Teaching art for more than just art's sake

By: Rachel Losch
Visual Art Specialist
Dixie Magnet Elementary School

Teaching elementary art keeps me up at night designing what I can do next to engage my students on their educational journey. I ask myself, “What can I plan next to make even my fifth level students squeal with glee as they walk in the door?” I always have my students' interest in mind, and I know what makes them tick. I hit the ground running in the morning for school because I love what I do! Children love the arts and I use the arts to teach them more than required content, but how the arts are important in their lives.

I enjoy teaching arts for arts sake, but I have embraced integrated approaches because it just makes sense for my students. I do more than teaching though, this year I have gained the confidence through CTQ to molt into a new role with my special area teammates. We have a shared vision for our students at my school, and I have taken on the shared responsibility to implement change within my school through arts integration. Our faculty has agreed to re-define the focus of our school to include arts integration whenever it naturally connects the students to the content. Our teachers enjoy teaching, but now have a sense of freedom to select the teaching approach and strategy.

Teaching is definitely rewarding, but somehow you lose track of the rewards. There are small rewards, like student hugs and words of encouragement, but this week I had one of my past students visit me.

This teaching affirmation is more rewarding that any amount of money. My fifteen year old student walked in beaming and said, “I remember everything we did in your class. I now sit with my old classmate in high school and we still sing that piece from The Music Man, you know, Pick-a-Little-Talk-a-Little? “ and I replied “Yes, I do!” We laughed, reminisced and shared the stories of our experiences in my classroom together. That is why I love teaching, and I know my colleagues feel the same way.