Taylor Boardman

My central focus for my classroom revolves around the values of respect, integrity, compassion, and responsibility. As an educator, I would like to give back to my community, provide a supportive learning environment, and teach my students lifelong lessons beyond the class curriculum.

            I would like to be the teacher that my students feel comfortable and safe coming to with any problems they may be facing. I want to provide my students the help that I would have wanted when I was their age. In high school, my art class, taught by Mr. Eich, was the only class I looked forward to. No matter how hard life was for me, my art class always made me feel better. Mr. Eich went above and beyond to nurture the artist in me and helped me reach my potential. For example, there was field trip to Disney Studios in Burbank being organized for the visual arts classes; the students that would be allowed to attend were students from the media arts classes. There was room for only a handful of extra students and Mr. Eich recommended that I should be one of those students to attend the field trip. He encouraged me to ask a lot of questions so that I could learn as much as I could from the professionals the entire trip. That field trip meant a lot to me and it made me so excited to pursue art as my career. I firmly believe in providing a supportive learning environment to help my students succeed. It is my goal to create this environment so that my students succeed, develop confidence in their abilities, and develop pride in their accomplishments. As an educator, I believe that I will have the most opportunities to make a difference in a student’s life. I want to be the best version of myself so that I can be a positive role model for my students to learn from. I want to effectively use my time as a teacher to set an example, offer support, and encourage growth. 

            In an art class, students can develop their critical thinking skills by analyzing pieces of art by various artists. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their motor skills with assigned projects such as drawing, painting, or 3D projects like ceramics. I also intend to help students develop their communication skills through project critiques. I believe that learning how to properly give and receive constructive criticism will be a helpful tool to my students long after they leave my classroom. My college professors taught me that it was important to keep an unbiased opinion of their students’ work in order to grade them fairly. I would like to make sure that I bring an unbiased opinion into my classroom. It is counterproductive and unfair to my students to form opinions about them before I have taken the time to know them.  I wholeheartedly believe that learning can be fun and educational. I believe that students will retain more information if they learn the curriculum in an enjoyable manner. I will strive to make my students happy and feel engaged so that they actively want to learn while they are in my class.