Today we had two presenters: Shanna M (At-Risk Students) and Becky M (Special Ed) both of whom worked with high school students at the same district.
Becky spoke first about her experiences as a Special Ed educator; she spoke about cognitive, learning, and physical disabilities that she had experience with through work. She was recently hired at Stout to work with students on campus and loves her job because she feels that she is always learning about students needs and different disabilities. I thought she said some great things about these students, even how to address them and their disabilities. Becky said that all of these individuals are students who happen to have a disability. They are not LD students, but rather students with learning disabilities, etc. I think that this is a simple and effective way to address their needs in a may positive way. She also said that disabilities are deceiving and that you cannot make assumptions; each individual has very specific needs that may not be apparent based on the physical appearance of a students. This is definitely important for us to understand as future educators because we do not have much experience with special needs before we start working with students. Becky also read a poem to us about having a child with special needs, it was a hard to hear it. It's important to remember that these individuals have difficult lives and so do their families. She reminded us that it is important to be empathetic rather than sympathetic. Becky also spoke to us about accommodations (same final product) and modifications (similar final product) and when/if they may be appropriate. It may also be important to teach things like what paying attention looks like and to consider where these students are seated and how the environment affects their attention. She made it very clear that it is important to get to know each student and what their individual needs are.
Shanna then spoke to us about the at-risk students that she works with through the program at her district. She made it clear that these students have the capacity to function highly and are generally found in grades 5-12; these are the students who are at risk for not graduating on time. Part of her job is to counsel these students and talk them through issues that they are having at home or in their lives. She searches for the cause of their issues and how they can get the student through their struggles. Shanna focuses on the fact that these students are not victims and that "life sucks, what are we going to do about that?" She's looking to empower students rather than focus on their struggles. I think that she has a great approach to assisting these students; they need to feel safe and be given the power to take care of themselves. Shanna also told us that she has a difficult time getting parents involved, many of them have bad memories of high school and are not interested in coming back, even for their child. It's not that they don't love their child(ren), it's that they don't know how or what to do. This district also has a unique program that is imbedded in mainstream education rather than just puts these kids somewhere. Her ultimate goal is to get these students back into general education classes so that they have a chance at attending college or at the very least receiving their GE degree from high school. Shanna told us that it is important for us to not feel sorry for these students, but rather than we should help them move forward with their lives. I couldn't agree more. She also told us that when we have these students in our class we should know that punishment isn't a big deal for these students, they are comfortable with this. We should also be aware that they care about success, even if they say they don't.
I think these talks were really important for us to hear; as art education students we will have many of these students in our rooms but have little experience working with them before we leave Stout. We need as much information to reference as possible for when we inevitably work with these individuals.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
3/5 - Wed
Today was a day 2 with Mrs. W and her students.
3rd grade: 30 students/90 min
This class is behind due to snow days and the change in rotation that ensued; this means that these students are in the same place that the last group of third-graders were. They are continuing their sarcophagi and Mrs. W had them gather around the central table for a demonstration. While waiting for their attention, Mrs. W said, "eyes on me please, I'm waiting for two people." I think this worked well because it gave these students the opportunity to quiet down without being singled-out. I spent the hour helping these students catch up to the other classes, this was a great group of students to work with. I think that Mrs. W does a great job with cleanup; depending on the age she either demonstrates or reminds students how to properly cleanup after a project. Mrs. W reminded these students that they "know where markers go" and motivated them by saying, "you all did an awesome job today, let's do an awesome job cleaning up too." This was really great, I'm going to use this for my lesson. It compliments their work for the day as well as motivates them to clean up well after themselves.
2nd grade: 18 students/90 min
This group of students was also behind due to the snow days; they were trying to catch up with their castle books. These students began their stained glass windows today (fabric paint and project paper) after a demonstration. It was easy to catch this group up due to the small class size. Although this was a difficult aspect of the lesson, the small number meant we could quickly work our way around the room to help all of the students efficiently. These small classes are a dream to work with! When it came to cleanup and dismissal, Mrs. W said, "I'm looking for tables that are seated and ready to go." Instead of telling students be be quietly seated, she gives them the option as a group of students at each table to quiet down so that they can be dismissed.
3rd grade: 30 students/90 min
This class is behind due to snow days and the change in rotation that ensued; this means that these students are in the same place that the last group of third-graders were. They are continuing their sarcophagi and Mrs. W had them gather around the central table for a demonstration. While waiting for their attention, Mrs. W said, "eyes on me please, I'm waiting for two people." I think this worked well because it gave these students the opportunity to quiet down without being singled-out. I spent the hour helping these students catch up to the other classes, this was a great group of students to work with. I think that Mrs. W does a great job with cleanup; depending on the age she either demonstrates or reminds students how to properly cleanup after a project. Mrs. W reminded these students that they "know where markers go" and motivated them by saying, "you all did an awesome job today, let's do an awesome job cleaning up too." This was really great, I'm going to use this for my lesson. It compliments their work for the day as well as motivates them to clean up well after themselves.
2nd grade: 18 students/90 min
This group of students was also behind due to the snow days; they were trying to catch up with their castle books. These students began their stained glass windows today (fabric paint and project paper) after a demonstration. It was easy to catch this group up due to the small class size. Although this was a difficult aspect of the lesson, the small number meant we could quickly work our way around the room to help all of the students efficiently. These small classes are a dream to work with! When it came to cleanup and dismissal, Mrs. W said, "I'm looking for tables that are seated and ready to go." Instead of telling students be be quietly seated, she gives them the option as a group of students at each table to quiet down so that they can be dismissed.
2/26 - Wed
Today was a day four of their rotation; I spent 8:30am-1:00pm working with Mrs. W and her students.
3rd grade: 30 students/90 min
These students had not yet voted for the paintings that would be sent in to the duck stamp contest, so Mrs. W clearly demonstrated and asked, "can I trust all of you to be quiet in the hallway? Is there anyone that can't be trusted to be quiet?" I thought this was really great, it meant that the students agreed to behave in the hallway as they were dismissed by table. Mrs. W also told these students that she was proud of their work and that she would not have hung them in the hallway unless she believed that they were their best works. Mrs. W then asked the students if they remembered how to safely come and stand around the supply table, the students said yes and they gathered around. She then modeled how to both correctly and incorrectly attach the next pieces of their sarcophagi. I then assisted students with the next step for the remainder of the hour. These students worked hard during class and were really excited about the project; I asked them if they liked it and they all said yes. I think that Mrs. W does a great job of asking questions that guide them towards success, I've carefully written down her questions and am planning on incorporating some of them and similar ones into my lesson; I really think they're powerful.
2nd grade: 14 students/90 min
This class seemed so small after working with 30 students; this class was beginning their stained glass aspect of their castle books. Mrs. W asked these students, "What does good mean?" and "How many of you like a challenge?" She uses questions to get them thinking and involved in learning and to motivate them in their art making. She also asked, "How can I learn from my mistakes?" Mrs. W is really teaching these students not only how to make art, but how to live and be successful in society/other classes. This aspect of their book was difficult for many students; I spent the remainder of the hour explaining the process and walking through it with them individually. Other students did not struggle for a moment. I helped with this part of the project in another class, but with 30 students. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming in there with 30, but 14 students seemed much more approachable and reasonable. It was much more difficult to teach a difficult lesson with 30 student than 14.
Kindergarten: 30 students/45 min
Mrs. W began the class with, "Good afternoon, Kindergarteners!" and the students replied, "Good afternoon, Mrs. W!" This class was beginning a new project today, they were starting their cuckoo clocks. This project is introduced with a short video about German cuckoo clocks, "who can remind us of what I expect while we watch a video?" Although there were so many of these young children, they seemed to behave well during this introduction. Mrs. W then asked questions about the video, "I will call on students who raise their hands." She then introduced the concept of telling time using a children's book that was projected onto the screen. Students were surprisingly receptive to the concept of telling time. We then began the first steps of this project after a demonstration that engaged students with questions and demonstrations of both correct and incorrect methods. "Does that look like I did a good job? What about now?" I think this is a really great way to engage students rather than just lecture to a group of 30 five-year-old children. This gives them the opportunity to really listen to what is being said. I feel like I've already learned a lot about working with young children through my shadowing of Mrs. W. She is an exceptional educator who really cares about the quality of education that her students receive.
3rd grade: 30 students/90 min
These students had not yet voted for the paintings that would be sent in to the duck stamp contest, so Mrs. W clearly demonstrated and asked, "can I trust all of you to be quiet in the hallway? Is there anyone that can't be trusted to be quiet?" I thought this was really great, it meant that the students agreed to behave in the hallway as they were dismissed by table. Mrs. W also told these students that she was proud of their work and that she would not have hung them in the hallway unless she believed that they were their best works. Mrs. W then asked the students if they remembered how to safely come and stand around the supply table, the students said yes and they gathered around. She then modeled how to both correctly and incorrectly attach the next pieces of their sarcophagi. I then assisted students with the next step for the remainder of the hour. These students worked hard during class and were really excited about the project; I asked them if they liked it and they all said yes. I think that Mrs. W does a great job of asking questions that guide them towards success, I've carefully written down her questions and am planning on incorporating some of them and similar ones into my lesson; I really think they're powerful.
2nd grade: 14 students/90 min
This class seemed so small after working with 30 students; this class was beginning their stained glass aspect of their castle books. Mrs. W asked these students, "What does good mean?" and "How many of you like a challenge?" She uses questions to get them thinking and involved in learning and to motivate them in their art making. She also asked, "How can I learn from my mistakes?" Mrs. W is really teaching these students not only how to make art, but how to live and be successful in society/other classes. This aspect of their book was difficult for many students; I spent the remainder of the hour explaining the process and walking through it with them individually. Other students did not struggle for a moment. I helped with this part of the project in another class, but with 30 students. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming in there with 30, but 14 students seemed much more approachable and reasonable. It was much more difficult to teach a difficult lesson with 30 student than 14.
Kindergarten: 30 students/45 min
Mrs. W began the class with, "Good afternoon, Kindergarteners!" and the students replied, "Good afternoon, Mrs. W!" This class was beginning a new project today, they were starting their cuckoo clocks. This project is introduced with a short video about German cuckoo clocks, "who can remind us of what I expect while we watch a video?" Although there were so many of these young children, they seemed to behave well during this introduction. Mrs. W then asked questions about the video, "I will call on students who raise their hands." She then introduced the concept of telling time using a children's book that was projected onto the screen. Students were surprisingly receptive to the concept of telling time. We then began the first steps of this project after a demonstration that engaged students with questions and demonstrations of both correct and incorrect methods. "Does that look like I did a good job? What about now?" I think this is a really great way to engage students rather than just lecture to a group of 30 five-year-old children. This gives them the opportunity to really listen to what is being said. I feel like I've already learned a lot about working with young children through my shadowing of Mrs. W. She is an exceptional educator who really cares about the quality of education that her students receive.
Interview Question # 8
On a scale of 1-10 how organized are you?
I would consider myself an 8.5; I work very hard to be
organized as a student and as a professional. I think that clarity is part of
my personality and therefore I feel a necessity for organization. I think this
can be seen in my lesson plans and even in my personal art work, I like to feel
a sense of control/intention over material and content because I feel that
without it, important aspects can be overlooked.
There will always be things that happen beyond expectations
– prepare for unexpected.
If you are prepared your students will be.
Communicate to students and parents that you care.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Interview Question #7
How comfortable and capable are you in teaching:
-Photography
-Graphic Design
-Art Metals
I am absolutely comfortable teaching all three of these classes; I have experience working in photography, design, and metals and I feel that I could teach these classes and access any information that I need to assist me in doing so. I am competent in these mediums.
-Photography
-Graphic Design
-Art Metals
I am absolutely comfortable teaching all three of these classes; I have experience working in photography, design, and metals and I feel that I could teach these classes and access any information that I need to assist me in doing so. I am competent in these mediums.
2/19 - First Day of art in elementary ed.
The district that I am placed at for my practicum experience has a "sage" program, which means that classes are either 18 students for one teacher or 30 students for two, but once students go to their electives they are left with the single elective teacher regardless of class size; this means that class sizes greatly fluctuate throughout the day. Mrs. W, my Cooperating Teacher (CT), has also recently acquired the Kindergarten classes. (This district splits students up K-12 into 4 different schools that are all connected.) The Kindergarten art class is 45 minutes long and meets twice during the 6 day rotation, whereas all of the others meet for 90 minutes only once every 6 days.
DAY 5
3rd Grade: 18 students, 90 min.
This was the first class of the first day working with Mrs. W and her students; they were beginning their second class of an Egyptian sarcophagi project. Even during this first class I could see that Mrs. W is an exceptional teacher who can really engage her students. She began by reviewing the story that was used to introduce the lesson by asking specific questions that were directly related to the story. It was amazing to see what the students could recall from that last class. Mrs. W also never told students they were wrong if their answer was incorrect, she would say "not quite" or "close", it was clear that she didn't want to discourage students from further participation. She also lead students to an answer that they were unable to find, she used things that they were familiar with to lead them to the right word, one student picked it up quickly and answered "scarab beetle!". While students were working on this project Mrs. W spoke to the students about their last project, which was a duck stamp painting, and told them that today was their day to vote for the best ones to be sent in for a contest. She told them to be proud of their work, even if they did not get theirs sent in. She said she would not have hung them in the hallway unless she thought they were their best. She then dismissed them by table during work time to vote out in the hall, asking "Is there anyone that can't be trusted to be quiet in the hall?" Students voted and worked well through the class, I assisted students with the building process and answered questions throughout the 90 min class.
Knowing that I will be teaching a lesson at this school, I pay very close attention to Mrs. W's interactions with her students and how she conducts her classes. She uses a really great clapping rhythm that students imitate to get their attention. I've definitely taken note of this for my lesson! I've also started thinking about and writing down questions that I will ask students for my lesson. I also like Mrs. W's use of positive feedback and that she asked students if she could trust them to be quiet rather than just telling them to be quiet in the hall. I have to make sure that I remember these for my lesson. I also spoke with a group of boys in this class; they were discussing a video game while working that I was familiar with, when they realized that I knew what they were talking about they immediately opened up, asking me question after question about the game and to help them with their project. It seems that with some students, you just have to have an in.
2nd Grade: 30 students; 90 min.
The class began with the question, "Who can remind us what we are working on?" and when students raised their hands to answer, "Thank you for raising your hands". These students were continuing castle projects and reviewing what they had previously learned. Mrs. W asked several questions and had enthusiastic replies. She demonstrated the next part of their Castle book using a document camera. As students began working, Mrs. W worked individually with all of the students in order to guide them through this difficult stained glass aspect of their books. I also circulated the classroom answering questions, re-explaining the demonstration, and walking some students through the process.
This was a difficult task for many students, some understood without any issues while others could not understand the task at hand. I think this was a great challenge for this class and yielded beautiful results. I'm not sure if I would approach this with this age-group if I were teaching, simply because so many students needed so much guidance, but there was definitely students who excelled. I think this is something that I'm going to have to think about an continue to consider as I approach my lesson and student teaching.
Kindergarten: 30 students; 45 min.
I was only able to stay for the first 20 minutes of this class, but I was able to watch Mrs. W begin this class with several questions. These students were creating a cuckoo clock out of paper, cardboard, sculpey, string, and pine cones. Mrs. W said, "I will call on you if you respectfully raise your hands". She used lots of questions, which I think was really great. I don't know if I would have thought about using that many questions without having seen it in action; I'm now planning on asking more questions for my own lesson.
DAY 5
3rd Grade: 18 students, 90 min.
This was the first class of the first day working with Mrs. W and her students; they were beginning their second class of an Egyptian sarcophagi project. Even during this first class I could see that Mrs. W is an exceptional teacher who can really engage her students. She began by reviewing the story that was used to introduce the lesson by asking specific questions that were directly related to the story. It was amazing to see what the students could recall from that last class. Mrs. W also never told students they were wrong if their answer was incorrect, she would say "not quite" or "close", it was clear that she didn't want to discourage students from further participation. She also lead students to an answer that they were unable to find, she used things that they were familiar with to lead them to the right word, one student picked it up quickly and answered "scarab beetle!". While students were working on this project Mrs. W spoke to the students about their last project, which was a duck stamp painting, and told them that today was their day to vote for the best ones to be sent in for a contest. She told them to be proud of their work, even if they did not get theirs sent in. She said she would not have hung them in the hallway unless she thought they were their best. She then dismissed them by table during work time to vote out in the hall, asking "Is there anyone that can't be trusted to be quiet in the hall?" Students voted and worked well through the class, I assisted students with the building process and answered questions throughout the 90 min class.
Knowing that I will be teaching a lesson at this school, I pay very close attention to Mrs. W's interactions with her students and how she conducts her classes. She uses a really great clapping rhythm that students imitate to get their attention. I've definitely taken note of this for my lesson! I've also started thinking about and writing down questions that I will ask students for my lesson. I also like Mrs. W's use of positive feedback and that she asked students if she could trust them to be quiet rather than just telling them to be quiet in the hall. I have to make sure that I remember these for my lesson. I also spoke with a group of boys in this class; they were discussing a video game while working that I was familiar with, when they realized that I knew what they were talking about they immediately opened up, asking me question after question about the game and to help them with their project. It seems that with some students, you just have to have an in.
2nd Grade: 30 students; 90 min.
The class began with the question, "Who can remind us what we are working on?" and when students raised their hands to answer, "Thank you for raising your hands". These students were continuing castle projects and reviewing what they had previously learned. Mrs. W asked several questions and had enthusiastic replies. She demonstrated the next part of their Castle book using a document camera. As students began working, Mrs. W worked individually with all of the students in order to guide them through this difficult stained glass aspect of their books. I also circulated the classroom answering questions, re-explaining the demonstration, and walking some students through the process.
This was a difficult task for many students, some understood without any issues while others could not understand the task at hand. I think this was a great challenge for this class and yielded beautiful results. I'm not sure if I would approach this with this age-group if I were teaching, simply because so many students needed so much guidance, but there was definitely students who excelled. I think this is something that I'm going to have to think about an continue to consider as I approach my lesson and student teaching.
Kindergarten: 30 students; 45 min.
I was only able to stay for the first 20 minutes of this class, but I was able to watch Mrs. W begin this class with several questions. These students were creating a cuckoo clock out of paper, cardboard, sculpey, string, and pine cones. Mrs. W said, "I will call on you if you respectfully raise your hands". She used lots of questions, which I think was really great. I don't know if I would have thought about using that many questions without having seen it in action; I'm now planning on asking more questions for my own lesson.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Interview Question #6
What are three words that describe you?
Tenacious - work hard, I'm not easily deterred, and I'm passionate about education/arts
Empathetic - work to be emotionally accessible and relate-able to students so they feel safe and welcome in school/class.
Knowledgeable - I know my subject matter: my teaching experience and double major have allowed me to master my content.
Tenacious - work hard, I'm not easily deterred, and I'm passionate about education/arts
Empathetic - work to be emotionally accessible and relate-able to students so they feel safe and welcome in school/class.
Knowledgeable - I know my subject matter: my teaching experience and double major have allowed me to master my content.
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