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.

Rules in my practicum

Mrs. K does not post rules around the room. She instead makes sure to go through the rules very thoroughly at the younger levels, so that by the time she sees them at an older level, they are aware of her rues and what is expected of them. There are times where she does put posters on the wall, such as her Mr. brush poster, telling students how to treat their brushes when painting. She usually does not send students out of the room, unless they are disrupting other students and their learning. This only happened once while I was here.
  There was one incident when I was not there where two of the older girls, who had been friends for a very long time, were ending their friendship. One of the girls was very snippy during class, making comments out loud directed towards the other. She made note of the situation, but didn't interfere. The next day, the girl apologized to Mrs. K for her behavior. She had been in trouble with Mrs. K before for swearing in class, and she had to write a letter apologizing to Mrs. K. Mrs. K asked the girl to write a short apology for her behavior for the class, and that was the end of it.
  Overall I thought it was a great way to handle these situations. I like that the students have gained respect for her after years of having her as their teacher. I only hope that I can gain that kind of respect in my future classroom.

My practicum school

   My practicum is at a small K-12 school in the middle of rural Wisconsin. There's a little less than a thousand students in total. My CT is Mrs K. She is a Stout alumni who is now teaching at the school she went to. She didn't have art in grade school, but when she went into 9th grade she loved it. She originally went to Stout for graphic design, but decided she wanted to be an art teacher, despite what her family told her to do. She started out as a substitute art teacher after graduation then got hired at her old school.
 She currently has two small children and one on the way. Her and her husband dated through college and got married when they were both done with school. Mrs. K seems to have a close relationship to her students, most likely due to it being a small town. She is aware of her older students strengths and weaknesses.
 I have never observed older students before, so this should be an eye-opening experience for me.