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.