Archive for June 9th, 2016

Images for explaining things

Thursday, June 9th, 2016

Last week we were discussing work and the reasons we work – beside the pay check that is.

Doing work that is rewarding came up as one reason offered up, and I mentioned that teaching is one of those jobs that gives you a feeling of contributing to something bigger than yourself, and for more than just the money.

It’s great that as a teacher you can have those chances.

It’s also great when you can see that exact moment sometimes when a student gets it. Really gets it.

I was trying to explain that in our followup class this week, and I of course had to resort to drawing. (I usually try to let students know that my ‘art’ is not something I expect them to be awed by and that my (low) skill level is also related to why I’m a professor and not an artist ;-))

I’ve gotten myself in trouble more than once when I just decide to quickly sketch something as an explanation. It takes practice, and sometimes it takes preparation by thinking about what you might have to draw beforehand. I’ll admit to having looked up an image a time or two before class for just in case.

One of the keys for me is to do it quickly, and to keep the lines to a minimum.

I’ll not be winning any awards for my art. At least not awards for excellence, but it gets the job done, usually.

Light-bulb-moment