Reflections on Teaching

So today was the first day of good-byes for me.  There is still quite of bit of time until the end of the school year (June 17th is the last day), but today was the last day that grade 10-12 students have classes before their "Study Leave" before/during their exams.  It started to hit me that the year is coming to a close and made me start to reflect on the year as a whole.

In coming out here, I really had no idea what was in store for my year with my students.  I knew that God had called me to Africa.  I knew that the Art teaching position was a great fit for my talents & abilities.  But I had no idea how much He would bless me through this role and specifically through these upper-level Art students.  I taught elementary school right out of college, but I'd never taught secondary students before, and I had never before taught Art.  I knew I was "capable" and that God would equip me to the place where He had called me, but I didn't know how much of a challenge it would be at times and how much of a blessing it would be in the end as a result.

I have been able to witness the birth and growth and evolution of dozens of artists this year, and most specifically, these 16 G10-12 students.  These students have grown & flourished in ways that way exceeded my expectations at the start.  They have persevered through incredibly intense curriculum & exam requirements with diligence and excellence, and they have come out as emerging artists on the other side.  I have been able to meditate and dwell on the beauty and complexities of art with these students and literally live in an evolving Art gallery day by day!  I have engaged in great conversations with them, each of which revealed a little more to me of God's creative spirit and the creativity He has instilled in each one of us.

I have had many moments this year when I am simply blown away by the fact that God has given us ART.  And He has given it to us for our ENJOYMENT as much as for anything else.  What a great God we serve.  The more I grow in my creative talents and the more I dwell on these facets of creativity and art that He has instilled in us His children, the more I am left speechless at how good He is.  He didn't have to give us art.  He didn't have to give us the enjoyment of the creative processes.  He didn't have to create a world that is full of beauty and rich in color.  But He DID.  He chose to, and He said that it is GOOD. 

My students have revealed to me more and more of His character this year.  They have glorified Him as they have expressed their creative talents, revealing His image that they have been created in.  And I have been left amazed and speechless.  These students have allowed me to know God more deeply through this and to thus love Him more fully for who He is.  And for that I am eternally grateful.

I still have several weeks of classes with my grade 6-9 students, and I will still be seeing my G10-12 students around campus, but today was the beginning of the end in many ways.  Please pray that in these final weeks I will be an *encouragement* to my students (every single one of them!) and that I will point them more and more to God, just as they have done for me.

 

 one of my G10 student's pieces

"One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.  They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.  They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.  They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." ~Psalm 145:4-7