Debbie Richards
Art Specialist
Lake Magdalene Elementary
National Board Certified Teacher/ EMC Art
Certified in Art/K-12, Elementary 1-6 and Gifted
I have been teaching elementary art since 1989. Teaching art, to me, is a calling, not a job. I enjoy coming to work each day and love working at Lake Magdalene. My philosophy is that every child should be taught at their highest level of learning. I want my students to love art and love learning about math, science, reading, writing, social studies and history through art.
I push myself to be an exciting and interesting teacher. I look up and learn what I need to attract the students’ attention and make learning fun. I want students to achieve higher scores on their tests. I want them, not only to learn, but to retain what they have learned. I want students to care about others and important social issues. Most of all I want our students to know that with effort they can do anything that they want to, even if they believe that they can’t.
Learning to solve problems and use creativity will help students in any future job that they have. It teaches us to be flexible and have confidence in ourselves. Art is thought provoking and teaches students to analyze and discuss important subjects. Students learn about artists who are successful from the same culture. We learn about artists who have had disabilities, hardships and are from minorities.
Students enjoy being in my class. Dressing in costume, saying artists' names in fun ways, talking into a stapler pretending that it’s a phone, singing raps or wearing a moustache and goatee is worthwhile when students return to tell me years later how much they learned, how wonderful this art program made them feel about themselves, how they were inspired to help others, how they were inspired to go into a field of art or how what they learned in art made a difference in their lives. That is what teaching is all about!
| 
