I could say that these kids help me make a living but that would be an understatement. They give me life! I have no plans to have kids of my own, in fact, I have plans to never have them and with my boyfriend, it most certainly won’t come from an accident!
Imagine how lucky I feel to see this group every week, it allows me to be blessed by their abundance of energy and to remind myself to be playful and also to be surprised when I learn new things. If I don’t want children and it’s certainly not for lack of liking them.
I love how they get impressed with my drawing skills, it really helps my self esteem. Sometimes they tease each other and I don’t always intervene, it’s good to let them police each other. This particular group is very respectful and that makes my job that much easier. It’s not always the case, it only takes one bad apple as they say. And I say this with love, I have room in my heart for a kid who doesn’t want to draw and just wants to run around. However, it gets distracting for everyone else. There are many returning students here which explains why the chemistry is so successful and why they get to be so engrossed in their work.
I feel very privileged to be an educator, it is a cliché but I genuinely feel like I learn as much from them as they do from me if not more. I am unafraid to call my partner my boyfriend or to raise awareness about feminism or racism. Without being forceful, I just let my view point known, these children are the future. Taliking about such topics amongst adults helps create a better future, it is only more impactful when these exanges cross the intergenerational bridge.
It’s good to be a clown in the company of children, to let loose and to be candid. If tensions arise there is always time to calm down and take control of the situation.
It is also good to be humble. If you don’t know the answer to a question just say I don’t know. They will sense when you are over-compensating or have something to prove.
I have high hopes for them. I encourage them but I often say they could work a little harder too as well as value paper as a resource. No one wants to start a drawing on a piece of paper with a doodle in the corner.
Most kids that young won’t judge you nearly as much as grown-ups. They may be puzzled by you sometimes, ask questions. They are sometimes dealing with contradictions from home. My hope is always that they can focus enough to show me what’s in those cute little heads of theirs with drawing.
This hour and a half Cartoon and Comics class goes by faster than you can flip a card and remember its number.
In case you can’t tell this one’s a magician.
I drew the princess that this girl is using as a template, I also drew the eye to the left on that separate sheet and she took care of the one to the right. She wished I hadn’t drawn an angry brow.
Art talk is important. They were in charge of the narrative here because this class is all about them. School can be tough and demanding so it’s important that they are valued for what they have to bring to the table so long as it’s drawing
Paper cuts are really challenging. Although they rarely happen, you have to watch out for them.
My comic book career has been really slow, I haven’t touched my self-published Brittanica series in years. Constantly infused by these wonderful individual’s creativity, I may start a project or resume an old one sooner rather than later.
