Long-Term Substitute: Elementary School

The Fall of 2015 was a momentous season for me. I was lucky to be chosen for a long term ART substitute position at a local Elementary School.  This was a very important teaching experience. I have been learning a lot substitute teaching over the past two years, but being the art teacher in a classroom for two months straight was a new perspective.

I learned a lot, and it is really hard to put into words all I learned, so here's my:

Top Five Things Mr. Krueger Learned When Given The Opportunity to Take Over a Classroom:

1. Organization, dedication and patience are the most important characteristics of being a successful teacher.

2. It is very, very important to get to know your students. Every child has a story. Knowing their story explains their actions. When you know them, you know how to not let them down. Teachers make promises, commitments to be there for the students. We teach them content, but we are also helping them decide who they will become as they grow up.

3. The creative process is a deep, multi-step process that involves brainstorming, reflecting, selecting, refining/changing ideas, experimenting, making, (sometimes re-making), sharing and showing! Simply put: Think. Plan. Make. Share.

4. Kids can be really, really messy in the art room. Figure out and implement solid clean up routines!

5. Teachers are just grown up students. Even with 30 years experience, we are still learning alongside our students. That is a very good thing.