This past weekend, I had the pleasure and honor to speak as a Cultivating a Calling Keynote for the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching Conference (ECET2) in San Diego, California. I was nominated to be a speaker by my friend and fellow Art Teacher, Chris Parker. 

When I was first invited to send in my teaching story, I was a little stumped. I have given keynotes and presentations before, so the public speaking part wasn't a big problem.

It was the prompt.

I am used to talking about my classroom and what my students are doing and how I teach them using various tools. For this keynote, I had to start thinking about my teaching story and my journey to the teacher I am today. 

With some help from an amazing speech coach, my friends, and family, I was able to deliver my story to a very generous and loving crowd of teachers last Saturday.

I explained my struggles as a learner and how I was able to gain confidence by being given a leadership opportunity in dance. I tried to model my transformation as a teacher by reliving what it felt like to receive three pink slips over the course of 18 months and use that feeling of failure to fall forward, rather than give up. 

I talked about Anna, who I use often as an example in my talks, and how she went from a student who wrote "I am not an artist," to a National Gold Medalist at the Scholastic Awards and celebrated at Carnegie Hall within one year. And I talked about how her transformation is linked to mine because we both embraced our creativity and were willing to share it with others online to help us grow even more. 

I have had an awesome four days in sunny California (and I must have brought some of that sun back to MI today), but I am even more excited to bring back the amazing things I learned to the teachers I get to work with and the students I get to teach. 

I will share more later, but for now you can view my keynote experience below.

I have lived a very fortunate life so far. I have a great husband to share adventures with, a great job to share my life's passion, and a great hometown with my favorite Art museum in all of Michigan. Some people might not think of Flint as a great place to view Art, but they are mistaken. I am proud to call that city the place where I came from and enjoy visiting knowing I can always escape into the wonderful collection of works housed at the Flint Institue of Arts. 

I grew up surrounded by masters I know I can count on to make me feel welcome each time I go back. Krasner, Cassatt, Sargent, Hanson, Rickey, and so many others who would greet me time and again, kept me company through my journey into adulthood and as I transformed from student to teacher. Many of my college Art classes were taught in studio spaces connected to the FIA, which allowed me to easily go back and forth between classes and whisper my hopes and dreams to each piece as a promise that I would always return and that they would always be there when I did. 

The FIA has had a major remodel since I graduated from college. It is now a slick building with clean lines and when I visit, I am greeted with a wonderful Chihuly hanging from the ceiling and a Dine in the middle of the lobby. The diverse collection includes works from around the world, both ancient and contemporary, and is put together in a way that is both warm and inviting and makes me feel 18 again. 

During my last visit, my husband and I were approached by the Executive Director, John B. Henry. He engaged us in a conversation about art (specifically the Butterfield piece in their sculpture gallery) and we spoke several times during our time there. I do not recall any other museum where that has happened in my lifetime (and I have been to plenty of museums). I am grateful that I can call this place, that has been so welcoming over the years, an essential player behind my appreciation for Art. 

If you ever get a chance to make your way to Flint, MI, you must stop by the FIA. Here are some images from my visit there this past week:

Now for the give-away: What museums inspire you most and why? Is it the collection, the location, or an intangible essence that keeps you going back for more? Post below for a chance to win something I purchased during my last trip to the FIA!

One of the best parts of my job are key moments during the year that give me opportunities to pause, reflect, and pace my actions to build and maintain momentum both personally and professionally. Spring Break is an important marker every year. Those ten days of time spent away from grading, lesson plans, and time with nature, art, and my family help me take a beat to breathe and visualize how I will finish the school year in a way that propels the upcoming school year even stronger than this one. 

This Spring Break, I had the opportunity to travel to a long-time favorite destination of The Smokies in Tennessee. In addition to hiking up to Charlie's Bunion with my husband, we made sure to spend time exploring the Art Museum and River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina. It was nice to take this time and focus my energies on physical and mental fitness, both of which allowed me to reflect on my classroom and how I can bring in aspects of mindfulness and exploration into the fold of art-making, rather than sticking with the daily grind. 

This year has been an interesting one for me professionally. I have had a lot success with students and received professional recognition in the process. It is also the year I have given the most control to my students through the use of theme-based inquiry with choice in the classroom. It is a year that I have grappled with still having one foot in a more open studio, with another in the realm of teacher directed methods. 

During my time exploring art in Asheville, I could not help but feel a responsibility to continue on my journey towards leading students to view themselves as artists and push them to explore ideas using methods and means that invent along the way. This became searingly obvious through the work I viewed in the Art Museum and during my time in the River Arts District. 

The Asheville Art Museum is a pleasure to attend. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it. It is an intimate space that has a wonderful collection of work that includes some of my favorites like Chuck Close, Jim Dine, and Louise Nevelson. It also features an "Art Play(ce)" where children (or people like me) are invited to play with manipulatives to explore ideas with design and space. 

In addition, they had an installation in the museum by Sharon Louden called Community, encouraging participants to interact with the shimmering display by photographing themselves within the space and using social media to share their experience. This ability to easily interact was something I enjoyed about this Museum. Even the bathroom was a testament to the accessibility of art through a street-style mural that included broad mark making, wheat paste overlays, and sharpie designs. If you are in the area, I strongly suggest you check it out (and then have lunch at The Chestnut, because it is delicious).

The River Arts District was also a great stop to make. I enjoyed being able to enter smaller gallery spaces and working studios where artists were busy at work and focusing on the creative process. It is always inspiring to see what work is being made using a diverse set of materials for a variety of purposes. I particularly enjoyed the artists who took the time to talk with me and offer me insight to their process as well as leads on how to get free supplies. If you are ever in the area, I would recommend stopping by Stephen Lange's studio to see his works created with reflective tape as well as the stampbord work by Stephanie Grimes. It was a reminder to push my students to find their voice as an artist by opening options in the classroom. 

The 2014 National Art Education Conference was a blast! I learned a lot, shared a lot, and laughed even more. The conference really blew me away and filled my head (and suitcase) with new resources, ideas, and theories to start implementing in my classroom. The sunshine of San Diego was an added benefit to the weekend. Here is a reflection on the 4 reasons I thought #naea14 would rock, and why I was right: 

4. Escape from the Polar Vortex: The weather in San Diego did not disappoint. I am so thankful for the little time I was able to spend outdoors, walking to and from sessions. It was a beautiful weekend and a nice escape from the snow-covered lawn I returned to in MI. 

3. Access to Resources: I was in awe of the amount of resources available to teachers at this year's conference. From samples, to lesson plans, to the new standards, there was a lot to stuff in my suitcase and bring back to my classroom. 

2. Learning New Things: From the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Emerging Themes session to talking with colleagues, I learned a lot of really cool things at the conference this year that will inform my teaching and get me thinking about other opportunities for my students. 

1. Connecting with Others: It was amazing to meet up with the #artsed #pln at #naea14. It was great to share stories, ideas, and of course, dance. 

To learn more about what happened at the conference, check out the Storify below:

As we get ready for NAEA14 in San Diego, it is time to plan for something that is just as important as going - getting the shirt to make the statement. After much discussion and debate on Twitter, here is something I whipped up in tribute to one of my favorite childhood game shows (WITWI Carmen SanDiego?) and two of icons of art (thanks again, Holly, for the inspiration). 

If you would like to show your #artsed PLN pride, download either the Dali or Nerdy Lisa and go to www.customink.com to get it printed on a Red shirt. You will have to do it soon to get it in time for the conference. There has yet to be a decision on when we will wear these, but it should be figured out soon (probably on Twitter). So stay tuned and hopefully we can have the same amount of fun we did last year in our Super shirts! 

Bonjour! I arrived home a few days ago and was struggling with what to include in this post. There was so much that I experienced and saw, great teachers that I met, and there was even time for just sitting and enjoying a cool breeze as it passed by my way. As I reflected on my three days in Paris, I realized that I was able to truly enjoy those moments because I allowed myself to be in there without any distraction. I left my computer at home, my cell does not work over seas, and when I did call home it was via pay phone at 6 a.m. Paris time. Each morning I managed to get up at 4 a.m. and was ready by 5; I used the time before our group met to walk to the nearest pay phone and call home to recap events. Luckily my husband didn't mind the midnight call and it was really great to be up and about before anyone else, walking the streets while listening the the birds chirp awake the day.

I am a huge advocate for using technology. I blend my classroom online and I am an avid user of social media. But just like anything else, there should be a balance. I am very thankful for having that and taking a break from the computer last week and I think I need to do this in the classroom as well.

No one should only teach using one method because not all students learn in one way. I hope to keep that in mind when my students enter my classroom in the fall. I will take my experience of being unplugged and use that same spirit when we go outside to be inspired or start a new project and take time to just experience the act of making art. Art is about being in the moment; so is living a full life. If I spend all of my time online and plugged in, then I am probably missing out on a chance to be out there in the world doing something. If I am always checking my cell or twitter or facebook, then I am probably missing the chance to really be in a moment with the person or people I am around. It might sound like common sense, but sometimes a trip to Paris isn't a bad way to be reminded that it is true.

When I was a senior in high school, I had the opportunity to travel to Paris as a result of dance camp. At the Universal Dance Association camp at Michigan State University, I tried out for and made the All-Star team which allowed me to travel to Paris over Christmas break and dance in a New Years Day Parade with other All-Stars from around the U.S.

It was an amazing trip. I was the only one from my school who went, and one of three from Michigan. It was my first time traveling to Europe, and I was doing it without knowing anyone else who was going to be there.

I was also going on this trip that many consider an Art student's dream destination, without knowing really what I was seeing. I knew about the Eiffel Tower and Mona Lisa, but I was so uninformed about so many things before I went. One of my biggest regrets was not taking the trip to Versailles because we opted to shop instead (total idiot girl thing to do, I know).

Well, I am lucky because I get to do it all over again. Once again, I am going to Paris without knowing anyone else first. I am going to see the Mona Lisa again, the Eiffel Tower, and I get to have a redo at the palace of Versailles. I get to see paintings and sculptures and go to places that I have studied and read about and this time I will get the full impact of what I am seeing as I see it (instead of after my first college Art History course when I realize I saw paintings/sculptures being discussed in slides, but had no idea what they were when I was seeing them in real life). 

I am also going to go back to the way things were when I went back in 1999. I decided to take this trip unplugged - no computer - just my sketchbook and camera, like the first time around. I will post when I get back into town and share my sketches and pics. Until then, Au revoir.

Well, it is not midnight, and I am definitely not in Paris; but since I am going to Paris this week, it got me thinking about the film and how easy it is to identify with the main character. If you haven't seen the movie, you should, because it is great - classic Woody Allen dialogue with quirky characters and beautiful backdrops - it was easily one of my favorites from the other nominated films it was up against.

The main storyline of movie, if you have not seen it, is that at midnight this miraculous thing happens where the main character is able to travel back in time - to the 1920s - and get to spend moments with his writing idols and artists. The thought of being able to have a conversation with Hemingway or Fitzgerald, hear a song performed by Cole Porter, or see a painting created by Picasso is something that I think appeals to a lot of creative types. It would be amazing to walk into a cafe and run into Dali and or Man Ray and have a surrealist discussion about space and time.

I think the thought "if only I was born in (write time here) or could live in (write place here)" crosses the minds of a lot of people. I have those moments when I study art history and think about how exciting it would have been to be in certain places at certain times and really experience what it was like to be on the forefront of something special.

The thing is, though, if you spend all of your time wishing for that, you miss out on what you have going on right in front of you. As I interact with other teachers on places like twitter, I feel like I am a part of something special. I feel lucky and excited to be in a part of this time period, working with exciting media and getting to meet interesting people who inspire me and what I do in my classroom (even though the "meetings" are usually in under 140 characters and not face to face).

I am excited for my trip this week - I know the experience gained with help me teach my content (as well as gear up for the 2013 trip I am planning - there is still time to sign up if you want to come). I am also really excited to share this experience with my twitter PLN (like Jean King who recently returned from Spain and shared her ventures on twitter, making me feel like I was right there with her).

What is your "Midnight in Paris" moment? What inspires you? Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas below.