The Pissed Off Professor

Summer Session Enrollment Watch:

ENGWR 100 (College Writing): 19/28
ENGWR 301 (College Composition and Literature): 15/25

I have a routine of sorts when I go in to town to teach, and a major part of it is the latte I treat myself to on my way to the office.

This is a throwback to my endless days as a student: twice each week, I treated myself to an afternoon at a local coffee shop and a latte as a means to change studying venues.

It worked, and it still does. (I set my personal bribe bar low, and this is a good thing!) I still treat myself to time in a local coffee shop and a latte when I have a heavy grading load, or when I want to change my scenery while writing. I also buy myself a latte when I head in to teach.

Yesterday, I walked into the shop I frequent on my teaching days, and I saw the most amazing thing: covering the windows of the store was a display of second grade artwork from a local school.

The students had been studying Mark Rothko and abstract art! (I know this because the show was accompanied by an overview of the project written by the instructors responsible for it.)

In addition to the second graders’ studying issues of shape, form, and color in art, they also discussed the meaning of abstraction in art and thought.

The art works produced by the students were acrylic on acetate, and the result was a stained-glass-like display worthy of a museum.

The only thing missing was a display of the students’ abstract thoughts, but as mesmerizing as the art was, I can overlook that little imperfection.

If I have calculated things correctly, I have a shot at teaching some of those kids in 2019 or so.

They might be worth the wait.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 9:25 am and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.