On the Beach: A Slice of Life

Writing teachers need to write themselves.

I am participating in the Slice of Life 2015 Challenge, 

where I attempt to write stories and narratives about moments in my life.

I apologize if this blog post veers off the informative "literacy lens" I usually write through.

This month I am pretending to be a writer, for my students' benefit (and my own).

Writers write. 

#SOL15

Blue paint, with a touch of purple...

Strokes become the sky.

Before I knew it, I was on the beach.

The teacher became the student.

     This week, we went painting as a staff.  I learned a few things, being in the role of the student again.  

Listening to multistep directions is hard.  

Simple skills, like mixing colors to make new colors, are NOT simple.  

Clean your brush often.  

Sketch lightly, but always sketch before you paint.  

Brushstrokes matter.

Banana Nutella empanadas are awesome.

     But the biggest moment came at the end, where the artist actually sat down to help one of our teachers.  The teacher wanted to improve her umbrella, so the artist started making some changes.  We were getting ready to take a staff picture, so we were all out of our seats and standing around her.  We all just sat there and watched the artist paint.  8 teachers, watching the art teacher give an impromptu lesson on shading an umbrella.  And we sat there, like we were at our very own mini lesson.  At one point, I think I asked her to narrate her thoughts while she worked (and I was serious).  She finished, and we clapped for her.  Spontaneous clapping for a lesson we were all grateful to receive. 

     Sometimes, we have to put ourselves in positions where we need to ask for help, like our students do.  We need to always remember that the teacher is the learner, too.  No matter if we are in an art class, or in our own classroom, we can always be learning something new.