Post Mortem: Drawing with kids

I made it through my first 30 minutes with 5th graders! Man, I am not used to talking with not-my-peers. The hours of preparing I did beforehand, mainly cramming to make an art slideshow for them, went out the window, but that's okay.

Thirty minutes is so incredibly short.

There were about 10 kids and it's hard enough to get a sense of comprehension from one or two. Heck, it's often hard to reach comprehension in myself, so trying to convey something as abstract as the joy of drawing is nightmarishly difficult.

That said, I had a good time, and I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow, if only because they were impressed with my drawings. :)

It really is that individual moment of understanding that I'm looking for. I want to find the right words that will throw open the window for each kid and motivate them to seek this stuff out. How do you get someone else to grok why it's better not to trace? And that getting good is a matter of practice and getting great is a matter of challenging yourself?

But enjoying drawing is more important than getting good or getting great.

Is it strange that I don't want to be a leader because I don't want to be a follower? Well, I want to be a conceptual leader instead of dictatorial leader. I don't want to isolate or alienate anyone, I want them to lead themselves and be creatively independent.

While I think there are some wrong answers, I don't believe that there is a single right answer. Frustrating!