Lift-off

Saturday night I got a second wind and lifted off from the sloggy mental state I'd been in for two months. Rather than go to bed, I had a cup of tea at eleven PM and started thinking about books I could turn my students onto on those forgotten Fridays, or on any days that needed enriching. Of course, being the slightly overly exuberant wacko that I can sometimes be, I had to resist e-mailing the principal and vice principal of the school at two AM with my ever-growing list of inspirational art and books, and ideas for collaborative English-Art courses.

I want to expose the kids to both art and writing that I love. I know they will get the basic art and literature from their teachers, but as artist-in-residence I get to turn them onto the wild stuff that fills my bookshelves. Have they ever seen Antonio Gaudi's mosaics? Have they seen the naive artists who wrap trees with tin foil or pave their walkways with cement and wine bottle bottoms? Do they know about Ivan Generalic, who painted in reverse on glass? Have they read the essays of E.B. White, the poems of Jane Shore, Jimmy Santiago Baca's memoir, the diaries of Anais Nin and May Sarton, the letters of Georgia O'Keefe and Vincent van Gogh, the episodes of Pierre Delattre, the graphic novels of Franz Masereel? The kids might have read the children's book Goodnight Moon, but I want them to read about the author, Margaret Wise Brown. I want them to know that she lived and wrote in a tiny house with miniature furniture and furry walls, and swam nude in the icy Maine waters as the lobstermen teased her.

As you can see my curriculum would be best described as Cool Stuff That Emily Loves. I'm not much for historical overviews and sweeping timelines. For me, Duchamp, Botticelli, and the dinosaurs all share the same moment. I'm sure most of these kids have a better sense of linear time than I do! I just have a passion for the true voice that has spoken to me from books and art, and which has changed my life, repeatedly.

All this art has nourished my world - maybe half of the educational process is just getting exposed to cool inspiring stuff. The whole examining and measuring and testing process sometimes bypasses the crucial life-changing nourishment. But I'm the artist-in-residence, so I can read them a poem or show them an art book for the sake of sheer joy! Maybe loving teaching is really about loving learning. And an inspired receiver can be an inspired transmitter.