Week 1: Starting the new year

Hello all, and welcome to my new year’s resolution!

This year, I am aiming for the normal changes in life (lose some weight, eat healthy, yada yada yada), But I’m also trying to continue to make art, and making the time to do so. As I go into student teaching, I worry that I will no longer be able to find the time to make my own art, and I don’t want that to happen. So, my resolution is to make a good art piece at least once a week.

I am starting off the year with a painting for Steve’s cousin, Felicia. She is a wonderful florist, and we wanted to give her something for Christmas that expressed her passion for her job. I decided to paint one of her favorite arrangements (with a few tweaks). I feel bad that it wasn’t done before Christmas, but anyone who has worked with oil paint knows that the paint dries depending on the temperature and air flow, and our apartment was unforgiving. I also experimented with using my fingers to paint. I have seen works done by Iris Scott, who uses finger painting to create amazing works of art. It worked well in some places, but I had to give in and use a brush eventually. Hopefully I can get better at it.

I will also be doing one lesson plan a week and sharing it here. I only thought of the idea a day ago though, so I don’t have one this week (sorry).

I am also considering reviewing different art products, apps, and other art related things on a vlog/YouTube platform. As a future art teacher, I see many different and unique tools available to use in the art room, and I think about the practicality of the medium in the classroom. I would like to test these unique products for myself, and rate their usefulness both in everyday use and as a teacher thinking about my classroom.

Apps are also a new technology that is starting to make its way into the classroom. I would like to review different apps, both for the classroom and for outside the classroom. I hope that through this process I start to develop my own app or program for anyone who would like to make or learn more about art.  I am hoping to make this a educational, yet fun app that helps everyone, without asking people to spends ridiculous amounts of money on materials.

I would also like to discuss art related topics. People working hard in the art education field, informational videos about artists, and many other topics! I would like for this to be an educational platform. If anyone has any ideas for videos, please let me know!

Well, thank you all for listening, and I will see you next week!

Sincerely,

O

Experience summary

  When it comes to planning and preparedness, I believe that I have definitely grown. I learned form last year that it was more important than I thought it was. I worked really hard at communicating with my CT and other people in the school to make sure I was prepared to teach everyone in that class.

When it comes to teaching, I feel it is something I need to work on. My CT stated in her eval that I need to work on my teacher voice and classroom management, which I agree. I have not taken classroom management yet, so I am hoping that that will help.

Assessment at the age level I taught is not always my favorite thing. 2nd grade students don't usually get a full out rubric (at least of what i've seen), they usually get graded on a 1-4 scale. To compromise, I made the rubric, with a total of 16 points, then gave a 1-4 grade based on their score. All of the students received a 3 or 4. There was only one that was a point away from being a 2.

Learning from Mrs. K was amazing. She provided me with numerous learning materials and taught me about mediums I didn't know existed. The most important thing she taught me, however, is the importance of community and being a part of it. She grew up in the town she now teaches in, and sees her students throughout their K-12 lives. It's truly an amazing thing, that creates a tight bond in the school amongst everyone. Being that figure in a community was the best thing to observe this past spring.

The biggest thing I took from all of this, this whole experience in the last year, finding out I had to re-take 208, working on my grades to get to re-take it, and re-taking it, gave me such a bigger appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into teaching, and working hard at my grades and growing proved to myself that this is where I want to be and this is what I want to do. I still need to work on my confidence, but I know I can improve.

When you're here, you're family

The best thing about observing Mrs. K was that she obviously cared about her students. She helped them with career advice, and graduation. The students are able to discuss issues with the school, such as what lunches are offered at school, and rally together to change that. They also know Mrs. K's family, and babysit her children.

Not only that, but she cared about her school. She helped put together fundraisers and posters for events. She even painted a picture during the schools talent show for a lucky family! She knew she played an important role in the school.

The big reason she did all of this, of course, is because she is a part of a tight-knit community. She grew up in that community, and her students are doing the same. She knows what they go through at home. She does everything she can to care for them like family. I can only hope that I become a valuable part of a community like her.

Assessing students

Mrs. K has an interesting way of assessing students work. At the end of a quarter or trimester, she would go through all of her students work that they had done through ought the quarter or trimester. While she does so, she asks her students to help clean up the room, cleaning table tops and the sink areas. Her older students turned in their sketchbooks, so she could check that they did the assignments, and they could take their other work home. Her Middle school students brought up all of their work that they had done during the trimester, and she graded it on the spot. Her older students also helped sort the elementary school work into the correct students portfolio. I think sketchbook assignments are a great concept to use for older students.

There were other times I saw her assess. One time was when she started a new middle school trimester. They had gotten into groups and make a cave art drawing together. She then had the students do a self assessment of how they thought they did on the project.

This was the rubric she gave the 6th graders.

Then she had some of her older students present an art based career to the class, such as interior designer or graphic design. They had to do specific research, such as what this job offered for a salary, what they do, etc. They also had to present for 5 minutes. When I observed, only two students were left. One only had two slides to his project, with almost no information, and only presented for 30 seconds. Mrs. K only gave him a 1/9, and I had to agree with her. She gave them time to work in class. Even with one class period of research time, they should have had more to show for their work.

Overall, I think assessment is important, and it's important to have students participate. They need to seriously think about the work they put into their projects. It helps to resolve any issues they may have during the class period and work time.

Why you should never say the word fat in front of second grade students

I love observing a K-12 school. You get to see a tight-knit community work together well because they have known each other their whole life. The teachers have known them just as long and are as motivated as the student themselves to see them succeed. 

I loved observing the older students, because I could have an adult conversation with each of them. About career choices, family issues, and college. I love that they are mature enough to have those conversations.

The hard part was, I forgot about this when I taught my lesson to the second grade students.

I taught the students about symmetry, and we did so by making bugs. The students used scrap paper, which they folded in half and cut out shapes for their bugs body, so that both sides were equal

One of the projects a student made.

I was explaining to the students that they had to make their bug big enough to fit on the leaf. Then one boy asked the question.

"Could we make a fat bug?"

I do not know what told me to say "Yes, you could make a fat bug if you want to."

I realized right after I said those words what a huge mistake I made. The students were shocked that I had said fat. they giggled and looked at each other. One of the boys tapped on my shoulder during the demonstration and told me that I shouldn't have said that word, that it wasn't very nice. I apologized to him and agreed with him. 

I regretted what I said the rest of the day. I still regret saying it. It wasn't okay. Something in that half of a second before I responded said that they were mature enough to understand what I meant by the word. I watched the words I used after that. It's something I am not going to forget saying. Ever. It will follow me through my teaching career.

Students success

  I am continuously surprised by the knowledge and skills of children. Seriously.

In grade school at my practicum, only one of the girls followed the instructions on how to paint the grass exactly, leading to praise from the teacher. She was so happy.

The 6th graders were even more impressive. Her first group had a choice project at the end of the trimester, with which they chose what they made. one student constructed a whole bridge out of paper straws. in her second group, One boy discussed with me the logistics of creating a hover board. This boy also reads Stephen King novels and knows what he wants to do when he grows up (either be a body piercer or own a bike shop).

In the high school classes, one of the girls is amazing at creating portraits. She can even mix odd colors together to make amazing results. Some of the other advanced students have also worked really hard at personalizing their own styles. A lot of these students have high hopes for their future. One senior refuses to work at her moms bar. She does not want to be stuck in a small town her whole life, and although small towns do have their charms, I agree that it is important to get out from under a parents wing and explore the world.

These students have hopes and dreams, and it was amazing to watch them grow.

Practicum curriculum

My CT teaches all different grades, therefore, she has different curriculums for each.
   Her elementary students usually do activities that add to their basic knowledge of art. My CT uses the blog "the art of education" for ideas on what to teach at what age, and activities to do. I myself find the blog extremely helpful, since it has detailed lists of what to teach at what grade.
  Her middle school students are a little different. She decided to do an around the world theme with them, following their history textbook and the countries they learned about. They started with a Canopic jar, on which they wrote their names in hieroglyphics. They also got to choose which animal they used for the lid. They also did henna drawings, Greek columns, and Chinese dragons.
  Her older students are on an entirely different level. She had to mix different classes together during the same period, so that her students could all take the art they wanted. The main chunk of students in the class worked on the same projects, usually ones that centered around their interests, like painting something they liked, or printing a shirt relating to them. Her other students that were more advanced usually got to work on whatever mediums they wanted to work in. As long as they didn't copy anything directly from Pinterest, she didn't mind. I really liked that method, but I feel that only works in a small school, where the teacher can know their students better. I do feel older students should have more freedom to work with the materials they want, to a degree.