: Stephen Robison - Viewing Profile

Natania Hume, on 10 April 2013 - 11:15 PM, said:

Fantastic!

I love Ira Glass's comments on creativity. I will try to find the link.

Funny stuff... What the heck??? My favorite color is 68.

I am not quite sure what moral education is. But the basics of student involvement is that some are good and some are not. If you have one, or two, or if your really lucky three great students in each class then wow! SWEET! But the fact is there is and has always been some bad and some mediocre students. I have seen the bad ones sometimes become good students and I have seen ups and downs with all levels of student interest.

Laying down the law and rules and making them clear along with following through with them is important. If students are late, they get marked as late. If students are absent, they get marked as absent. After a decided amount they fail the class, that is listed and clear on the syllabus. If they are rude they are asked first to respect others and if the behavior keeps up they are asked to leave, (I never had to do that). If they use their cell phones for texting they are marked as absent. If they talk on their phones, same thing. So, that is in a university setting. In HS there is a limited way of dealing with some issues but many can be dealt with in a similar manner.

However I have found that because I am a total geek about clay and I am so excited about all there is to art that generally most of my students are really excited to learn. The excitement and energy rubs off. And the more students I have excited the more the other students join in.

Do I still have a student or maybe two in a class who is to put it bluntly are the dullest crayons in the box, of course I do.

But not every student needs to be awake to make teaching worth it. The students who are geeking out on the clay are really the students we are there for. You only hope the others are getting some appreciation for the material and the discipline that we love so much.

I teach on M and W and teach one course from 9-11:30 and then another from 1:00-3:30. I have a sort of friend who gives me crap for how "little" I work.. I actually hate her passive aggressive way of comparing me to how hard her husband works. So my official schedule is that. But of course there are committee meetings, faculty meetings, faculty senate meetings, search committees, meetings with advisees, mentoring student clubs and yes teaching is going on all the time outside of official class time, helping with firings, collection of wood for wood kiln, splitting wood, stacking wood, taking students to gallery openings, it depends on what people consider teaching. I also have graduate students which adds to the load more than one would think. So add it up along with what I need to do for my work as a professional in the media, I guess you could say I am almost always working. Plus I do get to have other fun other than making work with clay. Like kayaking, playing music, playing with my kids.... Teaching in a HS setting is of course even more demanding. So I guess there really is no standard day for me. But I love every minute of it... OOOPs no I don't.. don't like meetings...

I like the DVD but yes you can burn the download.