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Gloria White
Thank you for using Artsonia to view our favorite artists' work! My name is Ms. White and I had the privelege of being hired to teach elementary art and music at DUS in 2021! It was a great experience, and I'm excited to be able to focus all my energies on Art this year at Kincheloe and Patrick Hamilton Elementaries! I have 15 years teaching practice in grades PK-8 throughout my career. I graduated from Western Michigan Univiersity in 1991 with a BA in Elementary Education with minors in Reading, Scien ... read morece, Math and Early Childhood Education. I earned a Masters of Elementary Education in 1995. While being a stay at home mom with my son and daughter, I continued being involved in education through substitute teaching, chuch schools, play groups, and continued education at WMU working toward a Masters in Special Education. Through it all, I've had a special apprecation for learning and creativity. It wasn't until I realized how recharged I felt while teaching art during Summer Migrant Programs in Eau Claire, that I decided it was something I wanted to do full time.
My number one goal as a visual arts teacher is to help everyone feel successful. Art is subjective. Not everyone has to like a person's art for it to be considered "good". When students ask me if they are doing it right, I can tell them if they are following the directions, using a technique correlctly, and taking chances, but it is only the artist who can say if it is "right" for him/her or not. Obviously, I'm a big fan of Bob Ross' statement, "There are no mistakes, only happy little accidents!" That being said, art in my clasroom isn't always easy. I set high expectations for my students in that they always try their best and work hard at their art. I try to make the directions "simple" but simple doesn't always mean easy. I also insist that students learn to turn "happy little accidents" into masterpieces. I'm an avid recycler and protector of materials. I expect students to be responsible with materials and never be wasteful. Just ask any of my students! I also want them to be problem solvers, not to give up right away, and to see from different perspectives.
Since I enjoy learning as much as I enjoy creativity, I like to dive deep into learning about the artists' lives we study. I don't expect the students to remember everything about the artists, but I want to make the artist real to my students so that they know he/she is/was another human being, just like us. Many artists, it seems, have overcome very difficult struggles and creating has helped them along the way. I also enjoy teaching art as an expression of thoughts and feelings. I'm very interested in using art to help students regulate their feelings, explore their thoughts, and to create a healthy outlet for anxiety, trauma, and other feelings that can become overwhelming.
What else do I want in my classroom? I want each person to feel that it is okay to be who they are and behave in such a way that allows others to be who they are. I want it to be a place of kindness and trust. I want it to be a place of respite, from what can sometimes be an arduous day of academics. I want it to be a place students look forward to coming and a place they aren't ready to leave.
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