NAEA conference, day 2

Between packing and dragging my luggage across Manhattan, I didn’t make it to see Daniel Pink at 9am, which was my intention. I’ll have to pick up his book and read it. I arrived at the conference at 9:45, dropped off my bags and got swept into the exhibit halls with the crowd of freebie-crazed art teachers. I spent an hour wandering around and getting seconds of my favorite freebies from yesterday. I couldn’t find the rolling suitcase vendor I was looking for, but I did run into the MassArt rep that I know. I chatted with her for a while because I wanted to find out what I could do to help one of my students get in. (He’s really terrific: does graffiti, tattoos, and wonderful drawings with a very distinct style. He takes any material I throw at him and makes something gorgeous and distinctive.)

While we were chatting, another MA teacher wandered up and made some inquiries about her son’s prospects. She mentioned that he was also looking at Hampshire and Bard Colleges, and my friend said “I went to Hampshire!” I chimed in that I had been there too (though it was 20 years later) and the three of us spent a while talking about colleges. The teacher/mother and I ended up wandering off to the Edible Art presentation together, chatting about local art schools on our way.

The presentation was given by two MA teachers, both of whom I know well. It was a very useful set of instructions on how to set up your own Edible Art Contest. It contained some of the most useful content I’d seen at the conference, and I made sure to tell them that. I think it would be fun to do, but I’m not sure it would work at my school. Only a few kids would participate, and the others would just want to eat the art. I once held a pumpkin contest with K-8 students, and a lot of the techniques they suggested, like giving superlatives (“most creative”) instead of 1st place, etc, are things that I did. It made me feel like I’m using good teaching practices, especially since one presenter was the former MAEA president, and the other was the current one!

Unfortunately, it was the last session I attended. The next batch wasn’t until 2pm, and I wanted to be on a 2:20 bus. I hugged my friends, packed up my stuff, and headed for Port Authority…and my 8-hour trip home is a tale for another blog, another time.