Designated Doodler

Some Hella Cool Asks 1: Marvel or DC? Always DC - Superman was my first love 2: Do you have any siblings? No 3: Do you watch anime subbed or dubbed? Neither. None. Thanks. 4: How old are you? None o' yo' biz. 5: What is your favorite sport? To play: golf To watch: football 6: Favorite soda/beverage? DR. PEPPER FOREVER 7: What is your favorite tv show? Of all time: JAG and/or Twin Peaks Currently: IMPASTOR and Braindead and/or The Blacklist 8: Do you marathon shows or watch a few episodes at a time? Both. Mostly marathon. 9: How often do you exercise? I walk 11,000 steps a day. 10: Do you wear makeup? How often? Yes. Everyday. 11: Favorite Disney movie? Alice in Wonderland 12: Would you rather watch a movie or a tv show? TV show...unless it's Star Trek, then both. 13: Do you have your driver’s license? Duh, yes. 14: What is your favorite animal? White Bengal Tiger 15: Captain America or Ironman Loki. 16: favorite youtuber? Jenna Marbles 17: What is you...

Here are the important tips about teaching art that you won't find in your first year teacher's survival guide. 1. Only leave out on the table the supplies that you want each grade to use. Little kids are like bloodhounds that can find a marker in a crayon stack, and it only takes one marker to mess up a project! 2. Never give your kids the color black, unless you are using it specifically, or their work will be 90% black. I'd also go ahead and pop out all of the black cakes in the watercolor palettes. 3. Demonstrate how to do absolutely everything, from using a glue stick properly to how to do the project, step by step. 4. Start the year off by immediately telling the kids that they will always, ALWAYS, only get ONE SHEET OF PAPER. Unless you want to singlehandedly destroy the rainforest, do not hand out paper like it's candy. Instill in the kids that their work is precious and should take time and care. And if they make mistakes, they need to think of ways...

Gravel ground against itself as I took one step after another. Although I could barely make it out in the midnight darkness, I knew that the black asphalt stretched out in front of me like a calloused noir arm reaching into infinity. The night breeze was nearly frigid, a stark contrast to the burning sun of midday. As soon as the sun set I slipped on my jacket. It's fabric slid against my sunburnt skin and sent a burning pain radiating across my arms and neck. I became keenly aware of my body at that moment. The way the fabric of my shirt moved against my skin, the way my feet ached so bad that the hurt travelled all the way to my upper thighs. My feet slid around in the vast house of my shoes, leaving bleeding callouses on my heels. My once soft curls fluttered with each whisper of wind. My hands were in knots, shoved deep into my jacket's pockets. I listened intently for the sound of a car engine, for the promise of human life, but heard only deafening silence. If ther...

There's a hitch in my breathing, just knowing that you're standing like a pillar at the end of the corridor. My mind reconstructs your face, my heart skips, and makes it harder to traverse the distance between us. As one foot steps in front of the other, I feel a spike of adrenaline pulse into my stomach and consider each location in my body that emotion is housed.  Anxiety lives in my legs, making them feel like cold jello, useless beneath me. Joy dwells in my mouth and delights in every scoop of Ben & Jerry's. Anticipation builds in my stomach,just below where my ribcage joins together. Stress accumulates at the base of my skull and delivers painful pulses down the highway of my spine to my knotted back. Sadness balls itself up in my throat and burns in my red eyes. Whereas happiness spreads like fire in the smile on my face and impatience is encapsulated in perpetually tapping toes. Creativity starts in my brain but is housed in my hands that live to create....

With the passing of the summer solstice I've come to accept the end of summer, which most teachers would be sad about. But having worked six days a week all summer long, I don't feel as though I'm losing a break at all, but gaining one. And oh what a summer it's been. I found the love of my life, moved into a great place, got a new vehicle, thrown several parties, created curriculum, positively impacted the lives of high school students, made new friends, and finally got into the school district that I've been trying to get into for years. I'm thrilled to finally be able to teach art, although I've noticed an absurd bias in that some apparently believe that art "isn't important." But you can't be mad at ignorance. To that I would reply that it teaches cooperation, nurtures creativity, provides an outlet for stress and frustration, teaches fine motor skills, connects to the content in the classroom and opens worlds of possibilities. ...