Reflection on Experience

I cannot believe that the practicum experience is over already! Time flew right on by! I have been done with my practicum for nearly three weeks, and I miss being in the classroom. I had so much fun observing the students, being able to help them with their projects when the needed assistance, and overall, just being able to see them embrace and come to love art. I really enjoyed teaching as well; the lesson planning, the project sample making, teaching the lesson, giving the demonstrations…everything! Standing at the front of the classroom was not uncomfortable for me at all; I loved it. I know for sure that I want to teach, and elementary school may be my top choice, especially after experiencing the students and watching them explore with different art mediums that they had not yet explored. Watching them as part of this adventure brought joy to my heart, as I got to see each grow as an artist a little more. This experience really solidified how I want to impact my students’ lives and hopefully get them to develop a passion for art. I want to help them grow up as artists, whether they choose to be an artist when they grow up or not, I believe that anyone can create art.

Mrs. M was such a great influence in this experience. She taught me so much, and I owe much of my growth as a future art teacher to her. By observing her, I learned so much, and I want to use some of the advice, techniques, and methods she used/uses and apply them to my own style of teaching, assessing, and interacting with the students. I want my students to love me as much as they love Mrs. M, which is incredibly apparent in the way they interact with her. I also want to be just as compassionate as Mrs. M was to her students, and the way that she gave equal attention to everyone, and treated no student differently than the rest, regardless of whether they were disabled or not. I respect and admire her a lot, and am extremely grateful to her for this experience.

I feel that this experience has given me a much deeper understanding of what it means to be an art teacher, and how much work it takes to really make an impact in a student’s life. This experience has also strengthened my resolve to be an impactful and effective art teacher for the sake of my students not just at the time when I am their teacher, but past that point as well. It has also helped me see how I need to plan lessons that accommodate children with special needs. Although I have included accommodations in previous lesson plans, I don’t think I gave as much thought to what those students might need in terms of modifications that I should have. After being in a classroom and assisting children who have cognitive and/or physical disabilities, I realize how important it is that I am intentional about how I modify these lessons. Although I always knew this was important, it really struck me when I interacted with these children, and got to see how they would get frustrated when I tried to modify a process for them in the way I thought was appropriate, but it was not working for them. It really opened my eyes to see that I will also need to get to know these students in order to help them in a way that they can learn the same material as the rest of the class, and participate in the same assignment. I think I will also research different ideas for accommodating students with special needs so that I am more prepared in the future. 

Overall, this experience was, I reiterate, such an eye opener, and I cannot wait until my next practicum experience. I’m excited to be able to work with middle school or high school students, as I have no prior experience teaching in either of those settings, but I am quite excited about it.

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day observing at S. Elementary school. I was sad to say goodbye to Mrs. M, who I really respect, and to the students, who loved having my partner and I interact with them.

Drawing lines on the columns.

The 2nd grade class are currently learning about Classical Greek art, according to the art history timeline. They are focusing on Greek columns, which they are creating out of paper. Mrs. M reviewed with the class of what they learned about the columns. After a brief review session, the students gathered around the table and watched as Mrs. M gave a demonstration on how to make columns. She drew lines on a long piece of paper with a pencil, and connected the lines to the rounded shapes at the bottom of the paper. After drawing the lines in pencil, she went over them with graphite crayons. Then she told the students that they would have to decide which of the ancient orders of columns they wanted to draw on the rounded shapes. The choices they had were ones they had covered, which included Ionic, Corinthian, and Doric. After they had their lines and order drawn on the column, the students had to come up with 25 adjectives that described them. After the demonstration, students passed out supply buckets to the tables and got to work. Quite a few of the students seemed to have trouble coming up with 25 adjectives on their own, so I went around to a few of them and helped them brainstorm some that fit who they were.

Finished space landscapes.

4 grade continued working on their space landscapes. They created planets out of circles and colored them in with bright colors previously. When they got in the classroom, they gathered around the demonstration table, and Mrs. M showed them how to use charcoal to shade the planets and give them shadows and make them appear spherical. She also gave them glitter glue to use on their compositions to create stars. She showed them how to overlap the planets after they had been shaded in with charcoal to give a sense of depth. The students got right to work after the demonstration was over with. I helped a student with cerebral palsy throughout the class period. She was unable to move wrists or hands, and she could only communicate through making sounds. I helped her to grab the charcoal, and she moved her arm up and down in order to shade in the planet. Then I helped her to apply glue to the backs of the planets to put on the composition. After she had glued the planets on her landscape, I gave her the choice of what color glitter glue she wanted to use to add to her landscape, and helped her apply that. Trying to work with her when communication was not clearly understood was difficult, but it was an excellent learning experience nonetheless.  

Finished canopic jar.

The 3rd grade class are learning about canopic jars in their Ancient Egyptian unit right now (again, according to their art history timeline). Previously, they had used brown, black, and white paint and a sponge to stamp a long piece of paper to create a texture resembling stone. Mrs. M gave a demonstration on how to cut the canopic jar shapes out of the stone-stamped paper. She began by folding the paper in half, and then tracing half of the design on it. Then she cut it out, and afterward, traced faces on the "jars" with gold and silver paint markers. The students got right to work, and seemed to really like making the paper jars. One student got frustrated with tracing and cutting, as he wanted to make a jar that resembled a jackal. I helped him with proportions and show him what he needed to do to get the shape he wanted. After a quick one-on-one demonstration with him, he understood and got right to work. It was rewarding to see him come to an understanding of what needed to be done and how to achieve what he wanted. He was proud of his work after he cut out his jar and drew on it with paint marker. 

This experience has been wonderful overall. I have learned so much about the art education field, both through observing the classes Mrs. M taught, and through the advice she's given me. Interacting with the students was so much fun, especially when I got to teach. I loved seeing how each student engages in art, and what they take from it. I look forward to my next pre-student teaching experience in the coming months. Until then, thanks for reading!

The Return to the Other School

Finished Scarab necklace

Today I went back to S. Elementary, after going to J. Elementary for the past few weeks. The 2nd graders are currently working on scarab pendants made of clay in their Egyptian Art unit. Previously, they had etched their design onto the clay, and it had been fired and glazed a blue color. Today they were putting their necklaces together. Mrs. M briefly reviewed with the students what the Scarab god was known for in Egyptian mythology. The students remembered learning that the Egyptians believed that he made the sun rise. After the review, Mrs. M gave a short demonstration on how to tie the pendant on the string. Students were then given 10 pairs of beads to make their necklaces with. I passed out the pendants to the students, and once they received their pendants and beads, they got straight to work. The students really enjoy this project, and the fact that they can wear their project is very exciting for them. After they finished making their necklaces, students sketched or colored in their sketchbooks until the class period was up.

Before the next grade (4th) came in, Mrs. M told me that play-acting with the students is a good teaching technique in terms of behavior, as it stimulates and engages them in what they are learning. Mrs. M gave the "Sally Sassy, Sally Sweet" example, where she shows negative behavior, and then shows good behavior to the students, and they correct her on the negative behavior. This reinforces what good behavior and bad behavior look like in the classroom, and how they are expected to act.

A few minutes before the 4th grade class came in, two students with disabilities came in and were given a specialized demonstration of the project they would be working on. After she finished, the rest of the class came in. 4th grade continued working on space landscapes today. They had cut out circles of paper and colored them in, which acted as their planets. Today, they ripped up the painted paper left over from the circle cutouts to create the landscape. After ripping, the students used charcoal to add value to the landscape. Most of the class period, I helped a student with cerebral palsy rip the paper to create a landscape. I would ask her where she wanted the pieces, as I held them up to the black paper in different areas, and she would respond with a noise and a smile when I placed it where she wanted it. Then I helped her to shade in her planets with charcoal. This was very difficult, as she cannot grasp things too well, and, besides making noises, she cannot communicate. I had to try to decipher her facial expressions to understand what she wanted. She seemed upset when I tried to help her shade in the planets with charcoal. I found out later that she does not like to get her hands dirty, so I would wipe down her hands with a wet rag after shading.

Stone painting

3rd grade is learning about canopic jars in their Egyptian art unit, which they will be making out of paper. Mrs. M began the class with a demonstration on how to create a stone-looking texture on paper by dabbing a sponge in black, brown, and white paint and then dabbing it on the piece of paper. These colors combined together made a stone-like appearance. During the demonstration, Mrs. M asked the students questions about what they had learned previously about canopic jars and their functions. I was surprised with how much the students had retained from the previous lesson, as they were able to tell her what they were used for in various circumstances. After the demonstration, my partner and I handed out the paper the students would be sponging on, and Mrs. M handed out plates with the paint. The students got right to work, and I was surprised with how quiet they were today. I noticed some of the students were dabbing on the paper in the same direction, so I told them that they should alter the directions in which they sponge to create a more textured appearance. After class, the students picked up and washed up, and waited for Mrs. M to line them up. She reviewed what the had learned about canopic jars by table, and when each table gave her a correct answer, she would allow them to line up at the door.

5th grade came in shortly after 3rd grade left, and were watching a movie on mummies today. Mrs. M told them that they needed to take notes in their sketchbooks, as they would be using their notes to help them on the next project. She told them what they needed to look for and pay close attention to in order to take accurate notes. My partner and I did not stay more than 10 minutes after 5th grade came in, as we have been staying 3 hours at a time.

Before we left, Mrs. M brought out the students' finished Japanese scroll paintings from J. Elementary. She said that the students had really enjoyed the project, particularly when it came to writing in Japanese. Some of the projects turned out really nice. Overall, I'm glad they enjoyed the project.

Assessing Art

Mrs. M uses formative assessment in assessing art. She informed me that all art teachers have to attend training for formative assessment, which I did not know. She will walk around the classroom and look to make sure that students are understanding concepts of the lesson. She found that when she does this, she can catch problems earlier on and work with the student to correct the errors and help them understand what they need to do in order to meet expectations. As she walks around the room, she also stops by tables to ask students about their work to ensure that what they are doing in their work meets the objectives set in the lesson plan. She said that she assesses more on the process of creating more than the product. She has a clipboard that has the seating chart on it, and she places a symbol based on who understands the concepts taught and who does not. She prefers not to use rubrics.

I agree with Mrs. M's way of assessing a student's process of creating art rather than the actual product itself. By assessing a student's process, you are able to see whether they are really understanding the material and creating based on what they learned. Also, assessing based on the process essentially assesses their growth as an artist, which I believe is important. Assessing a product alone is not a good indicator as to how a student is growing, or whether they are really understanding the material or if they are just following directions and replicating a project. I would probably use a rubric myself, but I would definitely use formative assessment in my own classroom, and I would walk around as well to make sure to catch mistakes early on and check on student progress.

Last Day of Teaching

Brief activity testing memory of the Kana learned in the lesson.

Today was the final day of the Japanese scroll painting lesson. I had to wait to teach them for about 10 minutes, as there was a brief Veteran's Day ceremony held in the front of the school, where veterans talked about the holiday and its significance briefly. After the ceremony was finished, the students gathered back inside, and I taught the 4th graders about the Japanese writing system, which consists of scripts, or Kana, as they are called in Japan. The Kana in the writing system includes Hiragana (used for native words), Katakana (used more for foreign words), and Kanji (characters that hold various meanings). After teaching them about the writing system, I gave them a demonstration on how to write in Hiragana. The students were expected to write at least two adjectives in Japanese that described them. I gave each table a list of adjectives written in Hiragana to choose from. I showed them how Japanese is written horizontally rather than vertically. After the demonstration, the students continued their landscapes, as they had not finished them yet. They will work on writing in Japanese next class period since there was not as much time to work on the project as usual due to the ceremony.

Glazing

 5th grade continued to work on their face mugs. Since my last visit, the students have added the facial features, and the mugs have been fired. Today, the students are glazing their mugs. Mrs. M had set out different colored glazes at each table, and students would migrate to the tables where the colored glaze they wanted was. I enjoyed seeing how each student's mug had turned out, and the students are excited to be able to use them.

Finished mask.

The 3rd grade class was finishing up their masks. The students experimented using hole punchers and creating holes in the colored paper so they could tie raffia at the ends, and some of them even weaved the raffia through each hole and tied the ends together. They also put beads onto the raffia strands, and glued them onto the masks as well. A lot of them turned out looking really nice, and the students were really proud of their work. They kept coming up to me, asking me to take pictures of their work, as they saw me take this picture I have to the right of a finished project. It was great to see how much pride and confidence they had in their work. At the end of class, Mrs. M asked them what they learned from the project, and the students talked about the functions of masks, the process of creating them, and what they learned about symmetry. It's a joy for me to see how much these students cling to the projects and what they take out of them.

I had so much fun teaching the 4th graders about Japanese scroll paintings! The whole process from making the lesson to teaching it was, quite honestly, a blast! And it was really rewarding for me to see how the students appreciated this lesson and how much they retained each time I reviewed with them. Some of the time constraints were frustrating, as I felt rushed in the lesson and demonstration at times so they could get to work a little bit. If I could tweak anything about the lesson, I think I would like to have taught them more about the writing system and gave them some practice writing a few words on their own. However, with the time constraints, it was tricky to incorporate something like that into the lesson. I think I will use this lesson for my own class, but make changes according to grade level and where they are in skill level, and then I will not be as limited, and I can incorporate more practice exercises into the lesson. Overall, it was a good learning experience, and I can't wait to see the finished work!

Teaching: Round 2

Current project sample.

Today I continued the lesson I'm teaching the 4th grade students at J. Elementary. I reviewed briefly with the 4th graders about what we had learned last class time I taught them, and was glad to hear that they had retained much of the information that had been presented to them. Today I taught them about space in a composition, particularly about foreground, middle ground, and background. I went through a PowerPoint presentation that discussed the differences between the three planes, and at the end, I showed them a picture and they had to tell me which area highlighted was which type of plane. After the activity, I gave a demonstration on how to incorporate foreground, middle ground, and background into their gradation paintings, which is the next step in making their scroll paintings. I took my gradation painting project sample from last time and I added mountains, a stream flowing toward the foreground, and some trees. I showed the students where each of the objects in the composition lay in terms of foreground, middle ground, and background. After my demonstration, I instructed the students to begin creating their landscapes, keeping the different planes in mind.

Adding facial features.

5th grade continued to work on their face jugs. They are assembling their mugs, and are giving their mugs all sorts of wacky features, and it is interesting to see what each student creates. One of the students, for example, decided to create a "breakfast face", which incorporates bacon for the mouth, eggs for the eyes, and sausage for the nose. Some of the students had problems with their features not staying on, so I showed them how to score the surface of the mug, and then to put a liberal amount of water on, and smooth down. This appeared to have helped in keeping facial features on after that.

Symmetrical mask with raffia and
beads incorporated.

3rd grade is continuing to work on their masks. They are still applying designs using Sharpie markers and the gold and silver paint markers, but some of the students have moved on to using raffia and beads. They were allowed to use up to 10 pairs of beads on their masks. Some of the students decided to hole punch their colored construction paper and weave the raffia through it and then tie beads onto the loose strands. The students really enjoy this project, and they loved being able to incorporate different colored beads on their masks.

Teaching Art Criticism and Aesthetics in the Classroom

Mrs. M teaches students about art criticism by holding mini critiques for the grades by doing a walk around the table and talking about each others work. Students will begin by giving a positive comment, and then give a comment on what they could do differently, and then offer another positive comment. As the students critique each other's work, Mrs. M expects them to be specific in their answers; they cannot just say "I like this" or "I don't like this", they need to give reasons why something is or is not successful and what they can do to make it more successful. She touches slightly on aesthetics in 5th grade, but they do not seem to understand the concept very much. 


I like Mrs. M's method of critiquing art with the table walk-around, and being able to talk about everyone's work. I think it's nice that she incorporates the sandwich critique method, which is something I have heard about previously, and want to use in my own classroom critiques. I think that teaching aesthetics is difficult for younger students, especially since they are not at the point where they may be able to discuss what makes the artwork beautiful in detail, but teaching it to older students in a condensed fashion that they would understand might work. I may try to teach older elementary school students (grades 4 and 5) a little bit about aesthetics in art criticism, and if I see a consistent trend of students not understanding it, I may leave it alone until middle school.

Let the Teaching Commence!

Teaching 4th grade about Japanese scroll paintings and the
its functions.

Today my partner and I taught the 4th graders about Japanese scroll paintings at J. Elementary. The lesson today began with my partner covering the principles by which the Japanese follow when creating art. After she taught, I taught the students about Japanese scroll paintings and their meaning and functions. Then I taught them about gradation in a landscape, which they will be utilizing in their scroll painting. After teaching, I gave them a demonstration on how to paint a gradation on a long piece of paper which will act as their scroll. The students were really excited to be doing this project and learn about this Japanese art, especially once I revealed to them that eventually they will be learning to write in Japanese. The students did not have time to really dive into the lesson, as they had a late start day (where they begin 45 minutes later than normal), and so we had a limited amount of time to get through everything. It was frustrating, but a good lesson to me on how to gauge time in lessons better.

Today my partner and I had to leave early, so we stayed for our teaching and then left J. Elementary for the day.

Here is the lesson plan my partner and I used:

Children's Art Club: A Lesson in Manga Drawing

Tonight, at Children's Art Club, the children learned about Eastern Asian art, particularly from countries including China, Japan, and Korea. After the presentation was over, I taught older elementary school and middle school age children how to draw manga. I reviewed with them where manga came from and what characteristics manga had. I then showed them an example of some manga I bought straight from Japan when I went there in 2007, and then I showed them some American-styled comics and asked them to contrast the two styles. Afterward, I gave them a demonstration on how to draw their own manga faces, and gave them each their own sheet that contained examples of manga-styled eyes and hairstyles. Some of the children really liked learning about and drawing manga, some of the other children were not interested in the lesson at all, and preferred to draw in their own style.

Curriculum Planning

When I asked Mrs. M about how she plans her curriculum, she said that the overreaching curriculum is previously set for the year; there is a curriculum binder that comes with suggested set lesson plans. Her first year teaching, she tried to teach straight from the binder's lesson plans, but found that some did not have the desired effect in terms of holding the students' interest, and the projects were found to come out looking very much the same. So now, while Mrs. M keeps to the spirit of the curriculum (i.e. the art history timeline), she has deviated from the curriculum binder, and now assigns projects that have proven to be successful in keeping the students' attention, and the projects are similar in their approach, but different in their appearance. She has found that she can be flexible with the curriculum, though she keeps the focus on a common theme, but may vary the projects that go with that theme. And while the objectives and content may be similar, there are various directions that a project can be taken. Ultimately, she is flexible in her approach to deciding what to include in her curriculum, and she reflects at the end of every year what projects were successful, and which could be tweaked or taken out completely.

I think it's nice that there is a binder that includes lesson plans of what should be covered with students by grade, but I would not go off of that alone. Depending on the lesson, I might take elements I deem as important for students to learn and create a different, more stimulating lesson with them. However, if I like the lesson enough, and I think it will be beneficial to the students' learning, then I will use it as it is. I think I would end up using certain lessons in the binder to try them out and see the results, and if they come back negative, I would know to either tweak the project or take it out completely, whereas if they came back positive, I would probably keep the project. Ultimately, I hope my job does not come down to me having to abide by a set curriculum by the school. I want to be able to plan my lessons on my own, and I want to teach them the way I think students will benefit the most from them. And if my way does not work the first time, then I can reflect on how to make my lesson more effective, which is all part of being a reflective practitioner. However, if I cannot plan my lessons, how can I reflect on building effective lessons in the future? 

A New School!

Classroom at J. Elementary

Today was my first day at the other elementary school where Mrs. M teaches! My partner and I were supposed to do our lesson on Japanese scroll paintings today, but we had some technical difficulties with the computer, so we decided to teach two weeks from now after talking to Mrs. M about what day would be best to teach next.

Student adding texture to her
leaf.

Today was a late start for the school, where students begin their first class at 8:45 instead of 8:00. The 4th graders were the first to have class, and they continued to work on clay leaf bowls, which focuses on texture. The students received their leaf bowls from the students who were assigned to pass back artwork, and then they went to the supply cart to obtain tools for making texture between the veins of the leaves. Mrs. M taught them about enhancing their art work through adding the texture to their bowls, and were expected to have different kinds of textures on their bowls. After the students were finished making their textures, they placed the clay leaf over the top of a bowl, and pressed down to create the actual bowl shape. The students used the entire class period to do this project. At the end of the class period, each table cleaned up after themselves.

Face mug in progress

Next class to come in was 5th grade. The students are working on face mugs, which is a folk art lesson based off of face jugs. For her demonstration, Mrs. M taught the students how to attach separate clay pieces by smoothing and spreading the clay using water before shaping the clay pieces. Some of the students had problems getting their pieces, such as their handles, to stay on, so I urged them to be liberal with their water usage on their clay face jugs, as they were not adding very much water in order to get their pieces to stay.

Creating symmetrical designs on
the mask with a gold paint marker.

The 3rd grade class has been learning about masks and what functions they play in various cultures. They are exploring symmetry within their multicultural lesson, and they used black, brown, and tan construction paper to cut out masks. Once the masks were cut out, they picked out colored construction paper to put the mask over. After they were done with that step, they took sharpie markers, and later gold and silver paint markers and drew symmetrical designs on their masks. They really enjoyed getting to use the paint markers, but Mrs. M warned them to be careful not to shake them up too much before using, because if they did, when they opened the cap, the paint could spray out. After being told this, a few of the students wanted me to open the markers up for them, as they did not want to create a mess.

It was fun getting to know new faces today, both for my partner and I, and for the students we helped as well. They seemed to appreciate our presence more than the students at the other school did, which was made evident when some of the 3rd graders at the end of class clung on to my partner and I, as they did not want to leave us, fearing that they would never see us again after being told we would not be coming all the time. The students have a hard time wanting to leave Mrs. M's classroom, as they really love Mrs. M and the projects she assigns. I talked to one of the 3rd graders today, and she said that art is her favorite subject, and that Mrs. M makes it a fun learning experience. Her favorite project so far is the mask that she's been working on in class, and she said Mrs. M assigns fun projects.

Classroom Management

Mrs. M's rules follow closely with PBIS. Students have chances to engage in good behavior, and when they do, they are given tickets, which they can redeem them for rewards such as having lunch with Mrs. M, which many of the students desire apparently. When students are not behaving according to expectations, Mrs. M pulls the student aside or keeps them for a few minutes after class to explain and discuss with the student what needs to be done correctly next time, essentially reteaching the expectation to them. Students who regularly do not follow the rules and expectations are given a quick slip, which goes to their homeroom teacher, letting them know what rule or expectation they did not follow. If this continues, a note goes home to the parents. And if students get 3 quick slips, they get an office referral. Students who are frequently getting quick slips get a clipboard that they have to bring to every class, and at the end of class, the teacher goes over behaviors and expectations with them and, according to their behavior for that day, will give them a smiley face, a neutral face, or a sad face. The expectations and rules are posted in the classroom at the front. To monitor her class, Mrs. M has the word "Art" written, each letter on a separate page, clipped up front for students to see. If the class gets too rowdy, Mrs. M says she is taking the "A" down. Every time a letter is taken down, students lose certain privileges.

When it comes to bathroom and drink breaks, students are required to ask Mrs. M. Most teachers take a bathroom or drink stop before stopping at the classroom. Because of this, Mrs. M does not usually allow students to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Some students also use these breaks as an excuse to get out of doing projects, with these students, Mrs. M only allows them to go if it is an emergency.

In the schools, safety is an issue that is covered regularly. Mrs. M talks to her students throughout the year about what supplies they will be using with each project, and not to misbehave with the supplies, as they can hurt someone. If Mrs. M sees someone misbehaving while handling a hazardous object (like scissors), she will remove that object from the misbehaving student. Depending on the class, if Mrs. M feels that students are not capable of handling tools correctly, she will not assign a project, as it can become hazardous.

Mrs. M will sometimes allow students to borrow materials if they are behind on a project. At S. Elementary, not a lot of the students have markers, colored pencils, or other such materials, and are nervous to ask to borrow some, so Mrs. M will sometimes sneak some supplies into the students' backpacks if she has large quantities. She also gets a lot of requests from students to borrow her drawing books, so she will make a copy of the page they want to look at and give that to the student.

I think Mrs. M's rules lining up with PBIS is a good behavior monitor and motivator for the students. I remember when I was in elementary school how I would behave well in order to get tickets and redeem them for little prizes, or to have lunch with one of my favorite teachers, as we had a similar system when I was young. I think reteaching expectations is an excellent way to promote good behavior and let students know what that looks like. I like how there are not too many rules, in that students feel that they have no freedom to express themselves or do anything, but not too few in that students run wild in the school. I may try to model my own rules using PBIS in order to promote good behavior amongst my students, and if they misbehave, reteaching them the expectations that I have for the classroom.
In monitoring her class, I think using the "ART" method, where she takes a letter down when students are getting too rowdy is a great idea. No student wants to lose privileges, so after being warned once that they are one step closer to getting privileges revoked, of course they will quiet down.

Mrs. M's way of handling bathroom and drink breaks makes sense, especially if students had the chance to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water before class when their teacher had them stop by on the way. I can also understand why Mrs. would be wary of letting students go to take a bathroom/drink break, as they could try to get out of working on a project for a time, I remember doing that with math when I was in middle school.

In regards to Mrs. M's approach to safety, I think I would take the same approach. If I felt that my students did not seem like they were capable of handling tools correctly, I think I would revise my projects to not include certain tools if I know that students cannot handle them correctly.

Day 2 in the Classroom

Totem pole paintings

Today was my second day observing at S. Elementary! Today's groups were different than last week's, as the school's schedule rotates (A days, B days). 2nd grade worked on finishing up their totem poles today by painting them with tempera paint. The students were required to use colors that would be found on totem poles, such as brown, black, white, red, blue, and orange. Mrs. M talked to them about mixing colors and told them to use small paintbrushes for details, and large paintbrushes to color in large spaces.

4th grade is continuing to work on their leaf prints, but are now exploring warm and cool colors by

Adding a warm colored
background to contrast with
the cool colors in the leaves.

adding paint to the leaves that are either warm or cool, and painting the background the opposite of what they chose for the leaves. Mrs. M showed the students how to do this in a demonstration, and she used a sponge to make a stamped background of the opposite color used in the leaves. As she did her demonstration, she reviewed with them what they had previously learned about warm and cool colors. After the demonstration was over, the students got supplies out for other tables and then got to work either finishing their leaf prints, or stamping the background and leaves. Students who finished the project were able to sketch in their sketchbooks before class was dismissed for the day.

Finished clay cave drawing

3rd grade continued to work on their clay cave drawings. They used clay tools to create texture and designs on their clay slabs. There was a student who was physically impaired who had an aid help her draw designs onto the clay, and helps her move her hands. Through this project, students are learning about texture, repetition in design and symbolism, pattern, and line. Once they finished drawing their designs, they sketched in their sketchbook. Next time they come in, the clay slabs will be fired and they will glaze them.

 My partner and I have decided to spend about 3 hours at the school each week, so we left shortly after the 5th grade class came in. They started their unit on Ancient Egyptian art, according to the art history timeline Mrs. M follows in her lessons.

Why Mrs. M Chose Art as a Profession

 When Mrs. M had some prep time on the first day, I asked her why she chose to teach art. She said that she has always liked to teach others how to do things, and she has been doing this since before she became a teacher. She taught lamaze informally at a hospital for years, which is where she learned that she loved to teach. Throughout her life, she has had an interest in art, especially in ceramics. There was going to be an opening at an elementary school for an art teacher in the next few years, as the current teacher of that school was looking to retire. She wanted that position, so she decided to go back to college to get a degree in art education. She graduated from UW Stout with her B.S. in Art Education, and applied to where she is currently teaching, as an art teacher position opened up closer to her home than where she had originally intended to apply.

I think it's cool how Mrs. M had years of teaching experience before becoming an art teacher, as she had the opportunity to teach several different age groups. I was also pleased to find that she and I have a common love for ceramics. I admire Mrs. M for going back to school at an older age (she had three children at the time she went back to school) to get a degree that combines the two things she loves: art and teaching.

The Adventure Begins!

Classroom at S. Elementary

Today was my first pre-teaching experience! I drove to the elementary school I was assigned to with my partner for the practicum. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about meeting Mrs. M, but upon meeting her, I found her to be a kind-hearted and sincere individual, who has great compassion for her students. I observed the 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5 minutes of the 5th grade classes. For each of the classes, Mrs. M had my partner and I introduce ourselves before going on to introduce or continue working on the next project. We told them that we were from UW Stout and that we want to become art teachers like Mrs. M The students from each grade level appeared to love having us there, and kept glancing over at us during our visit. The room was nicely set up, with lots of artifacts and posters to inspire the students. Art supplies were organized on shelves near Mrs. M's desk, cubbies were organized for student work by class, and student sketchbooks and drawing books were located on a bookshelf. The tables were organized by color, which was taped onto the table.

When the classes would come in, they would come in with their teacher, and the teacher would leave once everyone was sitting in the classroom. The classes were pretty good about coming in and waiting for Mrs. M to instruct them. Mrs. M would always welcome them to the classroom, and would briefly review the previous lesson with each of the classes. If classes got too rowdy in this process (or throughout the class period), as everyone wanted to answer her questions, Mrs. M would use a clap rhythm that the class would repeat back to her to get their attention. After the brief review session, Mrs. M would hold a demonstration at a table, where she would make sure everyone was paying attention and could see what she was doing. She would also ask questions to the students to make sure they were paying attention throughout the demonstration. At the end of the class period, she would ring chimes and tell everyone to freeze, which signaled that it was time to clean up. 

Working on sketching a design for the totem pole.

2nd grade is learning about totem poles and their significance in Native American culture. Mrs. M reviewed parts of the lesson students had previously learned the day before. The students seemed to remember a lot of what they had learned, and answered Mrs. M's review questions with confidence in their answer. After the quick review session, Mrs. M had the students gather over to a table where she gave a demonstration on drawing totem poles on large pieces of paper, as they had previously drawn totem poles in their designated sketchbooks. The students were expected to include three animals on their totem poles. She asked students questions about the lesson as she was demonstrating to ensure that students were paying attention and were retaining the information given to them. After demonstrating, some of the students went back to their seats, and some of the students were given "jobs", such as handing out the sketchbooks and getting supplies for each table, which were designated by color. At the end of class, other students will put the supplies back where they belong, collect artwork, and put away sketchbooks. Mrs. M gave students the nice paper to draw their totem poles on after they got their design drawn in their sketchbook approved. The students worked on their totem poles, and I walked around the room to check on students' work and to help any struggling students. The students were on-task during class, and at the end, were good about picking up their supplies and going back to their seats quietly. Mrs. M dismissed the class by table when they answered a review question correctly. 

Leaf printing

4th grade is learning about the Elements of Design right now, and in this lesson, after the demonstration, they painted leaves white with paint and then pressed them onto a piece of long black paper. After being pressed onto the paper, the leaves' texture was evident, which is what they were learning about as an element in design. The students were allowed to use three different kinds of leaves in their composition. Many of the students liked seeing how the leaves left texture on the black paper after they pressed them down. A few students got done early, so they were allowed to sketch or color in their sketchbooks, or they could read some of the books in the back of the classroom. After class was over, Mrs. M reviewed the concepts of texture with them, and they lined up quietly to go on to their next class. 

Drawing into clay

3rd grade is learning about Prehistoric art, according to the art history timeline Mrs. M bases many of her lessons on. The students learned about cave paintings and drawings, and the significance of the symbols they used to portray events in their everyday lives. They were given square clay slabs to trace their cave drawings into. They used a variety of clay tools and even some random tools such as toothbrushes to create textures, which they were also exploring in this lesson. 

I loved my first day at the elementary school, and I can't wait to go back! I can already tell that I will love being an art teacher! 

What Does it Mean to be a Reflective Practitioner?

"Experience is valuable in helping us to reflect on how we learn- particularly on how, as learners, we experience the interplay between cognition and metacognition. This is crucially important in shaping the effectiveness of learning and in influencing students' motivations to learn."
~Julian Webb

I believe that a reflective practitioner (in the context of a teacher) is one who reflects on their practice, and is constantly on the prowl in finding ways to improve what they do. For me personally, this means that I look for ways to improve how I teach, how I plan my lessons, and how I collaborate with others in and outside of my field. As I have continued in my journey as a teacher, I have taken up the practice of reflecting on what I have done, and what I can do to improve. I am aware that if I do not do this on a regular basis, I can easily end up stuck in a rut where my students may not find my teaching effective, which, to me, is hazardous. Because I want my students to be impacted by how I teach, it is important that I reflect on whether or not the way I instruct and work is effective. In the future, and on this adventure in my practicum I am about to embark on, this means I have to evaluate throughout teaching my lesson as to whether students seem to enjoy the project, are retaining information taught to them, and whether or not the lesson is helping them to enjoy art to a greater degree.