Teaching art at summer school has been a wonderful experience. I am not a credentialed art teacher, nor do I have any formal art training. Most of what I have learned has come from years of doodling in notebooks and watching local artist Darrell Fusaro teach art classes. One of the most effective tricks I have learned is to get in there and have fun making art.
It is easy to think that we have to know everything before we can teach somebody something. This is a fallacy. If we are willing to share our unique approach to whatever we are teaching, the students will learn. The fun that we have while we are teaching also acts like a magic elixir that helps other people learn.
Every day during the summer session, we have a “letter of the day” for our class. We learn about the sounds and words associated with that letter and then incorporate it into art, music, math and other things.
On “k” day, we were fortunate to have a visit from Mr. Fusaro. He was in the neighborhood and dropped in for a quick art lesson. Being the great artist that he is, Fusaro studied all of the sea animals that start with the letter “k” and showed us how to draw krill. A krill is a tiny shrimp eaten by whales. In this case, each krill had a human face and a name, such as Anthony Krilldis, lead singer of the Red Hot Krilly Peppers.
What stood out about the lesson was the amount of fun that the adults were having. By getting fully involved in the process, the joy from the staff encouraged the students to go for it. The joy was contagious. The students were more willing to take risks with their creativity, even if it seemed silly. By the end of the session, everyone was proud of their own unique krill creations.
We are all more skilled and knowledgeable than we tend to believe. Most of us think we have to wait for some magical time when we are finally worthy to step out boldly and share our gifts with the world. There is no better time than right now to start dishing out the goods. By letting people in on the things we enjoy, we let other people off the hook. We encourage them to share their gifts, teaching others in the process.
If there is something that you enjoy doing, then you are the perfect teacher. It is your sincere interest that will act as a magnet to others. You will discover that you are further along than you think. As you share your gifts, you will uncover new ways of looking at familiar things, and this will add fuel to your own creative fire. So go ahead and get your hands dirty. The world will be happy to jump in with you.
Edward Biagiotti is the inclusion specialist for Culver City Unified School District. For questions, comments, and ideas for future columns, send an email to EdwardBiagiotti@ccusd.org
