Reception in the Office of the C. J. Walker Company, 1929

This Van Der Zee image depicts several African American women at a social gathering in 1929 in Harlem. This gives the viewer a sight into the world of finer things and the way a higher society would live their daily lives.

Drought refugee living in a ditch bank camp. Imperial County, California, 1937

This image by Dorothea Lange shows what life was like on the other side of the country around the same time in America. This woman has no home or a place for social gatherings other than the shanty shacks and temporary houses that were put up while they worked in cotton fields or other forms of farming. This life was a way to begin the American dream for a lot of immigrants.

Arts Advocate

For me I feel like it will be hard to know how I will advocate for the arts in my community, because every school and community is different and everyone will respond to what you do in different ways.
Something that I feel I will try to do no matter where I am is create a website that will display the students' work. This will allow family members and other students to see what we are doing and how it relates to social issues or school involvement, or just self expression. I feel that this will also give the students a certain sense of exposure and celebrity without being too focusing (some people really don't like all that attention).
I also want to display as much art as I can around the school and community as possible. I know its hard to find space, but if you can get "in" with coffee shop owners or small businesses, you can convince them to display your students work where many different people can see it.
I really have a soft spot (or maybe I should say strong spot) for social issues and art. This can be a way in itself for me to be an advocate for the arts, allowing the students to share their feelings about certain issues through image or form letting the community know that art can be just as impressive as social sciences or English when it comes to getting students to learn and care about more than just "typical" teen issues.

Special Education

By now, a lot of you know that I work at Tanager Place and are probably tired of hearing about my experiences with my kids. But here it goes again...

Tanager Place is a treatment facility for kids (ages 5-17) with emotional/behavior disorders. There is a school and cottage units where the some of the clients live. All of these kids are considered special needs and have an IEP, and some have BMPs (Behavior management plans). All of the kids have level 3 BD (which is the highest or worst, if you can say that), so things can be pretty bad sometimes. I've spent equal time working in both the school and the cottages at 1.5 years each. Both experiences are very different, but each have given me experience that I know I can use as a future teacher. For me the biggest thing when working with kids who have been labeled BD is patience. There are so many things that can set someone off, and so many times that you have to tip toe around things, or "trick" them into doing school work or simple expectations. Giving them the time and patience to follow through with something will show them something that most people have not given them--time.

One thing that I really struggled with was being a friend to them rather than being a role model. I wanted so badly to be someone that they could count on because most of them didn't have that. I had a hard time defining that line and needed to step back and look at what they needed more that what I wanted to be for them.

No matter what kind of special needs kids you work with, you need to remember they are kids, and their diagnosis should not be in the forefront of your mind defining them or influencing how you will treat them.

Alter Ego

When I began this project, I was over thinking it, and I was pulling stuff from left field that soon seemed ridiculous to me. I rethought about this project as, 'what would I do if money wasn't a concern or my relationships did not restrict me to a certain location or way of life.'

What I came up with is someone that leads a life I would love to live.

Her name is Olivia, but goes by Liv, because that's what she does--lives life. She's almost 30, born on Earth day which gives her a strong connection to nature and the elements. She went to art school, and is now a tattoo artist in Phoenix. On the side she throws, making beautiful pottery, and aspires to open her own pottery shop. Growing up, Liv didn't have any biological siblings, but her parents had foster children her entire life. She considers those children her siblings, and tells everyone she as 17 brothers and sisters. She still keeps in close contact with all of them, and hopes to open her pottery business with her younger sister who is a business major.On weekends, Liv plays the drums in an Alice in Chains over band. Liv is perpetually single because of her busy life, and because she doesn't want to settle. She has a great dame named Elvis that goes everywhere with her, even to work. As I mentioned earlier Liv loves the earth, so doesn't drive much (to keep it earth friendly) she bikes and skateboards almost everywhere! When Liv has time, she loves to travel and explore over the states and to other countries.

Liv is someone that I could be, but keep for my dreams, because what I have now is not so bad either!