Kathy McDonald on tue 7 sep 04
Tony Clennel wrote:
D
On Tuesday some teachers will return to school with a boil on their arse.
They would rather be anywhere else than back to school. they will have a bad
year. The other fine teachers have probably already been at school and
anxiously await the new crop.
I start out having them know i like them and what I do and then earn their
trust.
Teachers should be paid more than brain surgeons.
Cheers,
Tony
Hear hear Tony!
I could not agree more. I feel teachers are undervalued
by society in general.
I return to school tomotrrow am....not as a teacher this fall
but as one of them there ^consultants^. I have done it,
(the classroom part...it is the toughest thing I've ever done....
W
Yes trust is critical,...my job is counselling what they
describe as *high risk* youth. Every year I plan with the teachers
of these classes to bring thier kids to my home/studio
to do pottery, eat homemade pizza,and generally
have fun.
These kids often are not able to take part in the mainstream art
programming because of thier behavioral or emotional problems.
What surprizes me most is the comments these kids make about trust...
many have been in trouble with the law...many have been suspended
or even previously expelled from school. They often say...how come you
trust us to come here....and to touch all this stuff......
I never know exactly what to say..except that I figger that every kid
deserves
to be trusted and that I will give them that chance.
I've never even given it a thought until I read some of the comments
in this thread. I guess the trust that the kids will love clay as much as I
do
is fundamental to the process. Almost all of them do...and those kids
remember the clay
the cookies and the pizza one helluva lot more than they remember
the counselling sessions or the Individual Education Plans.
Some teachers have said..I'm not sure that "so and so"
is ready to make this outing....I will always respect a teacher's judgement
but
I encourage them not to exclude any of the kids from this process. I've
never had
a kid do anything "BAD" when they have thier hands busy with the clay!!!
I just thought about this......I probably won't be able to do this with
the kids this year....they cut 1 1/2 positions from the social work/psych
services budget this past year ... our priorities are going to be to
provide crisis services .
I now work 3/4 time.....maybe the division will pay for this service ????
maybe I'll do it on my day off.
Kathy
I
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Claire Beck on thu 9 sep 04
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy McDonald"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 5:45 AM
Subject: Re: In God We Trust....................and teachers too!!
Kathy--
It's a shame that cutbacks--again--are getting between what teachers can
do and what they are paid to do. The teachers (not educators, please note)
do the work anyway.
I retired after 30 years in the English classrooms of SC, to a district
that has tremendous financial restrictions; since old habits die hard, I
have become a volunteer reader at the local primary school, in addition to
working with 3-D design students at my old high school (their teacher is a
friend who likes being _clean_). Each year I donate clay and time at the
primary school, and I work with the children's librarian: read to play.
Not bragging--this is total selfishness: the joy/work ratio is shamelessly
slanted in my favor.
Just wish I were a better potter so I could help more. Hey--I was part of
producing a few published writers; maybe I'll be the sandbox-equivalent for
a budding artist.
Your day off, huh? Thanks for being one of the real ones, Kathy. Just
more proof that teaching is who you are, not what you do. And thank you, all
you Clayart guri, for all the help you give me. (The new kiln comes
_soon_!)
--Claire
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