Teaching with Contemporary Art

Anything Can Happen, Revisited

Ah, love... Avery and Brodeur during a quiet moment. Image courtesy puckcentral.blogspot.com

Picking up on a previous column, and in honor of the recent start to a new hockey season, I’d like to continue writing for a moment about the ways that being a New York Ranger fan is much like teaching with contemporary art.

Just to recap from the last post, being a Ranger fan is a lot like teaching with contemporary art because:

  • Anything can happen, and it will.
  • Being prepared is half the battle.
  • You’re often anxious.
  • People make fun of you, but once in a while you get to laugh back.
  • Practically every game (class) is exciting, no matter how much the last one sucked.
  • You’re always looking to try something a little different, a little better.
  • Carefully timed risks make all the difference.

After a brutally embarrassing loss to the Islanders on Monday, I want to take this opportunity to add to the list by saying that the similarities continue:

  • Never assume anything. You may be ahead by two, but there’s plenty of time to lose by three.
  • Being able to change on the fly and try new strategies is essential to achieving goals.
  • Agitation is part of good teaching. One has to actually agitate restless and scattered minds in order to slow down- allowing students to see and focus on big questions.

Each Ranger season, like the beginning of school in the fall, starts with tremendous hope and perhaps even a little promise. The key to being a Ranger fan and teaching with contemporary art lies in always finding new ways to be inspired and consistently looking for ways to improve our practice.

 

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