Surviving my 2nd week in Elementary

This week I am finally getting into the swing of things with the elementary art classes. The transitions between classes are going smoother and I’m able to get one class’s materials put away and switch materials out for the next class more efficiently in the short time. It’s definitely all about getting into a routine with what needs to get done. It’s very different from the high school because there are a lot more students to account materials for so the system set in place needs to work. In this setting, everything is color coded and it seems to work well. Also, there always has to be some flexibility because each class is so different, even if they’re the same grade level. Lessons need to be tweaked depending on the pace or attitude of the classes.

I had the opportunity to attend a PBIS (Professional Behavior and Instructional Strategies) meeting regarding the walk through the school had at the beginning of the week. PBIS is a new national program that is being piloted at schools around the city. It involves having the students know and understand the rules of the school which are to “Be Safe. Be Responsible. Be Respectful.” Each classroom can individualize these rules to fit the needs of the room. From the meeting, I gathered that there was lots of room for improvement regarding this program, but it was understood how the faculty was going to go ahead and improve upon what they are doing.

School politics played a big role this week with the start of the Recall Petitions. My CT is very involved with this and I was able to see how something like this affects a school as a whole. From what I understood, many of the faculty members were becoming very divided over this. It didn’t affect the students in any way because all conversations regarding this were held in private. However, many teachers were in and out of the art room talking with my CT about it. It was interesting to hear about how much time she puts outside of school to support what she believes.

Ceramics Slab Constructed Abstract Self-Portrait

Here are some samples of the Abstract Self Portrait Pieces. The students were to choose an abstract word to describe themselves and portray it using the Elements and Principles.

"Music/Motion"

"Blooming"

"Conservative"

"Fluid"

Watercolor Landscapes

The Art Fundamentals students used reference images of landscapes to map out and build up their watercolor from lightest tones to darker tones.

Finished Self Portrait Heads

So, in an effort to get all the heads graded by the time I was finished at this placement, I had to have the students "hustle buns" to get them finished in my last week. Now, even though I had presented this lesson 3 weeks prior, many had not started until this last week. Despite the whining and complaining, they made it work. Here's some of the results.

In-Progress "Emerging Identity" Ceramic Self Portrait Heads

This lesson began with inspiration from the YouTube video I had posted in an early entry. The students used the same techniques starting with a clay cylinder and pushing out their facial features from inside the cylinder to create a head. They used pictures of themselves as reference, along with mirrors, and handouts on proportion to create a life-size head of themselves.

The Colored Pencil Animals on Display

Here's the display I put together with the Colored Pencil Animals.

The Last Week Teaching High School

It was my final week of teaching at the high school and I can't help but reflect on my experiences these past nine weeks. The music playing in the background has been the soundtrack of my time here. My CT has been such a great mentor and made my experience as well rounded as I could have hoped for. I've seen strengths in myself emerge more so than they ever had before. I have become more assertive in enforcing rules and holding students accountable for their actions. I've found my "teacher voice" and truly understood how to use it. I don't have to be loud and theatrical if that's not me (although this can help). Most of all, I learned to be myself. I may be more quiet in nature, but this can work for me. The few times I've had to raise my voice, the students fell quiet and truly listened. Then they even started "policing" each other to behave.

In the art program here, I learned of some important things to have the kids walking away knowing. Perceptual awareness. Choice. Deductive Reasoning. Self Sufficiency. These are all qualities to help build the students as a "whole". I've built good relationships with the students and they really started putting their trust in me which was a good feeling. When I respected them, they (generally) respected me back .

High school wasn't nearly as scary as I had originally anticipated and it's a great feeling knowing that I'm capable of teaching it. Even with classes I was unsure about (Fibers, Photo), I was able to learn so I could, in turn, teach the students the basics. I now have the confidence that I can do this. And my CT has become such a great resource that I know I can always come back to her if I ever need help.

Halfway done with student teaching! On to elementary school! Can you believe that this is making me nervous now?

Board Meeting and Art Educator Conference

The WAEA board meeting and conference was an interesting experience. I was able to travel with my CT up to Eau Claire for both. Wednesday night was the board meeting and my CT is the representative of private schools. We came late so I missed the introductions of everyone, but I was able to catch up with what was going on. I began to gather where everyone was coming from and what they represented. They overviewed topics of discussion and then broke up into small committee groups. In these committee groups they decided what topics needed motions to bring up to the whole board. In our committee we discussed the IDEAS Exchange, which I thought was a very helpful event for educators. In these exchanges, a person would bring one lesson of their own to present with enough copies for others. You would be able to take away a copy of everyone else’s lessons and start to build a collection of others. The other topic was on the grant monies the Association has to give to teachers who write grants for programs for their classrooms. Our discussion was about how to promote these grant opportunities for their members because most of the board members did not even know these monies existed.

The conference the next day was an interesting experience. The space seemed a bit small for what it could’ve been. I found out the University pulled out in May and the State Theater was the only place in the city to accommodate it for when it was to be held. Because of this, there were less vendors, schools, and selling artists at the conference, which to me, was disappointing because of everything I had heard about past conferences. It was a bit unorganized for where and when workshops were to take place. Times were misprinted in the programs and things were not posted effectively for the changes. There was a lot of confusion and frustration.

It was fun talking with the vendors and hearing about their products. The keynote speaker we saw was Ben Schumaker of the “Memory Project”. It was interesting to hear his experience creating the project at UW Madison and how much it has grown. He gave several ideas of how to incorporate the project in different kinds of classrooms such as different grade levels and different medias.

One of the workshops I went to was one about “Wandering Wisconsin” and women from Kohler Arts explained how to incorporate Wisconsin art landmarks into lessons. I was familiar with some of these artists already but it was nice to obtain lesson ideas.

Another workshop I went to was “Creativity Books” which was basically just a talk on using books for professional growth as well as books for personal use. She presented interesting books and gave us an extensive book list that I will find useful.

I helped Jodi with her bookbinding workshop. The teachers in the session found the project useful and told her afterwards how many ideas they got in how to incorporate the book/sketchbook into lessons. Each person in the session was able to walk away with their own hardcover sketchbook.

The last thing we did was a self-guided sculpture tour. The pieces on the walk were so diverse and unique. The artists were from all over the country. From the tour, we also found some cute little boutiques and shops, some of which also had art in them. We also discovered the member show in one of the shops.

Overall, the conference went well for my first time experiencing it. However, from what I heard from other teachers, it did not give back to its members as much as it could have.

MIAD Field Trip

The MIAD field trip was a huge success. The students were so enthralled with all the artwork on display. They loved the work all throughout the hallways and asked our guide (the admissions counselor) great questions. He happened to be a 2010 MIAD Drawing graduate and he actually remembered my thesis show from a few years before him. This tour also happened to be his first high school tour and he was impressed how well behaved and interested our students were in everything. He emphasized observational drawing which is something that I had wished had been more instilled in me when I was in high school. He overviewed MIAD's program and how the students can begin to build their portfolios for review. It was very informative and helpful.

Then my CT and myself released the students to the Third Ward. Many of the students went to galleries that were on their maps along with little boutiques and shops. We were surprised to hear they actually DID try to see galleries, because, let's be honest, they're high schoolers we were setting loose. We had no issue with the city bus or anyone being late coming back to our meeting place. The students kept talking about the art and how much fun it was to see everything. It was definitely successful and I think the students were able to take away some good ideas for their own artwork and looking into different types of schools they can attend after high school.