Friday, January 16, 2009

A bad idea.

So in case you are ever sitting in a class, lets say Art for Elementry school teachers. And you are supposed to be drawing the fruit that is in front of you and the shadows to learn about "value" and shading. And you happen to HATE drawing, and hate sitting there. And the teacher comes around to see how everyone is doing. And she asks you how things are going. Do NOT tell her that you are frustrated and that this is your own personal Hell. Do NOT tell her that you have an art learning disability. Do NOT tell her that in 7th grade your art teacher finally told you to put anything on the paper, she didn't care what, and turn it in. Even if you think she is only the sub for this week, and she will just roll her eyes and walk away. This is all a very bad idea. It results in her sitting next to you. Trying desperatly to prevent you from doing it wrong. Trying desperatly to tell you how to make the stupid shadow. (Yes thank you I know it should be an eliptical shape...) Until eventually she quietly realizes what so many before have realized, you really are disabled and she stands up and leaves you alone. But you can tell that she is a little disappointed... her life theory, that everyone CAN do art if they are taught and encouraged rather than judged, that all eveyone needs is a little self confidence has been challenged. All because you had a really bad idea... You could have just kept your mouth shut, smiled, said everything was great. But you didn't. Maybe it was years of frustration at being forced to do art and failing miserably, or the fact that it is 5:00 pm and you are still at school, or the fact that you vowed to teach art in a different way rather than simply drawing what is put in front of you. Whatever the reason it probably isn't good enough to justify this very bad idea. Just in case you ever had that thought...

4 comments:

Morgan Hagey said...

Well, I am art-disabled as well. So, I figure that elementary students can just... cut stuff out and glue it to the paper...

Erin said...

Oh Kirby...It's probably best just to get that conversation out of the way right from the beginning though-it'll ensure your teacher has reasonable expectations... :-)

The Wolford Family said...

I think it runs with us sisters I'm can't even draw a circle. The art teacher at the HS says ANYONE can draw!! I always tell her she hasn't tried to teach me!!!

BloggingBills said...

I'm also art disabled. My first boss (who was also my favorite teacher in grad school--the deaf ed community was very small in the 70's) told me that if I ever drew on the board (and really, what deaf ed teacher DOESN'T draw on the board at least every hour?) that I'd better be sure to label everything so the kids would know what it was (of course deaf kids don't read well, which is why you draw....)

ANyway, I've learned that Kelsey is right: Art in elementary school is not about drawing.
and you can learn to draw shapes, but forget shading. I can almost draw recognizable things, but it's taken 30 years!
MA