College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February 25, 2011
There is one person I have met in my life that inspires me more than anyone else, and that is a woman by the name of Lois Hoffman. Who is she, you ask? Well, she was an art teacher I had in my senior year of high school, and although I only had her as a teacher for one class, she made me grow more as an artist and as a person than any teacher I’ve had in my entire life.
What makes her so great is the fact that she really cares about her students, each and every one. Her class was not just about advancing our skills in painting and drawing, but in growing emotionally as a person. When I took her class I was going through a stressful time in my life. It was typical adolescent drama and conflict, and I needed a way to express the frustration and emotion I felt at the time. She was intrigued by the projects I created, and motivated me to use whatever I was feeling in a positive way, through art. Mrs. Hoffman had this sense of peacefulness about her, which made talking to her easy. She was very well spoken, and everyone respected her. I never saw any student misbehave when I was sitting in that classroom. It was almost as if people were afraid to disappoint her. When some teachers only cared about giving out a lesson and then grading it and moving on, Mrs. Hoffman actually cared about why we chose certain ideas, and motivated us to express ourselves visually.
In fact, my experience in her class is the main reason for the topic of my research this semester, which is the connection between emotion and learning. As a future art educator myself, it is important to always remember that I was an art student first, and to think about how my teacher’s influence helped me grow as an artist, so that I can give that same influence to my students. I will never forget Mrs. Hoffman, and while I did find out that she retired a year after I graduated high school, I still walked past that classroom recently and couldn’t help but smile.
0 comments:
Post a Comment