Monday
Today was the first time we've had our Monday class schedule due to snow last week and the strange schedule the week before. We got to do all the introductions/ first day things one last time ... My teacher taught all of the classes today since they are a week behind, except for 3rd grade (which I have taken over completely). The third grade class I had was very social and had difficulty listening to instruction. After requesting for them to quiet down and focus twice, I asked them to stop talking and put their heads down for a minute. Then I explained why they needed to be quiet today so they could keep up with lesson since they were doing instructed drawing and that next class they would be able to socialize more. It worked out pretty well - they knuckled down and got as much as they could done before class ended. I think next class will be much more successful/ productive now that they understand what I expect of them. Other than that, I think I finally taught the lesson pretty well, conveying all the points that I needed to for a solid introduction. This time I included a quote from Frida about painting a self portrait because you are the person you know best and it gave the kids something to think about ... it also let into a discussion about the purpose of a self-portrait which I think will be really beneficial when they start the exaggeration portion of the lesson.
I spent the rest of the day assisting my teacher with her lessons and brainstorming lesson ideas for when I take all the classes on during week 5 and 6. I think I have some really great ideas and will start researching for them this week so I can write them during the two teacher workdays (Thurs & Friday).
Tuesday
Today seemed like such a light day because we had two planning periods and only five classes. In the morning there was first grade, kindergarten (my teacher taught) and pre-K (which I taught); then in the afternoon we had second and third grade (which I also taught). The pre-K class did a modified version of the Andy Warhol hands that I had taught last week. They used elongated paper (horizontal) and did all of their colored squares side by side and got to choose more than just primary colors - the end product was awesome! I think the way I organized the lesson this time and spent more time talking about patterns, shape and color was very effective. I had the students count how many times Mickey Mouse showed up in Andy Warhol's print and talked about what shape he was in (square). Then we looked at other images and talk about how it was the same picture but with different colors - they got it! And knew it was pattern. I had some problems keeping them focused and my teacher share a tip with me afterwards that singing directions will bring them back. Good call! Overall though, the hand prints Warhol style turned out really well and the students were able to even review what they had learned.
Wednesday
Today was another short but busy day with just five classes - note to self, plan lessons so that you do NOT have classes painting back to back. Unless you prepare everything in the morning (and have the supplies to do so) before the classes get there, with the small margin of time while classes are changing it would impossible to switch over without help unless you want chaos to ensue. I think all of the classes went well today, especially the third graders when doing the second part of their self portrait lesson. They worked quietly the whole time and came up with some really cool exaggerations - with crazy hair, big eyes, shrunken mouths. They will finish up during the beginning of the next class and then move on to their lesson about illuminated letters (that I will be teaching).
I also taught the second half of a Modigliani based portrait lesson to a first grade class. I went over all the instructions and thought I had really conveyed the process of mixing skin tone, however once the students began painting it took a lot of monitoring to make sure they really got it. Its really tough teaching another preson's lessons because I always feel like I'm not doing it as well as they do or that I'm forgetting something. My teacher reassured me that I did cover everything, its just a hard concept to really get across and takes a lot of teacher assistance so that the students portraits don't end up with green skin.
Other than those two classes today, I began planning lessons for the next several weeks - and will use the next two teacher workdays to research and finalize these lessons. I think I have some really great ones for each grade - I just hope that the execution is as successful as I have been with previous lessons, if not more so ...
Thursday
Today was parent-teacher conference day and since my teacher and I just moved into a new school it turned into a teacher workday for us. We spent several hours today over at the old school painting a mural on the windows of the cafeteria based on a book that the school is reading (Fire on a Mountain). As an art teacher, you are often asked/roped into doing any "artistic" project that a school needs and this is a perfect example. Luckily, my teacher and I both like to paint and worked together very well and quickly to finish the mural - and got many complements and thanks for it as well (which is the benefit of doing such things). In the end, the project was pretty gratifying and led us to decide that some of our workday tomorrow would probably be spent painting the window of our new classroom that looks into the hall (as it has been a point of distraction for students). The rest of the workday as spent developing lesson plans for the next couple weeks, although my ability to do so was limited by being a little ill (I think I may have caught the 24 hour stomach bug my teacher had earlier in the week). I'm really hoping the gradoo goes away by tomorrow because I really want to be able to use my workday to finish my lessons and get paper work done with my teacher. Cross your fingers!
Friday
Today was another teacher workday, with a part of it spent doing projects for other teachers at our school. We traced and colored a pictures of "The Magic School Bus" and created a banner saying "Music Matters" for the music teacher, which took up most of the morning (learning to say no is a crucial skill sometimes). During the afternoon, we collaborated on lesson ideas, discussing things we would want to teach, artists that could inspire and other such things. I continued working on my lessons for next week and researching the ideas further - they are almos all finalized. I feel like I have really developed some lessons that incorporate cross-curriculum ideas, visual culture, art history and even art SOLs, but are still creative and hopefully enjoyable/valuable for the students. I'm really glad that I have the teacher that I do, she has been a really positive influence on me, encouraging my ideas, guiding me to resources and giving me great criticism. I am officially half way through my elementary placement of student teaching as of today and will really be getting into the thick of teaching starting next week. I think I have already grown a lot as an art teacher and it has been a good experience thus far - I will be interested to see how the next four weeks go!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Week#3: Beginning to take over ...
Monday
SNOW DAY! My district cancelled school early Sunday night due to the rural population that would be affected by snowy backroads. I spent the day doing some research and brainstorming for lessons to teach over the next several weeks.
Tuesday
Today was like a Monday x2! I have got to start getting more sleep because my body is wearing down or I'm getting sick? Either way it was another busy day of elementary school with a little too much excitement. We had a very rowdy pre-k class this morning that took my cooperating teacher, an assistant and myself to control/focus them. Luckily we had a long break after that with planning time, lunch and set-up time. During out planning time today my teacher and I discussed possible lesson plans for various grades for the next several weeks and specifically for pre-k this week. I'll be creating a lesson based on Andy Warhol's works with the ideas of color and pattern. I'll be working on refining this lesson plan tonight and writing up the personal collage plan for the second part of the 4th grade's wire portrait lesson. I taught my 3rd grade Frida Kahlo portrait lesson again and still have room for improvement. During our last block of planning my teacher and I discussed what I could do better next time as we worked on some sets for another elementary school's musical. Tomorrow when I teach my lesson I will do a full overview of the whole lesson, showing them an example of a portrait I created. I will also talk more about Frida Kahlo and explain why she would have used proportion and exaggeration. My teacher did commend me for my control over the classroom - which I partially credit to the classroom management course I took last semester. Tomorrow I will also start teaching the first graders one of my teacher's portrait lessons on Modigliani and will take over control of that grade fully next week.
Wednesday
Today I taught two classes - the first grade Modigliani portraits and my third grade Frida Kahlo portrait lesson. Yesterday I had started to feel a little bit insecure about my abilities to teach at the elementary level - being able to successfully communicate ideas and creative opportunities that will have meaning to them. Both portriat lessons that I am teaching are initially both very technical and so have to be taught very - well almost cautiously to encourage students to create an image under guidance that is still their own. It is quite a challenge to show them the way in a fashion that still encourages personal creativity. I guess that's the amazing thing about the elementary age group, while they want to make something that looks good, they still put their own flair of beautiful imperfections in each peice - as my teacher calls it - creative liscence.
In the lessons that I taught today I realize that there are many things I need to change/improve through my own critique and the suggestions of my teacher/suporvisor. I know I need to not only guide during drawing the portraits, but circulate to check in with my students more. I would also like to add more of a personal segment to my self-portrait lesson because right now I feel it lacks that. I want the students to really connect to the idea of creating their own image and what that image can say about them. I hope that will come out more with the start of exaggerating a facial feature ... I guess we'll find out about that tomorrow!
Thursday
Today we had the 4th graders first thing in the morning - they were finishing their wire portraits and then starting on their collages, which will be the background for their wire portraits(my portion of the lesson). I introduced collages to them today, but it was a little shakey - I need to emphasize that their personal collages not only need to be about things they like but color, texture, text and composition. Tonight I think I will spend a little time coming up with a brainstorm sheet for them to fill out or maybe tomorrow when I teach it I will provide them with boxes of magazine pages, fabrics, etc. instead of just magazines so they will look beyond just images of their favorite animals. And even though I provided them with good examples of other artists making collages - I think I still need to start making my own collage to show them how the two parts are going to fit together and what I expect of them.
As far as the second part of my Frida portrait lesson - I need to do a couple things differently. Since the students are using oil pastels, I need to do a demonstration for them on how to blend them and color realistically. I also need to keep a working copy of a self portriat so I can show them how finish their self portriats with details, erasing and redrawing an exaggerated feature, and creating a background (plus coloring). I really like this lesson as it kinda grows and morphs because I think it takes drawing portriats proportionally to a more creative level - allowing them to learn about personal expression through exaggeration.
I also got to watch my teacher work through a new lesson on gridded self-portraits, it was really helpful to watch her work through the same steps that I've been doing with developing and troubleshooting new lessonsl
Friday
Today I taught the fourth grade collage lesson and I think there were some improvements made and some things that were lost. I feel like I conveyed to the students the concept of representational self-portraiture better today because they were cutting out magazine pieces that were something beyond favorite animals and cars. They were cutting and tearing out patterns and colors and words - it was awesome! My teacher and I also found some of those scissors that cut patterned edges and let the students use them and really enjoyed it. For next class, I think I am going to make boxes of materials to sift through - fabrics, wall paper, lace, and tissue paper - talking about textures and layers. They can add those materials to the other things in their envelopes - then they can start to work on the compositions and putting together their representational collages. I think the images that I chose to let the students explore so they could understand collage was really successful - they could see both layers, actually images, and textures in the works by Picasso and Schwitters. The students really responded to the questions I was asking them. I still need to work on circulating around the classroom to help the students while they are working (and minitor).
I had some behavioral issues today today too - running with scissors and a back talking 5th grader. I think I handled the situations very well - quietly, calmly and personally with the students and they controlled themselves the rest of class.
SNOW DAY! My district cancelled school early Sunday night due to the rural population that would be affected by snowy backroads. I spent the day doing some research and brainstorming for lessons to teach over the next several weeks.
Tuesday
Today was like a Monday x2! I have got to start getting more sleep because my body is wearing down or I'm getting sick? Either way it was another busy day of elementary school with a little too much excitement. We had a very rowdy pre-k class this morning that took my cooperating teacher, an assistant and myself to control/focus them. Luckily we had a long break after that with planning time, lunch and set-up time. During out planning time today my teacher and I discussed possible lesson plans for various grades for the next several weeks and specifically for pre-k this week. I'll be creating a lesson based on Andy Warhol's works with the ideas of color and pattern. I'll be working on refining this lesson plan tonight and writing up the personal collage plan for the second part of the 4th grade's wire portrait lesson. I taught my 3rd grade Frida Kahlo portrait lesson again and still have room for improvement. During our last block of planning my teacher and I discussed what I could do better next time as we worked on some sets for another elementary school's musical. Tomorrow when I teach my lesson I will do a full overview of the whole lesson, showing them an example of a portrait I created. I will also talk more about Frida Kahlo and explain why she would have used proportion and exaggeration. My teacher did commend me for my control over the classroom - which I partially credit to the classroom management course I took last semester. Tomorrow I will also start teaching the first graders one of my teacher's portrait lessons on Modigliani and will take over control of that grade fully next week.
Wednesday
Today I taught two classes - the first grade Modigliani portraits and my third grade Frida Kahlo portrait lesson. Yesterday I had started to feel a little bit insecure about my abilities to teach at the elementary level - being able to successfully communicate ideas and creative opportunities that will have meaning to them. Both portriat lessons that I am teaching are initially both very technical and so have to be taught very - well almost cautiously to encourage students to create an image under guidance that is still their own. It is quite a challenge to show them the way in a fashion that still encourages personal creativity. I guess that's the amazing thing about the elementary age group, while they want to make something that looks good, they still put their own flair of beautiful imperfections in each peice - as my teacher calls it - creative liscence.
In the lessons that I taught today I realize that there are many things I need to change/improve through my own critique and the suggestions of my teacher/suporvisor. I know I need to not only guide during drawing the portraits, but circulate to check in with my students more. I would also like to add more of a personal segment to my self-portrait lesson because right now I feel it lacks that. I want the students to really connect to the idea of creating their own image and what that image can say about them. I hope that will come out more with the start of exaggerating a facial feature ... I guess we'll find out about that tomorrow!
Thursday
Today we had the 4th graders first thing in the morning - they were finishing their wire portraits and then starting on their collages, which will be the background for their wire portraits(my portion of the lesson). I introduced collages to them today, but it was a little shakey - I need to emphasize that their personal collages not only need to be about things they like but color, texture, text and composition. Tonight I think I will spend a little time coming up with a brainstorm sheet for them to fill out or maybe tomorrow when I teach it I will provide them with boxes of magazine pages, fabrics, etc. instead of just magazines so they will look beyond just images of their favorite animals. And even though I provided them with good examples of other artists making collages - I think I still need to start making my own collage to show them how the two parts are going to fit together and what I expect of them.
As far as the second part of my Frida portrait lesson - I need to do a couple things differently. Since the students are using oil pastels, I need to do a demonstration for them on how to blend them and color realistically. I also need to keep a working copy of a self portriat so I can show them how finish their self portriats with details, erasing and redrawing an exaggerated feature, and creating a background (plus coloring). I really like this lesson as it kinda grows and morphs because I think it takes drawing portriats proportionally to a more creative level - allowing them to learn about personal expression through exaggeration.
I also got to watch my teacher work through a new lesson on gridded self-portraits, it was really helpful to watch her work through the same steps that I've been doing with developing and troubleshooting new lessonsl
Friday
Today I taught the fourth grade collage lesson and I think there were some improvements made and some things that were lost. I feel like I conveyed to the students the concept of representational self-portraiture better today because they were cutting out magazine pieces that were something beyond favorite animals and cars. They were cutting and tearing out patterns and colors and words - it was awesome! My teacher and I also found some of those scissors that cut patterned edges and let the students use them and really enjoyed it. For next class, I think I am going to make boxes of materials to sift through - fabrics, wall paper, lace, and tissue paper - talking about textures and layers. They can add those materials to the other things in their envelopes - then they can start to work on the compositions and putting together their representational collages. I think the images that I chose to let the students explore so they could understand collage was really successful - they could see both layers, actually images, and textures in the works by Picasso and Schwitters. The students really responded to the questions I was asking them. I still need to work on circulating around the classroom to help the students while they are working (and minitor).
I had some behavioral issues today today too - running with scissors and a back talking 5th grader. I think I handled the situations very well - quietly, calmly and personally with the students and they controlled themselves the rest of class.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Week #2: Movin' & Shakin'
Monday
As today was Martin Luther King Jr. day and the schools had no classes, the teachers had an "in-service" day (a.k.a. teacher workday). I spent the morning with my supervising teacher cleaning the classroom, packing up materials, gathering lessons for the afternoon meeting and planning for the coming weeks. In the afternoon, the other art teachers and their student teachers came to our school for a meeting to share lessons and talk about other issues. It was interesting hearing about the other situations the teachers were working in - whether it was balancing 2 schools or working out of mobil units without water. Each teacher has a different set of challengesfrom buget to environment but they were all still able to teach everyday to the best of their abilities. We shared lessons with each other as well - giving copies of plans, a review of how it is taught, doing the production part of the lesson, and making suggestions. I now have another 7 lessons to add to my binder, which will come in handy in the future (maybe even during student teaching- if I adapt them to my classes). It was really helpful to spend the day with other art teachers, it made me more excited to take on my own class of third graders on Thursday!
Tuesday
Today was moving day! My teacher and I spent the morning packing up and cleaning the classroom at her first semester school - deciding which posters to take with us and what to store where for when she comes back next January. After loading up the car and making sure all student art work was back to the appropriate teachers, I followed my teacher over to the new school which is about 15 minutes away in the next town over. The drive to the new school is actually very pretty full of farms and views of the mountains; I think I'll enjoy that time in the morning and at the end of the day to collect myself/reflect.
When we arrived at the new school we weren't exactly sure what to expect because my teacher had not had a chance to check out her new room and there ahd been several changes mad to it since the last time she was at the school. It turned out to be a better situation than we were expecting - with a sink, view of the courtyard, plently of storage and an island in the center to use as a desk. We unloaded the car and started settling in - taking a break to so I get a tour of the school, meet some teachers and administrators and so we could eat lunch. After lunch we met with my supervisor to review neccessary paperwork and plans for the next 8 weeks. Then I worked on my lesson plan for a bit, finished putting up posters on the wall, and organizing the classroom. I can't wait to settle in more tomorrow - especially since I will have a desk and drawers of my own, making me feel more at home!
Wednesday
Another "moving in" day. I got to go in a little later because my teacher had family commitments in the morning. When I got there we both settled in to working on our laptops preparing lessons and doing other paper work that needed to be done before we start classes tomorrow. We also finished organizing the materials in the classroom and finding an arrangement that would work well for instruction. We settled on have tables organized so no backs would be towards the front of the room and there would still be plenty of room to move between tables to help students while they are working.
I'm really excited to start having classes tomorrow, especially since we have a really great class schedule that will allow us to prepare for each class and still have a little bit of downtime (with an actual lunch). I start taking the third grade class tomorrow afternoon and am anxious to teach my first solo lesson at the elementary level. I have prepared a lesson based on the self-portrait paintings of Frida Kahlo.; the classes will learn about facial proportion and exaggeration as well as the bright colors that are such a part of many mexican artworks. I feel confident that the content of this lesson will be very meaningful and enjoyable for the students, I just hope that I can execute it in a manner that the students get the most out of it. I worry about not going slowly enough with material or not breaking it down in the most successful way. I am glad that I will have four chances to get the lesson to its best though - that is one of the beauties of elementary art when you are teaching the same lesson again and again. My teacher keeps reminding me that the children are just so excited to finally get that outlet of art class that if something doesn't go exactly as I would have liked it they probably won't notice or probably won't care. I'll cross my fingers, review all the materials and get a good nights' sleep so that everything goes smoothly tomorrow!
Thursday
I taught my first solo lesson to the 3rd graders today and will start teaching the 3rd graders for the rest of my time at the elementary school. I have taught lessons before in practicum however this time it seemed a bit more intimidating; maybe it was teaching something so technical (facial proportions) or having full control of the classroom. I think the lesson will go more smoothly when I teach it again on Monday - I made several notes and talked with my teacher after on ways to improve it - such as giving a whole project overview and starting with drawing the hair first. I'm really excited to see how the final portraits turn out! The students are learning about the self-portraits of Frida Kahlo and then how to create a portriat with correct facial proportions. They will also learn about exaggeration (think Frida's eyebrows) and exaggerate one feature on their self-portraits, then finish them off with with oil pastels in bright colors (think mexican traditional garments). Also, I think I did a pretty good job keeping the kids focused and managing the classroom.
The rest of the day I got to observe how my teacher starts classes with all of the grade levels and how she begins lessons, as well as assisting during the lessons. I really have gotten a lot out of working with my teacher, especially classroom management and organization. She is really efficient in managing her class time so things like setting up seating charts, going over rules and the like dont take an excess amount of time.
Friday
... was spent teaching and planning. There was no third grade class today so I helped out in the other classes when I could and worked on an example of the project for my 3rd graders. My teacher and I also made great use of our large break in the middle of the day to catch up on paper work and lay out a plan for the rest of the 6 weeks together. We are going to team teach a lesson to the 4th graders, which my teacher started this week with wire portraits and I will finish starting at the end of next week by doing a collaging activity for them to mount their portraits on. I will also start taking over another class next week too. I feel that my teacher and I work extremely well together - I respect her as a teacher (she knows her stuff) and really enjoy her as a person. I'm excited to see how next week goes as I am assuming more control over the classroom!
As today was Martin Luther King Jr. day and the schools had no classes, the teachers had an "in-service" day (a.k.a. teacher workday). I spent the morning with my supervising teacher cleaning the classroom, packing up materials, gathering lessons for the afternoon meeting and planning for the coming weeks. In the afternoon, the other art teachers and their student teachers came to our school for a meeting to share lessons and talk about other issues. It was interesting hearing about the other situations the teachers were working in - whether it was balancing 2 schools or working out of mobil units without water. Each teacher has a different set of challengesfrom buget to environment but they were all still able to teach everyday to the best of their abilities. We shared lessons with each other as well - giving copies of plans, a review of how it is taught, doing the production part of the lesson, and making suggestions. I now have another 7 lessons to add to my binder, which will come in handy in the future (maybe even during student teaching- if I adapt them to my classes). It was really helpful to spend the day with other art teachers, it made me more excited to take on my own class of third graders on Thursday!
Tuesday
Today was moving day! My teacher and I spent the morning packing up and cleaning the classroom at her first semester school - deciding which posters to take with us and what to store where for when she comes back next January. After loading up the car and making sure all student art work was back to the appropriate teachers, I followed my teacher over to the new school which is about 15 minutes away in the next town over. The drive to the new school is actually very pretty full of farms and views of the mountains; I think I'll enjoy that time in the morning and at the end of the day to collect myself/reflect.
When we arrived at the new school we weren't exactly sure what to expect because my teacher had not had a chance to check out her new room and there ahd been several changes mad to it since the last time she was at the school. It turned out to be a better situation than we were expecting - with a sink, view of the courtyard, plently of storage and an island in the center to use as a desk. We unloaded the car and started settling in - taking a break to so I get a tour of the school, meet some teachers and administrators and so we could eat lunch. After lunch we met with my supervisor to review neccessary paperwork and plans for the next 8 weeks. Then I worked on my lesson plan for a bit, finished putting up posters on the wall, and organizing the classroom. I can't wait to settle in more tomorrow - especially since I will have a desk and drawers of my own, making me feel more at home!
Wednesday
Another "moving in" day. I got to go in a little later because my teacher had family commitments in the morning. When I got there we both settled in to working on our laptops preparing lessons and doing other paper work that needed to be done before we start classes tomorrow. We also finished organizing the materials in the classroom and finding an arrangement that would work well for instruction. We settled on have tables organized so no backs would be towards the front of the room and there would still be plenty of room to move between tables to help students while they are working.
I'm really excited to start having classes tomorrow, especially since we have a really great class schedule that will allow us to prepare for each class and still have a little bit of downtime (with an actual lunch). I start taking the third grade class tomorrow afternoon and am anxious to teach my first solo lesson at the elementary level. I have prepared a lesson based on the self-portrait paintings of Frida Kahlo.; the classes will learn about facial proportion and exaggeration as well as the bright colors that are such a part of many mexican artworks. I feel confident that the content of this lesson will be very meaningful and enjoyable for the students, I just hope that I can execute it in a manner that the students get the most out of it. I worry about not going slowly enough with material or not breaking it down in the most successful way. I am glad that I will have four chances to get the lesson to its best though - that is one of the beauties of elementary art when you are teaching the same lesson again and again. My teacher keeps reminding me that the children are just so excited to finally get that outlet of art class that if something doesn't go exactly as I would have liked it they probably won't notice or probably won't care. I'll cross my fingers, review all the materials and get a good nights' sleep so that everything goes smoothly tomorrow!
Thursday
I taught my first solo lesson to the 3rd graders today and will start teaching the 3rd graders for the rest of my time at the elementary school. I have taught lessons before in practicum however this time it seemed a bit more intimidating; maybe it was teaching something so technical (facial proportions) or having full control of the classroom. I think the lesson will go more smoothly when I teach it again on Monday - I made several notes and talked with my teacher after on ways to improve it - such as giving a whole project overview and starting with drawing the hair first. I'm really excited to see how the final portraits turn out! The students are learning about the self-portraits of Frida Kahlo and then how to create a portriat with correct facial proportions. They will also learn about exaggeration (think Frida's eyebrows) and exaggerate one feature on their self-portraits, then finish them off with with oil pastels in bright colors (think mexican traditional garments). Also, I think I did a pretty good job keeping the kids focused and managing the classroom.
The rest of the day I got to observe how my teacher starts classes with all of the grade levels and how she begins lessons, as well as assisting during the lessons. I really have gotten a lot out of working with my teacher, especially classroom management and organization. She is really efficient in managing her class time so things like setting up seating charts, going over rules and the like dont take an excess amount of time.
Friday
... was spent teaching and planning. There was no third grade class today so I helped out in the other classes when I could and worked on an example of the project for my 3rd graders. My teacher and I also made great use of our large break in the middle of the day to catch up on paper work and lay out a plan for the rest of the 6 weeks together. We are going to team teach a lesson to the 4th graders, which my teacher started this week with wire portraits and I will finish starting at the end of next week by doing a collaging activity for them to mount their portraits on. I will also start taking over another class next week too. I feel that my teacher and I work extremely well together - I respect her as a teacher (she knows her stuff) and really enjoy her as a person. I'm excited to see how next week goes as I am assuming more control over the classroom!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Thoughts on week #1...
After the first week of student teaching, I must admit I'm a bit exhausted and beginning to think that elementary art teachers must have some hidden source of energy.
Day 1
My experience started out on Monday a bit unusually when my teacher had to leave school part way through our fourth class for a family emergency. I finished the instruction for the pre-K class that was currently in the room with the help of the class's regular teachers, while the school secured a substitute. After recieving a phone call from my supervising teacher with instructions for the rest of the day, I taught the remaining classes with the aid of the substitute, teaching a quilt pattern lesson to first graders and drawing lessons to the third and fifth grade classes. It was intense, but I realized quickly that there was no need to be nervous about teaching elementary school art - I was perfectly capable of surviving it! However, I still have a lot to learn to do it as well as I possibly can ...
Day 2
The second day of student teaching was much more of what I expected, having a lot of opportunities to assist and observe in the classroom. I really enjoyed watching my teacher "at work" that Tues., seeing how she handled the various grade levels, how her management techniques changed depending on each classes age and temperment. My favorite management techinique that my teacher uses is making listening visual, when students start to lose focus or begin talking too much she asks them to raise their hand if they are listening allowing both the teacher and the students to actually see who is listening.
I also found out today that Kindergarteners have WAY too much energy but when that energy is focused they are really creative uninhibited little artists. I could not believe that they were able to do a self - portrait painting project so enthusiastically for a whole 30 minutes - so impressive. I cannot wait to work with Kindergarten because they are a clean slate to build upon.
Day 3
Unfortunately the school system I am doing my student teaching in has five elementary art teachers and thirteen elementary schools which means each school only gets art class for half the year and the teachers have to rotate. My teacher spent the first semester with four days a week at one school and one day a week at another - Weds. is her day at the other school. I got to learn another school on my third day and help teach another new batch of children. Its kind of tough coming in the last week of a semester for the first week of my student teaching because I will only see these classes once for just 45 minutes each. At this point, I have become more familiar with my teachers' classroom procedures and am able to help prepare for each class by gathering brushes for painting or cutting glass for mosaics.
Day 4
I was back at the "normal" school today teaching on the same schedule that I had Tues. - which is actually fairly intense since there are almost all back to back classes with only two 15 minute breaks. I am learning that having a schedule that allows for set up is critical to having smooth lessons! I've also been able to watch my supervising teacher end all of her classes - finishing up lessons, returning artwork, and doing one class period lessons if a class was finished. My favorite of her "filler" lessons was the elevator drawing she did with the first graders, incorporating body proportion and overlapping. Each student got a piece of paper and pencil, then information previously taught about overlapping and proportion is reviewed and then they beging drawing - seven figures total - with one person getting on each floor. Its so awesome to watch the reactions of the class as my teacher "rings" the elevator bell and they find out their teaching is getting on at the fifth floor!
Day 5
Friday of my first week was a welcome day - I knew that being in the classroom all day would be exhausting, but I had no idea I would feel so drained. It takes a lot of energy to be on point for every class during the day - sometimes teaching the same lesson for two classes in a row, its a challenge to stay fresh. I have really enjoyed watching my supervising teacher this week and am beginning to feel prepared to take over for one class after our move next week. Once we move into our "new" school and start teaching classes on Thursday, I will be teaching the 3rd grade class from the get-go. I think I am going to develop a portraiture lesson based on the paintings of Frida Kahlo exploring facial porportions and exaggeration of those features - I will start researching that this week-end and Monday during our in-service/work day.
Day 1
My experience started out on Monday a bit unusually when my teacher had to leave school part way through our fourth class for a family emergency. I finished the instruction for the pre-K class that was currently in the room with the help of the class's regular teachers, while the school secured a substitute. After recieving a phone call from my supervising teacher with instructions for the rest of the day, I taught the remaining classes with the aid of the substitute, teaching a quilt pattern lesson to first graders and drawing lessons to the third and fifth grade classes. It was intense, but I realized quickly that there was no need to be nervous about teaching elementary school art - I was perfectly capable of surviving it! However, I still have a lot to learn to do it as well as I possibly can ...
Day 2
The second day of student teaching was much more of what I expected, having a lot of opportunities to assist and observe in the classroom. I really enjoyed watching my teacher "at work" that Tues., seeing how she handled the various grade levels, how her management techniques changed depending on each classes age and temperment. My favorite management techinique that my teacher uses is making listening visual, when students start to lose focus or begin talking too much she asks them to raise their hand if they are listening allowing both the teacher and the students to actually see who is listening.
I also found out today that Kindergarteners have WAY too much energy but when that energy is focused they are really creative uninhibited little artists. I could not believe that they were able to do a self - portrait painting project so enthusiastically for a whole 30 minutes - so impressive. I cannot wait to work with Kindergarten because they are a clean slate to build upon.
Day 3
Unfortunately the school system I am doing my student teaching in has five elementary art teachers and thirteen elementary schools which means each school only gets art class for half the year and the teachers have to rotate. My teacher spent the first semester with four days a week at one school and one day a week at another - Weds. is her day at the other school. I got to learn another school on my third day and help teach another new batch of children. Its kind of tough coming in the last week of a semester for the first week of my student teaching because I will only see these classes once for just 45 minutes each. At this point, I have become more familiar with my teachers' classroom procedures and am able to help prepare for each class by gathering brushes for painting or cutting glass for mosaics.
Day 4
I was back at the "normal" school today teaching on the same schedule that I had Tues. - which is actually fairly intense since there are almost all back to back classes with only two 15 minute breaks. I am learning that having a schedule that allows for set up is critical to having smooth lessons! I've also been able to watch my supervising teacher end all of her classes - finishing up lessons, returning artwork, and doing one class period lessons if a class was finished. My favorite of her "filler" lessons was the elevator drawing she did with the first graders, incorporating body proportion and overlapping. Each student got a piece of paper and pencil, then information previously taught about overlapping and proportion is reviewed and then they beging drawing - seven figures total - with one person getting on each floor. Its so awesome to watch the reactions of the class as my teacher "rings" the elevator bell and they find out their teaching is getting on at the fifth floor!
Day 5
Friday of my first week was a welcome day - I knew that being in the classroom all day would be exhausting, but I had no idea I would feel so drained. It takes a lot of energy to be on point for every class during the day - sometimes teaching the same lesson for two classes in a row, its a challenge to stay fresh. I have really enjoyed watching my supervising teacher this week and am beginning to feel prepared to take over for one class after our move next week. Once we move into our "new" school and start teaching classes on Thursday, I will be teaching the 3rd grade class from the get-go. I think I am going to develop a portraiture lesson based on the paintings of Frida Kahlo exploring facial porportions and exaggeration of those features - I will start researching that this week-end and Monday during our in-service/work day.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Let the Student Teaching begin ...
I'm Tyler, a 23 year old James Madison graduate and I'll be using this blog for the next 16 weeks (started on Jan.8th) to record my reflections and experiences of my student teaching, the final step in getting my K-12 Art Education liscence. The 16 weeks are divided into two eight week sections, the first being spent at the elementary level and the second in a middle school, both in the Rockingham County school division. I'm excited to challenge myself during this time in a variety of ways, but mostly to have the new experience of teaching art on a daily basis. I'll reflect on my first three days after school tomorrow when I have more time to gather my thoughts!
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