Hello,
My name is Chris House. I am a returning student having taken a brief two-year vacation from the classroom after earning my BFA in Arts & Technology from UWM back in 2014. I am now studying towards an Art Education degree to hopefully teach grade school to middle school level art courses. A lot has gone into this decision, but in the end, I just knew I needed a change. I wasn’t happy at my desk job, and I felt my creative talents being largely wasted. I knew I needed to find something more my speed where I could help and inspire others.
For my relevant photo, here’s a comic illustrating a speech given by the Author Neil Gaiman (One of my favorites). As someone who has always loved art, this has been a huge inspiration to me, but it also gives words to the feeling that anyone and everyone can and should find some solace in the arts (Please click on the image to hear the full speech).
Disciplinary Inquiry Blog 
Hey,
This is a test comment so that I know people can comment and whatnot.
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Nice to meet you, Christopher! Thank you for the comic 🙂
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Hi Christopher! I think it’s really great that you enjoy working with Arts and Technology. I have tried a few art classes that use more computer skills and I just don’t connect with them.. so I find it pretty inspiring when I meet people who love that type of work. Now I know who to ask when I need help in the classroom! I look forward to hearing more about your plans through the semester.
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Hopefully my tech background will also help in the classroom. I would love to have more interactive lessons that are more interesting than plain listen-and-repeat lessons.
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That’s a great idea!! Maybe I will pick your brain sometime for a lesson plan!
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Hey Chris! It’s nuts how similar our backgrounds are. I actually graduated with a BFA back in 2013, and am also back in school for Art Education. I hope you enjoy teaching, and find it more rewarding than your desk job.
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Yeah, quite a similar track! Glad to see I’m not the only one. I’d be interested to hear what brought you back to the classroom.
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Hey Chris! This comic is great! What interested you to want to teach middle school?
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I think the middle school/grade school period in a child’s life is a great time to get them interested in the arts. Without proper introduction and engagement at these ages, art class quickly turns from “fun and exciting” to, a “necessary credit”. And there’s so much to learn from art than just “how to draw”.
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Welcome to the world of education, Chris. The comic you shared is great and therapeutic in itself. I want to watch the talk with Gaiman as well with my boys who definitely use art to re-envision their worlds on a weekly basis.
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