It’s long overdue, but I’ve moved this site to teachingcraft.net. The features of wordpress.org were just too delicious, once I finally learned to use them – like most things I learn, with the help of my students. Please visit!
It was March 2014, and I had just changed a student’s quote in a news story. In 2016, I would lose sleep over making a change like this. But a little over two years ago, I did not see the harm in adjusting a forceful statement to make it just a little less likely to … Continue reading
When I became aware of anything besides my laptop screen, the first thing I noticed was that my hands were shaking. I suppose my fingers had been steady enough for keystrokes, letters into words into sentences. But my trembling hands symbolized how unsure I felt that anything I had typed over the last two hours … Continue reading
It is an early August evening in northern Michigan. When I first arrived at Interlochen seven weeks ago, the daylight stretched until after 10 p.m, and we watched late-night campfire sparks before midnight caught up with me. Now the evenings have a chill as the sunset creeps forward each night. My goosebumps are a reminder … Continue reading
My students finish out the school year by packing their bags. They depart soon after the last class for service trips in foreign countries, sports camps at colleges, or down time at the shore house. I need to pack my own bags soon, to begin my second summer of work in Michigan. But for the … Continue reading
Last week, my Ceramics I students set up their first bisqued mugs all over our studio tables for our second attempt at critique. The first round, after they created simple pinch pots, was barely even a discussion of the work. We talked about skills, and I asked them to describe the challenges and satisfactions of the … Continue reading
It’s a winter Saturday morning, and we just helped Chris Staley move a few stools and tables to set up the art center’s studios. My student Joe – who has perhaps taught me more than I’ve taught him – and I are about to spend the day learning from discussion and demonstration with Staley. Joe … Continue reading
In the forming of the pot, it is the pushing from within that shapes the pot’s exterior. So too in our existence do our inner doubts and dreams shape the lives we live. -Chris Staley, The Hegemonic Eye During the thirty minutes I have for lunch, I am up to my elbows in the reclaim … Continue reading
It’s a beautiful July night in northern Michigan. I’m settled into an outdoor amphitheater seat next to a comfortable friend, listening to the tuning chatter of a high school orchestra. Windows on the back wall amplify sparkles from the backstage lake. The students quiet, steady their instruments, and begin their musical conversation with the guest … Continue reading
The ending of a school year is never easy. I’ve often thought that school should be a year-round job, with the consistency of daily rhythms and relationships throughout the calendar year. Summer means severing ties, saying goodbyes and see-you-laters, and knowing that lots of things are going to be different when you return to work … Continue reading
Something fascinating has developed in our studio over the last couple of months. Each day after school, a couple of students brew jasmine tea in a handmade teapot. The soft, subtle aroma of the loose-leaf tea fills the air as soon as they open the tin. The students scrounge whatever ceramic cups are available, and offer tea … Continue reading
“I don’t think I even know how to stand still and not try,” one student says. Several students and I are in the studio after school, creating cups. The topic of conversation is ‘senior slide,’ and how yesterday might have been the perfect ‘senior skip day,’ but, really, isn’t October too early in the year … Continue reading
“Wet clay high five!” I exclaimed to Robert, as he sliced his cylinder in half. Smiling, he gave me a satisfying ‘splat,’ palm-to-palm. We had just shared the observation that the pot he was trying to throw had no bottom. This happens often, early in throwing; just a bit too far with the thumbs, and … Continue reading
This weekend, I took a pot for a hike, prefaced by three surprises. The third surprise was how well this small vase fit my hand. That should not have been a surprise, really, but it was, this fleeting little gasp of a smile as I lifted it from the box. I will find out, eventually, … Continue reading
I’m going to choose my words very carefully. Because for as long as I can remember, I have loved words. Words convey meaning, and I can’t help but think that a search for meaning is what the whole human experience is about. I didn’t think about this meaning stuff when I was eight years old … Continue reading
Pet peeve: magical thinking. I frustrate easily when I encounter assumptions about a process being easy. I also get frustrated when people assume that sought-after ideals in education – creativity, critical thinking, connections – just magically happen under the right circumstances. The fact is, many processes and products that look easy were anything but. And … Continue reading
Before our Saturday Open Studio session this weekend, I snapped a couple of pictures of Liam’s puzzle jug. One of those shots is the featured image on this post. It’s deliberately not a good shot. The piece will be “unveiled” at our student art show, later this week. You’ll have to come see it there. … Continue reading
Worry is an addiction that interferes with compassion. ~Deng Ming-Dao On Sunday morning, we lost Kiki. I arrived at the barn around 8 AM. The two horses who are sharing my journey were standing at the top of a hill that overlooks the whole pasture – but on Saturday, the group had been an inseparable … Continue reading
Teaching/Craft 