A Passion for Art

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children!

• unlocking a love of learning through the arts
• Presented by
• Debi West, Ed.S, NBCT
• GAEA Professional Learning Fall Conference 2005
• Lake Lanier, Georgia

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• The KEY to good pedagogy must begin with what I
  like to call
• C P R
• Commitment, Passion and the Power to Reflect.
  If teachers are to truly be the best they can be
  for our children, our future, they must be
  willing to resuscitate the life back into their
  teaching on a daily basis!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Key 1
• Commitment
• Teachers must be involved with their
  professional organizations, their communities and
  to being life- long learners. We must remember
  to practice what we daily preach! Students are
  watching and learning from us!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Key 2
• Passion
• Teachers MUST be passionate about children and
  for the discipline that they teach. We dont
  merely teach visual art, we TEACH children
  through the vehicle of the visual arts!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Theme-based teaching is what works for me!
• It is the KEY to my students successes!
• Developing a yearlong, theme-based curriculum
  yearly, aids my students in better understanding
  the art that documents our world and the art they
  create, making them critical thinkers as well as
  problem solvers!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Several successful theme based curricula I
  have created over the years include
• The History of Art Through the Eyes of our Future!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Museum ManiaWhere Yesterday Meets Today,
  Enhancing Tomorrow!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Visualizing Virtue
• Character Education through the ARTS

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Art DetectivesThrough Time!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Key 3
• Reflection
• One of the most difficult aspects in teaching is
  the ability to be able to reflect on what you
  teach and how you teach it. More importantly,
  assessing if it indeed was worth teaching and
  most importantly, thinking about ways in which
  you can teach it better in the future!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Upon reflecting on my own teaching, I often use
  art room materials to help me keep it all in
  perspective! I make meaning out of every medium
  in the art room
• Clay- molds the minds of our future
• Pencils- valuing students thoughts
  reminding myself to stick to the point
• Erasers- knowing that one can erase and
  redo teaching that may need to be rethought
• Sharpies- staying sharp and up to date on
  current events and teaching strategies
• Markers- every mark a child makes is their
  mark on our world.

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Glue- Good teaching is the cohesive ingredient
  that builds successful citizens, we must make
  the learning stick!
• Paint- can be mixed together to make new
  colors, much like good teaching
  involves several disciplines to make it
  truly rich.
• Scissors- cutting out the unnecessary extras
  and staying on course.
• Oil Pastels-blending together and networking
  with others in the school to make the
  most beautiful teaching environment.
• Camera- staying focused on the teaching
  objectives.
• Crayons- layering art history, art criticism,
  aesthetics and production for a textured art
  learning experience.
• Our students minds are like sponges and
  canvasesabsorbing the information we give them
  to become masterpieces!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Teachers are like great artists who know exactly
  what and how much to put in the mix to make a
  successful masterpiece. When teachers are truly
  good at what they do, they know that it takes
  time and effort and hard work to create a
  masterpiece but they dont give up, for they know
  that this art will be viewed by many. We must
  never give up on our youth, they deserve the very
  best so that they may grow up to create
  masterpieces of their own and continue to make
  this world a better place. Teachers teach the
  future!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• I believe that the KEY to good teaching comes in
  the form of CPR! When we are following these
  simple rules, we are, in essence beginning to
  resuscitate the love of learning back into our
  children, our most priceless asset! Imagine a
  world full of children who believe in their
  abilities because an art teacher taught them to
  see the beauty in learning, and in lifethrough
  art!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Now, go back to your school and breathe life
  into your discipline! Be PROUD to call yourself
  an educator!
• and watch your children soar!

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A Passion for Art A Love of Children

• Thank You!
• For more information please contact Debi West
  at
• dewestudio_at_bellsouth.net