[Anne Hall]

Jessie, starting at at seven, I had a wide variety of art lesson experiences, starting with group classes at museum schools in Newport, RI and Charleston, SC. In the sixth grade I met every week with an artist for private lessons. A lot of what I learned in that setting was from watching her work on my paintings (perhaps out of her frustration with my immature efforts!). In middle school I had private lessons in a small group selected by our art teacher. In high school it was back to the museum school for group lessons, and so on through college classes, adult education and workshops from five to sixty people in size.

With that as background I would like to offer two observations:

First: Competitiveness is part of the human condition. In some settings, I have been among the best and in some the weakest at a given task. I had a classmate in second grade who was masterful in drawing King Kong and Godzilla and to this day I remember the awe I felt at his skill. I didn't want to draw those subjects but I wanted to draw as well as he did. So draw I did, at every recess, to the point where the school complained to my parents that I had used up the year's classroom supply of newsprint in two months! I was completely spurred by competitiveness. (My father, bless his heart, declared that paper was cheap and that he would buy as much as was needed to keep me drawing.) My point here is that seeing what other people do can be so inspiring. As a teacher, you can set the tone by emphasizing that we have each been endowed with individual abilities that are ours to develop and that our best efforts are all worthy of respect.

Second: regardless of the setting, the most important thing a teacher can do for any student is convey the sense "you can do it." I have had that wonderful thrill in a huge crowd and in one-on-one encounters. Sometimes I can tell myself this but I never tire of having a mentor remind me.

Your students are lucky to have you care so much.