the Iowa Core Curriculum. I traveled to Oklahoma City to attend the National Art Educators Association's Western Regional Leadership Conference in late June and the Art Educators of Iowa Leadership Retreat in late July. All these things have given me a renewed fire to get back into the classroom! In my nine years of teaching, I can honestly say that this is the most excited I've ever been to get the year started. I'm filled with new ideas and a renewed sense of focus.
That focus has manifested itself in the form of mantras- I know that may sound silly but as I've reflected on the past year at CFCSD and the upcoming one, I keep coming back to this phrase. "Leaner and meaner." I don't mean that I plan on losing weight and being grumpy with the kids! But that I'm going to stealthier (I keep thinking "ninja like")in what I do in the classroom. I've been working on streamlining my curriculum and pedagogy. I'm going to focus on what I do well, on what I know works best with kids, and forget much the fluffy stuff, the busy work. Do fewer things, but do them better. I have a couple different mantras for my students as well- this can't be all about me. But I'll share those later.
That focus has manifested itself in the form of mantras- I know that may sound silly but as I've reflected on the past year at CFCSD and the upcoming one, I keep coming back to this phrase. "Leaner and meaner." I don't mean that I plan on losing weight and being grumpy with the kids! But that I'm going to stealthier (I keep thinking "ninja like")in what I do in the classroom. I've been working on streamlining my curriculum and pedagogy. I'm going to focus on what I do well, on what I know works best with kids, and forget much the fluffy stuff, the busy work. Do fewer things, but do them better. I have a couple different mantras for my students as well- this can't be all about me. But I'll share those later.
Wayne Coyne's Womb Gallery. Very cool. Thanks @erk1800 for the tour. #NAEAWESTREG pic.twitter.com/eCgHAJMWbY
— Andrew McCormick (@aojomccormick) June 23, 2013