Art Journal Entry 1 (8/21/18)
Prompt: Create a hashtag that represents your first week student teaching at your school. Then, cut up the image into strips, reconfigure the image, and write a description of how the new image represents your future goal as a teacher.
My hashtag was #Differentiation. Since I'm working with three different mentor teachers and four different art subjects (drawing/painting, photography, pottery, and jewelry), I've realized that I've had to differentiate both my teaching styles and my lesson plans for each content area and each teacher's classroom culture. I've also had to differentiate the co-teaching approach that I have with each teacher. In drawing/painting, Katie Funk and I have a see one/teach one set-up with her seventh and eighth period classes. In pottery and jewelry, I've had to share equal power with Angel Estrada and Carol Jennings and teach on the spot. In photography, Carol and I had to adapt to various technology challenges in the computer lab. Finally, I've learned how to differentiate the way that I create lesson plans. I'm spending a lot more time differentiating each of the art learnings (materials/techniques, history and culture, critical reflection, ideation, and expressive features/inherent characteristics) for GT, special needs, and ESL learners. The more detailed my differentiation strategies are, the more confident I will be teaching the lesson.
The first things that I think about with my recomposed image are "rhythm" and "yellow brick road." These words could be related to my future goal as a student teacher, which is to have a comfortable, positive rhythm as I teach in so many dynamic situations. I'm very comfortable working in high school art classrooms. Even though I'm jumping around between different art subjects, I haven't felt overwhelmed with the work demands placed on me. I'm hoping that this composure will continue once I start my elementary placement. I'm a little nervous about dealing with the chaotic nature of a middle school environment.
Another word that comes to mind with this image is "discombobulated." Thornton High School doesn't have great technological resources, especially the ones that we have to use for photography. I've learned very quickly that when I plan a photography lesson, I have to come up with an alternative activity that doesn't rely on technology so much. This has been a challenging compromise to work on with my mentor teacher, but one that both of us are open to problem-solve together. My future goal with student teaching is to create a photo lesson that doesn't rely too heavily on technology resources. I also want to make sure that the technology use isn't so complicated that the students and I can't solve the problems on our own.
Another word that comes to mind with this image is "discombobulated." Thornton High School doesn't have great technological resources, especially the ones that we have to use for photography. I've learned very quickly that when I plan a photography lesson, I have to come up with an alternative activity that doesn't rely on technology so much. This has been a challenging compromise to work on with my mentor teacher, but one that both of us are open to problem-solve together. My future goal with student teaching is to create a photo lesson that doesn't rely too heavily on technology resources. I also want to make sure that the technology use isn't so complicated that the students and I can't solve the problems on our own.
Art Journal Entry 2 (9/4/18)
Prompt: Draw three symbols that represent things I need to reinforce or add to my teaching experience.
Symbol 1: Cultural responsiveness skills
In July of 2017, I enrolled in a workshop called "Transformational Leadership for Educators." The teachers leading the program said that cultural responsiveness was one of the most fundamental leadership skills for educators, yet it's rarely taught. I know cultural responsiveness is very important when it comes to lesson planning and honoring the students' cultural backgrounds in the classroom (especially when it comes to ESL students). But I also see cultural responsiveness as an important life skill. It's something that I would use to see my students as an equal and feel some sort of sympathy for their situation. It's something that I would use to communicate with parents and understand the family environment students are creating work in. And it's something that would affect the way I would respond to the administrative culture of a school. I'm also finding that cultural responsiveness relates to students with learning disabilities and special needs. For example, I have a student with high functioning Asperger's Syndrome that has very strong feelings about not letting other people in the school know his label. For him, the label has a negative connotation that would cause other students to bully him and other teachers to talk down to him like he was stupid (at least that was what he told me). Socio-economic background and gender identity are huge factors too. I'm learning that cultural responsiveness is a delicate, sensitive thing to be aware of. I'm excited to receive more training on that so I can become a more compassionate and fearless educator.
Symbol 2: Alternative assignments and understanding unique art materials
The big learning curve at my high school placement is learning how to teach digital photography with unreliable, problematic technological resources. I don't really have a ton of experience in photography, so I wasn't super confident about knowing how to problem-solve around these issues and scaffolding based on the learning environment. But my big takeaway from the experience was always having an alternative assignment that didn't rely so heavily on technology. I feel strongly about doing this because I noticed that the students became frustrated and impatient about dealing with a weeks worth of technology issues and not getting into the "real world" to take pictures. Students in an art class would rather explore and create projects rather than be lectured to the entire time. As a result, management became a huge issue. So I feel that having an alternative activity is a way for students to continue their learning momentum and give the teacher time to troubleshoot the tech issues.
The other things I wanted to know more about is understanding how to work with some nuanced materials that I didn't get much of an education on in my intro college art classes. For example, I was never taught how to work a kiln until I got to my high school placement. To me, this is a very fundamental skill of being an art teacher. I also don't know much about what kinds of glazes to buy and what kinds of advanced pottery techniques I could use with GT students. In jewelry, I wish I knew more about what kinds of acids to buy and how to make them properly. I also wish I knew what kinds of acetylene tanks to buy, how to turn them on, and what to do when they break. With all that said, I'm sure I'd learn as I went with my first teaching job.
Symbol 3: More knowledge and training on technology use in the classroom
I sincerely believe that I am "tech dyslexic." In the past, I have been the type of person that seems to make more major mistakes with technology than achievements. I also don't feel like my brain really understands how to work around the black and white, systematic nature of most technological stuff. So right now, I have a huge amount of anxiety teaching a lesson that deals with computers (especially in an environment that has a lot of tech issues). Watching my mentor teacher deal with the technology challenges in her photography classroom is nerve wracking because I'm not totally sure how I would've solved them if I were on my own. I also know that even if things went smoothly with technology when I tested things out beforehand, students would still deal with challenges (such as login codes and downloading issues from a camera) that I would have a hard time solving for them. So, I know this is a handicap and I wished I had enough skills to be more confident with using technology.
At my high school placement, there is a part-time photo teacher (and CSU art ed alum) that told me her strategy was to teach students to solve tech issues collectively rather than having the students go to her for help. She believes that because technology changes so much, independent research on Google is more of a practical lifeskill that telling students how to solve the situation for them. I thought that was pretty insightful. Thirty brains can solve a tech issue more successfully than one teacher. Also, I've decided that I could probably be more confident with using technology if I simplified my tech tools in a way that I had control to solve the problem. I don't need to be a tech guru, and I don't need to be super ambitious about using technology to create a good lesson.
In July of 2017, I enrolled in a workshop called "Transformational Leadership for Educators." The teachers leading the program said that cultural responsiveness was one of the most fundamental leadership skills for educators, yet it's rarely taught. I know cultural responsiveness is very important when it comes to lesson planning and honoring the students' cultural backgrounds in the classroom (especially when it comes to ESL students). But I also see cultural responsiveness as an important life skill. It's something that I would use to see my students as an equal and feel some sort of sympathy for their situation. It's something that I would use to communicate with parents and understand the family environment students are creating work in. And it's something that would affect the way I would respond to the administrative culture of a school. I'm also finding that cultural responsiveness relates to students with learning disabilities and special needs. For example, I have a student with high functioning Asperger's Syndrome that has very strong feelings about not letting other people in the school know his label. For him, the label has a negative connotation that would cause other students to bully him and other teachers to talk down to him like he was stupid (at least that was what he told me). Socio-economic background and gender identity are huge factors too. I'm learning that cultural responsiveness is a delicate, sensitive thing to be aware of. I'm excited to receive more training on that so I can become a more compassionate and fearless educator.
Symbol 2: Alternative assignments and understanding unique art materials
The big learning curve at my high school placement is learning how to teach digital photography with unreliable, problematic technological resources. I don't really have a ton of experience in photography, so I wasn't super confident about knowing how to problem-solve around these issues and scaffolding based on the learning environment. But my big takeaway from the experience was always having an alternative assignment that didn't rely so heavily on technology. I feel strongly about doing this because I noticed that the students became frustrated and impatient about dealing with a weeks worth of technology issues and not getting into the "real world" to take pictures. Students in an art class would rather explore and create projects rather than be lectured to the entire time. As a result, management became a huge issue. So I feel that having an alternative activity is a way for students to continue their learning momentum and give the teacher time to troubleshoot the tech issues.
The other things I wanted to know more about is understanding how to work with some nuanced materials that I didn't get much of an education on in my intro college art classes. For example, I was never taught how to work a kiln until I got to my high school placement. To me, this is a very fundamental skill of being an art teacher. I also don't know much about what kinds of glazes to buy and what kinds of advanced pottery techniques I could use with GT students. In jewelry, I wish I knew more about what kinds of acids to buy and how to make them properly. I also wish I knew what kinds of acetylene tanks to buy, how to turn them on, and what to do when they break. With all that said, I'm sure I'd learn as I went with my first teaching job.
Symbol 3: More knowledge and training on technology use in the classroom
I sincerely believe that I am "tech dyslexic." In the past, I have been the type of person that seems to make more major mistakes with technology than achievements. I also don't feel like my brain really understands how to work around the black and white, systematic nature of most technological stuff. So right now, I have a huge amount of anxiety teaching a lesson that deals with computers (especially in an environment that has a lot of tech issues). Watching my mentor teacher deal with the technology challenges in her photography classroom is nerve wracking because I'm not totally sure how I would've solved them if I were on my own. I also know that even if things went smoothly with technology when I tested things out beforehand, students would still deal with challenges (such as login codes and downloading issues from a camera) that I would have a hard time solving for them. So, I know this is a handicap and I wished I had enough skills to be more confident with using technology.
At my high school placement, there is a part-time photo teacher (and CSU art ed alum) that told me her strategy was to teach students to solve tech issues collectively rather than having the students go to her for help. She believes that because technology changes so much, independent research on Google is more of a practical lifeskill that telling students how to solve the situation for them. I thought that was pretty insightful. Thirty brains can solve a tech issue more successfully than one teacher. Also, I've decided that I could probably be more confident with using technology if I simplified my tech tools in a way that I had control to solve the problem. I don't need to be a tech guru, and I don't need to be super ambitious about using technology to create a good lesson.
Art Journal Entry 3 (9/11/18)
Following a fairly good three weeks, this week threw some surprising curveballs at me. While I'd been feeling confident about the amount of detail in my lesson plans, the relationships that I was building with students, and even the process/product of their work, management has been a surprising challenge. I think a big part of this shock was recognizing that my students haven't quite outgrown the middle-school learning environment, where they had a lot more apparent structures and routines to help them complete the assignment. The students themselves have been invested in the lesson and care about knowing what to do. But most of the students (even native English speakers) seem hesitant about following the process checkpoint instructions that I had set down at their tables. They would rather wait for my direction and approval to complete tasks than ask their peers for help or read the printed instructions I'd give them. This made overall management feel very stressful, as I had to bounce between multiple tables trying to coach students on how to confidently take the next step. As a result, students were not able to finish some very time-sensitive, construction-based parts of pottery that had to be done by the weekend. Had I been in a middle school environment, I would've known to spend a lot more time creating these structures going into it. But being in a high school environment, I honestly expected that working independently wouldn't be as big of an issue. I felt bewildered, overwhelmed, frustrated, and somewhat of a failure that I fixated on a certain group of students and ignored others. I was also teaching pottery, which means that students are at different stages of the construction process based on drying time. That also probably contributed to the way I felt. However, I respect the difficult learning lesson I faced today. I also greatly appreciate that the students themselves weren't moody or problematic with their behaviors.
Moving forward, I know that I will have to keep this aspect of management in mind when I plan my lessons. As overwhelmed as I am, I respect the failing forward process and will try to keep a reflective, learning attitude the best that I can. I also appreciate that some form of learning occurred and that the students were willing to be engaged, even if things started out a little dysfunctional. This music video ("Try Everything" by Shakira) represents my desire to keep persevering and respect my mistakes as I continue to grow as a teacher.
Moving forward, I know that I will have to keep this aspect of management in mind when I plan my lessons. As overwhelmed as I am, I respect the failing forward process and will try to keep a reflective, learning attitude the best that I can. I also appreciate that some form of learning occurred and that the students were willing to be engaged, even if things started out a little dysfunctional. This music video ("Try Everything" by Shakira) represents my desire to keep persevering and respect my mistakes as I continue to grow as a teacher.
Art Journal Entry 4 (9/18/18)
There really wasn't an isolated event that happened this week that impressed me in terms of student work (process or product). What's consistently impressed me was the management strategies that the jewelry teacher at my high school placement has done to keep students attentive when working with some dangerous materials. As both of us got ready to work on our necklace pendant lesson, he taught students how to solder. Given that jewelry has a very meticulous process and most of our students are ESL, there had to be a very specific way students retained how dangerous it was to work with a torch. My mentor teacher simplified the torch safety rules into four rules: always wear safety goggles, tie your hair back, take off all dangly objects, and roll sleeves up. He made sure that all the rules didn't have more than four or five words so students could copy them down in their sketchbooks. He also motioned to his hands, ears, and hair, "miming" out the safety protocols for the students. My mentor teacher is also very aware of voice tone and inflection, varying it depending on how serious the content is so students know that they need to heed the safety protocols. In addition, my mentor teacher placed tools under the document camera and labeled each part on a sheet of paper with marker. Using a micro torch, he demoed how to melt solder onto metal. Because my mentor teacher spent so much time and attention on details for engagement, all of our students were able to successfully practice sweat soldering without exhibiting problematic behavior. Also, because my mentor teacher color codes all of his materials, students are able to grab what they need and work on their own without depending on him or me for support.
This was impressive for me to observe because it made me think a lot about successful management protocols. We have a huge advantage as art teachers to use color as a way to organize supplies and make safety instructions visual for students. It was also great that students were so successful with their soldering skills because they were acutely aware of the responsibility of soldering materials. I want to keep that in mind when I teach other content too, like pottery and drawing/painting. I could also use color psychology as a way to label important materials and teach students how to work independently and responsibly.
This was impressive for me to observe because it made me think a lot about successful management protocols. We have a huge advantage as art teachers to use color as a way to organize supplies and make safety instructions visual for students. It was also great that students were so successful with their soldering skills because they were acutely aware of the responsibility of soldering materials. I want to keep that in mind when I teach other content too, like pottery and drawing/painting. I could also use color psychology as a way to label important materials and teach students how to work independently and responsibly.
Art Journal Entry 5 (9/25/18)
Poem 1:
It breaks my heart deep. ********* is bad to you, Yet I'm proud of mine. But we're both leaders With different paths and values And I respect that. I wish you the best. Be fearless and outspoken To your integrity And I'll be open Advocating potential, Not limitations. |
Poem 2:
Beginning of the placement: Working one-on-one is my strong suit. Authentic connections. Good start. Middle of the placement: No work-life balance. Sensory overwhelm bad. Hard to recover. End of the placement: Tolerable strain. Tough learning curves, but helpful. Imperfect progress. My response: Please fail forward and love your humanness. You're a work in progress. |
Art Journal Entry 6 (10/2/18)
For this week's art journal, I was required to find a famous artist's quote and relate it to the closing of my high school teaching placement. This quote by Degas feels like something that perfectly encapsulates the way that I felt about my student teaching up to this point. While there have been things that I still really struggled with, there were also some tremendous breakthroughs that made me feel a little more self-assured as a teacher. Classroom management in particular has been one of those learning curves. I recognized that there were a lot of blurred lines between middle school and high school student behavior, which gave me a new perspective on the studio work expectations that I set in the class. Also, I started scaffolding down my lessons to accommodate for more step-by-step processes. Conceptual thinking has been somewhat of a challenge for my intro students, so breaking things down technically into bite-sized chunks has helped with that. Though I'm bummed that I don't get to continue to practice this more at my high school placement, I still think that the tools I learned will still be useful at my elementary placement.
Art Journal Entry 7 (10/9/18)
My play with text is based on the compositional organization of word clouds, specifically ones that have to do with receiving and implementing constructive feedback. I just concluded my time at my high school placement and I'm about to gear up for my elementary placement. My mentor teachers, my university coach, and I discussed the kinds of things I would need to work on in order to be successful during my elementary placement (it helped that one of my high school mentor teachers was a veteran elementary teacher). My greatest strengths were building positive and safe rapport with students and reinforcing successful classroom management strategies. Things I needed to improve on were being more organized with supplies and materials, as well as understanding what the learning objectives were for each day in the lesson. Having good organizational skills for my lesson will be imperative when I work at my elementary placement, especially since there is not much time to do demos and have students create work. The image I included with my text represents reaching my halfway goal of completing my student teaching. It has been a huge challenge and a massive amount of stress, but the feedback has been positive and constructive from both students and faculty. The feedback makes up who I am as a teacher, which will generate my success finishing my program. We'll see what kind of mindset I'll have when it's all over.
Art Journal Entry 8 (10/16/18)
The task for this week's journal was to take a picture in nature and celebrate the end of my placement with a walk in the park. Saturday was a good day to do this. It was 70 degrees and sunny. The next day, it was snowing and 27 degrees.
This Tuesday marked the second week of my elementary placement. My last day at my high school placement was October 5th. However, I still went to parent/teacher conferences at my high school placement on the 12th, which brought a little bit of closure to the end of my work. It felt very gratifying to speak so highly about my students to their parents, and watch the students bashfully smile out of pride for their work. Some of them even gave me a hug after the end of our meeting. It made me feel like I made some sort of impact with them in the classroom, and that I was somewhat successful with my classroom management routines. The only other thing that I will mention about the end of my high school placement was that my mentor teacher and I had the students give me a pro/grow evaluation as a teacher. The students were very honest with both their positive and constructive feedback. I tried my best to make sure that the students felt safe to challenge my classroom management strategies and not expect me to retaliate against them. I also made sure to shake hands with the students that were the most vocal about giving me constructive feedback (even if it was blunt and a little harsh). This honored their insights as adults that co-created the learning environment with me. They were both surprised and appreciative that I gave them that respect. |
Art Journal Entry 9 (10/23/18)
Due to the large file size of the lesson spread, I've included screen-captures of each image that can be viewed by clicking on them.
I chose to present my blind contour caricature lesson from Drawing and Painting 1 for my lesson spread because it was the only lesson that I taught that finished before I left for my second placement. Since high school students are often self-conscious about their technical drawing skills, my mentor teacher and I wanted to create a lesson that allowed them to experiment, laugh, and relax with the process of drawing portraits. The technical focus of grading was based on their use of soft-shaded values and layered patterns. The conceptual focus was on how mindful students were of incorporating humor into their work. While I thought that the students' projects were successful, they made good suggestions to improve the lesson the next time I taught it (which is discussed in the lesson spread). There's not much I can comment on regarding the aesthetic appearance of the lesson spread.
I chose to present my blind contour caricature lesson from Drawing and Painting 1 for my lesson spread because it was the only lesson that I taught that finished before I left for my second placement. Since high school students are often self-conscious about their technical drawing skills, my mentor teacher and I wanted to create a lesson that allowed them to experiment, laugh, and relax with the process of drawing portraits. The technical focus of grading was based on their use of soft-shaded values and layered patterns. The conceptual focus was on how mindful students were of incorporating humor into their work. While I thought that the students' projects were successful, they made good suggestions to improve the lesson the next time I taught it (which is discussed in the lesson spread). There's not much I can comment on regarding the aesthetic appearance of the lesson spread.
Art Journal Entry 10 (10/30/18)
This is the cover for my teaching portfolio, in preparation for the mock interview. I feel prepared for the interview in terms of the content that I'll present (lesson plans and spreads, teaching philosophy, resumé, personal work, etc.). I've also been in interviews before and feel comfortable talking about my accomplishments in front of the administrative panel. I guess I feel a little bit overwhelmed and nervous because I have to divide my time getting my portfolio ready while simultaneously teaching my lessons and prepping materials at my second placement. It's a lot to juggle and I feel like I'm running on very low brain fumes. But it's okay. It's really just initial jitters that will go away by the time the interview starts. My mentor teacher sat on interview panels for seventeen years. He's been coaching me on what to expect during a teacher interview and how to be successful during the mock interview. I feel very supported, which makes me look forward to seeing what will happen next.
|
Art Journal Entry 11 (11/6/18)
I connect the term "projection" to "hypothesis." My projections, or assumptions, that I've made about my teaching experience were that management and student rapport were going to be a lot easier with the students at my high school placement rather than the students at my elementary placement. I have a lot more experience working in high schools and middle schools. Because I am closer in age to these students, I am usually able to build really good empathetic rapport with them. My previous elementary work experience has not always been great. The kids are sometimes too messy, noisy, and overwhelming for me to handle. I predicted that I would deal with way more behavior issues at the elementary level, and less issues at the high school level. During my student teaching, the opposite happened.
I dealt with a lot more confrontational attitudes at my high school placement, specifically related to grades. There was a day when I had eight students yell at me during class about their low grade, picking a fight with me to change their grade. I was initially overwhelmed by this, but I eventually had to set strict expectations for behavior management when it came to calmly discussing grades outside. We also had a lot of discussions about appropriate cell phone use during class and how to earn rewards like "Free Seat Friday." The students did not like being talked to like kids, especially the juniors and seniors. My mentor teacher and I agreed that we would treat our students like adults if they acted like them. This was a very hard statement to give them, but it was the right thing to do. The painting that I included with my high school "projection" was feeling like I evaded their sharp criticisms towards my behavior management.
|
In contrast, the chemistry that I share with my elementary students is going a lot smoother. Building rapport with them hasn't taken as much time. They also respect the classroom management expectations that I set for them. Even when they are having a tough day, I don't hear a lot of pushback. As a result, the students and I share a lot more rich conversations that involve artistic language, creative problem-solving, inquiries about culture, and goofy jokes. Even though my projects don't focus so heavily on technical skills, I feel like the students are leaving my class with a lot more learning value than my high school students. This painting represents the symbiotic relationship I share with my elementary students. Structure, instructions, and rapport is communicated with a more fluid, respectful dynamic. I didn't expect that this would happen at my elementary placement. However, this experience has made me more open to working at an elementary school.
|
In terms of reflection, I've been keeping up with a journaling practice in terms of what went well with a lesson and what I would need to change. However, there are so many things that I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to decompress. Cultural responsiveness is a huge piece of my student teaching puzzle that has a lot of key components impacting my students' behavior and creative process. With the specific demographic at my school, the kids come from some pretty difficult family situations. We also have a lot of immigrant families that have strong opinions about reinforcing cultural values from their home countries into our schools. I don't think it's a bad thing, but it's a new experience that can sometimes be daunting for a first year teacher to deal with. I also have a meditation practice that I value keeping up with to prevent sensory overwhelm. Sometimes, I don't feel like I have a ton of time to do that either. But I'm learning that my reflective process is crucial for me to maintain my sanity as a teacher. This painting reflects my mental state at the peak of my exhaustion. I want to shut out the world around me and just focus on myself, in my inner world.
|
Art Journal Entry 12 (11/13/18)
Today's journal topic is about our thoughts on collaboration with other art educators and how I would depict that in a 3-D object. The piece I've made is a little strange, but I am currently experimenting with some conceptual ways to respond to journal prompts. Personally, I enjoy the possibility of collaborating with other teachers. I'm more open at this time to doing cross-curricular collaboration with core subject teachers. This is a great way to encourage student engagement, it can offer lots of creative solutions for lesson plans, and it's a great way to advocate for the arts. Collaborating with other art teachers (potentially for a traveling exhibition in the district) is a great opportunity to build rapport and build communal awareness on supporting the arts. It's also a great way to pick the brains of seasoned teachers when it comes to working with new and unfamiliar materials. The artwork I made represents collaboration because it's about throwing out an idea to a community of educators and get feedback. I believe that collaboration should be an organic process rather than something that one person has a rigid vision about. Who knows? It could be a great way to satisfy everyone's SLO goals.
Art Journal Entry 13 (11/20/18)
Materials:
|
The holiday craft project that I decided to create for this journal entry was about making decorative holiday bags for gifts. I thought this would be a really great project for elementary students, specifically Kindergarten through 2nd grade. This age group needs to work on basic technical skills like drawing shapes, cutting, and gluing. I figured this would be a good holiday project. Because I also work at a multicultural school that has lots of students with different religious backgrounds (especially related to African and Muslim traditions), teachers are not encouraged to do projects with kids that have a strong Christmas or religious theme. So I decided to design my project around winter theme: building a snowman. Since I was not able to find step-by-step examples of the project, I created my own.
|
Important Notes about this project:
Scaffolding Possibilities
- Teaching students how to cut round objects and use the appropriate amount of liquid glue is a very important skill for Kindergarteners and first graders to have. Specifically with gluing, they need to know how much is "too much" glue. They can control the amount they use by spreading drops of glue with their fingers. They can use a cotton swab or q-tips if they do not like getting glue on their hands.
- Adding the tissue paper adds a 3-D relief to the project. It also gives students a gluing challenge that can work on their skills.
- Cutting out fingers for the branch arms is tricky, but making mitten shapes is a great replacement if students are having a challenge with cutting such skinny shapes. The teacher can also cut strips of fabric and wrapping paper for the snowman's accessories, but the challenge is that the wrapping paper can curl and the fabric can be too floppy.
- If students use a blue bag with an orange scarf, this is a chance for the teacher to talk about complimentary colors.
- The project also serves a practical purpose. When they are done, they can give a gift to their parent using the gift bag.
- I could extend this project with my students by having them create a ceramic object that went inside their bag.
Scaffolding Possibilities
- Kindergarten: Students could cut snowflakes with construction paper or tissue paper and glue it onto their bags. Making smaller ones mean that they can continue practicing their cutting skills.
- First grade: Students could create projects similar to the images that I got from the internet. They would need templates to trace for various animals and objects (such as reindeer and snowmen). But I would need to make sure that the objects don't look too "Christmas-y."
- Second grade: The project would look more like the example I provided. There's a lot more detailed cutting that the students would have to work on. By then, they would have the ability to draw, cut, and glue smaller details.
Art Journal Entry 14 (12/4/18)
Letter for high school placement: "Growing Pains"
Dear Past Nicole,
You started out at your high school placement feeling really confident about your success working with teenage students. This was supported by all of your prior experience and passion working with teenagers in art environments. Boy, were you humbled. Achieving democratic classroom management was a lot more challenging than you expected, especially with grades 9-12 ESL students. Some students really needed the structure of rules and consequences while others earned the right to be treated like an adult. Learning how to manage materials for pottery and metals was a lot more complicated than you expected. You ended up respecting the expertise you needed to take care of student projects in the kiln and with construction safety in metals. Finally, there were a lot of moving parts with organizing materials for demonstrations and remembering to say everything you needed to. In short, it ended up being a lot more hard and demanding than you expected. If you look at the image on the right, success is not a straight shot to happiness. And being a high school teacher definitely doesn't represent that. But this is what happens when you take the risk to work with three different teachers in four different art subjects. If you had stuck with drawing and painting for the whole eight weeks, you would've done well but would've also been very bored. By taking this risk, you proved that you had some understanding to teach a lot of other subjects and made yourself a lot more employable. Was it perfect? No. Was it overwhelming? Hell yes. But that choice will make you more versatile as a teacher, so I think it was a good choice. At the end of the day, don't be hard on yourself. You're learning about school success just as much as your students. But you impressed your teachers and built authentic relationships with your students. You also gained some valuable ESL teaching skills, which will always be useful for your teaching pedagogy. Cheers to teacher growing pains! Best, Present Nicole |
Letter for elementary placement: "Happy Accident"
Dear Past Nicole,
You went into your elementary placement completely afraid and unsure that you would like working with little kids. You didn't like doing so in the past, so what going to change now? Being on the autism spectrum, you expected that there would be a lot more sensory overwhelm issues with the mess of clean-up and managing screaming, hyper children. And being an emetophobe, you had no idea how you were going to keep your cool in case a kid puked in the middle of your class. But you were surprised to discover how much easier classroom management was, how likely you could make a high success rate project (both for your students and yourself), and how you could be a little strict with your expectations because most kids thrive on structure. Best of all, you were able to make connections with a lot of students that came from a huge variety of cultural backgrounds. Whether they were an immigrant or the child of an inner city child that'd experienced gang violence, you saw that they all loved to learn, make art, and goof around. Yes, there were definitely some happy accidents. You didn't expect to break up girl drama fights on the playground, build rapport with the troublemaker students, evacuate the school during a natural gas leak, de-escalate a student with aggressive meltdown tendencies, or help to plan the most important event at the school. But you handled it all with a smile on your face, an optimistic attitude, and a tenacious resolve to give the students the best support they needed. It definitely helped that your mentor teacher was a seasoned K-12 inner city teacher with a personality like Jack Black from School of Rock. The reason that I say this was all a happy accident was because you didn't expect that you would like anything you would experience at your elementary placement. You also didn't expect some of the craziness that went along with it. But in art, a happy accident means that something you thought would ruin your art made it even better than you expected. It was a happy accident that you were able to thrive so well in your elementary placement, to the point where you're seriously considering applying for an elementary position as your first job. I'm proud of what you learned and how you stayed true to yourself. Thank you for being reflective and practicing cultural responsiveness as much as you could. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. Best, Present Nicole |