I think that being a practicing artist would help me in the classroom because it will keep me in the same creative mindset as my students. I also think it will help me appreciate the creative and unique projects that will be produced by the students. I reallt agreed with Vieth when he said said that your students will respect you more too. As artists we gain confidence, self awareness, and pleasure from making art which effects your everyday mood which in turn will affect your teaching in a positive way. I also think it is important to make art as art educators because it will continue to inspire you which will put a fire in you to pass this insipration on to your students.
I also think that it is important for the teacher to have a small collection of their work displayed in their classroom to gain a new reapect from their student. It will also show your students your interests in life and your media and subject preferences. The teacher that I did my practicum with had a small gallarey of his work up in his classroom and the students often admired it and would ask him why he choose to do things certain ways. It would also be an interesting way to introduce yourself in the beginning of the year.
I know that I will continue to work on oil painting, watercolor illustrations, and cartooning while I al teaching because those are the things that I find to present the most challenges and are continual sources of theropy and reward. I have also always wanted to work on illustrating a children's book with my sister, so I would love to continue to work on that.
Vieth uses many of the same reasons to support the idea of teacher as artist. He also strongly suggests working on the same project as your students so that they can see you in the creative process and in both the artist and mentor role. I like this idea but at the same time wonder if it would limit the creativity of the students because they would be looking to produce a piece that would get a good grade, and might copy your work for hints on how to acheive that. To help students balance skill and personal expression I think it is a good idea to give demos and practice assignments to learn the technical skills and then follow with the reflective projects. Students will not be able to express themselves fully if the techniqual skill level is not at a desired level.

When looking back on my high school experience, I think that the most important thing I learned was how often I changed my feelings and personal identity. I think that this vast amount of personal exploration is one of the most wonderful parts of high school and I strongly feel that self expression during this time of life is really important. However, this also makes a student very vulnerable and in extra need of guidence and love. I felt that in high school many teachers did not take the time to show their compassion or recognize the personal changes that were happening in my life, and although my parents were always very supportive I think that it would have really helped to have my teachers show interest in my personal endeavors.
I was a very different high school student in the fact that I stayed with one close knit group of friends the whole time I was there and honestly, had a very strong relationship with my family. I was a hard working student although I never did as well as my friends or students. Dancing was my passion and kept me going through the day and I know that is the case with many athletes in high school. This is another reason why I think it is important for teachings to show interest in student's lives and school spirit.
I think the things I fear the most is classroom management because without it you can't grow with your students. I think the things I am most excited for is see what the students are capable of producing and what they can teach me.

Hello!
I'm Stephanie from the Chicago suburbs and I will be graduating from the art education program in the Spring of 2010. I want to be an art teacher because I feel that art is an amazing form of self expression that can help guide a student in finding their personal identity. I think there is a lack of this kind of development in today's curriculum but I feel that it is very important. I can not wait to have my own classroom and see what my future students have to teach me.