AEI Conference

Exhibit at the Sioux City Art Center featuring the work of Nan Wilson

Food for thought: The path to success is most often found by taking wrong turns and learning through failure. You must be willing to take a chance knowing it could be a long walk until you get there.
-- I met so many people this weekend who prove that anything is possible so long as you are willing to put passion and commitment into whatever you are aiming for regardless of the obstacles in your way.

I love what I do. And this conference has only strengthened that idea. Between learning about different artists, lesson plans, and concepts - and learning of ways to get even more involved, participating in the advocacy for Iowa arts, and what we should be pushing towards for our youth's curriculum including technology and the like - I am living and breathing art education. This isn't about me or my pay check, its about my kids.

Highlights-
- David Warlick...preparing our students for an unpredictable future. If I had unlimited income, I would book him at every district Pro Devel in Iowa.
- Discussing the importance of technology. Pushing to teach kids with the technology and beyond it...kids know how to use it so lets stop teaching how and teach more on what can be done with it.
- Gallery visits and the Sioux City Art Center, fantastic.
- Art On Fire and VSA...using art in the special education areas and how.
- Professional Learning Communities...Getting it to work and how to make it more effective in the arts...like using blogs and ICN settings.
- Playing with new Crayola products and lessons.
- Donorschoose.org (thank my mentor) which is a org that funds classrooms through various donors.

Goodness I love what I do. I am extremely thankful this weekend was funded by AEI and my district but I would have paid if it hadn't. Please, if you are reading - commit with me to advocate the importance of art education. In corny closure: you cannot be 'smart' without 'art'.

Ps. A lot of discussion was held about the fact that art already addressing language arts, social studies, math, and science - and without art these subject areas in turn have less to talk about, some have hardly anything to talk about at all (art including both visual and performance). Instead of just focusing on how we can put the other areas into our subject to cover the core - they too should concentrate on finding ways to put the arts in their classes to help and further develop their teaching. I liked this.


Driving home, Sunday afternoon - ready to see Roxxy (my puppy).