I volunteered at a summer camp for artsie kids for several years. When meeting new people at camp, it was common to ask, "What is your art?" I have tried to be an artist using paint, beads, clay. I have come to find that my art is teaching. My classroom is my studio. This blog will be my art gallery.
As I begin, I am on the tail end of my sixth year of teaching high school English. As I stand on the edge of another summer (where it is always easy to feel optimistic and proud) I am happier and more secure with my dedication to education than I ever have been before. I didn't always feel this way and teaching has not been an easy job to love every day; but I have come to see that I am quite lucky to have a profession that is also part of my purpose. In a lot of ways, I think I have one of the most important jobs in the word.
I live in Wisconsin which has been an interesting place to be a teacher in 2011. The politics of this year have made me realize that there is a lack of understanding of what it means to be a teacher in our country. I don't claim to have the answer to any of it, but someone recently told me that instead of all the political babble, what we need to hear are each other's stories. So I offer up here, my story: what it is like to teach high school English, reading and life skills at a small alternative high school in (what has been called) the best place to live in America.
I also began this blog because I feel the need for a creative challenge. I have always liked writing, so when it came down to to what to write about, it seemed inevitable. I don't know or care about anything (aside from my dog and husband... but I didn't think there would be a demanding audience for these topics apart from myself) as much as I care about education. I believe that education is the single most important thing in the world. When we come together to learn, we become more than we ever could have been on our own. Education breaks down walls, challenges assumptions, furthers humanity. I could go on forever... and so, I will.
On these virtual pages I want to share with you (whoever you are) my evolution as an educator: what I am doing in my classroom and school, what I am reading and thinking about, the challenges, the joys, the ongoing journey of teaching, learning, and growing. It is my hope that this will be for me (and you) a place to reflect and connect.
A word about the title. In addition to being a teacher, I am an active yoga student. I have been practicing regularly for the past few years and find that many of the principles that I articulate in my curriculum are in line with the ideals of yoga. I just love it when things come full circle. The word "om" has different meanings depending on where you look. To me, when chanted at the end of a blissful yoga class, the sound captures the feeling of clarity and connectedness I hope to feel every day. More than anything, in my classroom, I want my students to understand their connection to each other and to cultivate curiosity about themselves and their world. Om is my way of articulating that mission.
