Just for a moment, remember what caused you to want to be an art teacher. As we think back on it, most of us recall a positive experience in an art room somewhere. Some of us will even tribute our career choice to a person..maybe even an art teacher. What was it about that teacher that you remember most? Was it the swell way that she wrote the lesson objectives on the board? Was it the manner in which he delivered Bloom’s Taxonomy to the door of your creative brain in 30 minutes or less? Is it the strategies that your favorite art teacher used to teach you skills, techniques or processes? No? What was it then? Was it, just maybe, the way that your art teacher made you feel? You can’t exactly recall every detail of the bulletin boards in the art room, but there are certain memories that bring back a sense of belonging that you once felt entering that elementary, middle or high school art room. Remember what did it for you and remember how important it is that you show up for your students. Show up and show them you care. Give them a reason to want to come to school. Say that quiet student’s name when you greet them today. It might be the nicest way anybody has said their name in a really long time. It’s the simple things that count sometimes. Thirty years from now, they may not be able to recite the Elements of Art or identify all the art movements, but I’m fairly certain they will recall you and how you made them feel.