Test post from Dr. -.

Amanda - Final Visit

     My last visit (11/15) was more observation and monitoring of the Op Art project.  Honestly, I was ready to see something different.  This was the first time they were given a definitive deadline though.  The students were to be finished by the next class and those who were finished went back and completed their practice Op Art designs.  It was a nice, quiet work day and most of the students worked really well to finish up. 

     I didn’t have as many questions to answer, so I got caught in some middle school conversations at the tables.  That’s something I need to figure out how to deal with.  I’m not sure yet when I can joke with them and when I should ignore their immature comments and when I should take the opportunity to train them in morals and appropriateness.  I don’t want to be so focused on art that I miss chances to impact student’s lives in other ways, but I also don’t want to be the teacher that goes off on too many tangents and wastes the students’ learning time.  Definitely something I need to think about and something that will be interesting to learn as I get to know these students better next semester.

     I just really want to be a great art teacher, and after this semester of pre-clinical I’m excited about getting more practice because I’m learning that experience is the best teacher.  Student teaching, here we come!

Amanda - Week 10

     This week (11/8,9) I mainly observed, but also helped monitor in Mr. Powell’s 4^th period class as they continued work on their Op Art projects.

     Mr. Powell reviewed a classroom procedure with the students because they had gotten sloppy with how they were handling artwork, and some assignments were getting wrinkled.  He explained why he has students put away artwork in a certain way and then had them practice the procedure.  It took time away from their open studio, but it was effective.  In the next class I attended, the students performed the procedure correctly and the drawer with their in-progress work was clean and organized.  We’ve been talking about teaching procedures in my classroom management class, so it was good to see it in action, even in the middle school setting.  Procedures are important in the art classroom for keeping work and materials in good condition.  Not only do I need to think through procedures in my classroom, but also how to teach them and stay consistent with enforcement so students do not get lazy.  

Amanda - Week 9

     This week (10/29, 30, 11/1) Mr. Powell’s class continued to work on the Op Art project and I saw him resolve some class conflict.

     Mr. Powell gave a step-by-step demo to try to help the students understand how to create illusions and clear up some of the confusion.  I learned a lot about how to explain seemingly complex ideas in simple terms.  He also asked students to check each other at their tables to make sure everyone stayed on the same page. 

     After class one day, Mr. Powell asked two of the girls to stay so he could talk to them.  Near the end of class one of the girls was talking a lot and the other told her to “Shut up!” so she threatened to slap her in response. Mr. Powell talked through the situation with the girls and was very calm but firm with how he handled them.  He didn’t let them interrupt him with their “but she…”s and guided them in a mature conversation about what happened.  He mentioned which expectations were broken by each of the girls and why they needed to be kept.  He also talked through a better way to ask someone to be quiet by giving a reason like “ I can’t focus on my work.”  Then he talked through a better response to “Shut up!” and had them apologize to each other and agree to let this issue be over between them.  I learned a lot from how he handled it and thought it was especially important that he talked about the issue being over and not to be brought up again.  I need to remember this and think through how I’ll handle these types of conflicts with middle schoolers.

Amanda - Week 8

     This week (10/23, 25) the students were working on a continuation of my Op Art lesson with a project that Mr. Powell assigned.  Essentially, my lesson was a practice with technique and composition for a larger, more creative piece. 

     I helped manage the classroom with a substitute while Mr. Powell was in another part of the school doing a SAFE-T evaluation.  There were lots of questions to answer, and so many students seemed confused about the directions.  A lot of confusion was caused by poor craftsmanship, and students messed up because they weren’t careful.  It made me wonder if this project is too difficult for them.  It seems simple to me, but maybe I don’t remember where I was in 7^th grade.  It’s hard to figure out how to challenge them without making it too hard.

     There is also one student who easily takes all of my attention because she’s not afraid to ask questions.  I need to be careful with this so that I can spend time with other students who need help and feedback.  I also need to make sure that I don’t give too much help, but let students be creative and figure things out for themselves so they can learn the problem solving skills that art can teach.  I guess this is why we practice planning and teaching.  This is probably also different with each class, so that’s why it’s so important to get to know your students.

Amanda - Week 7

     This week (10/16, 18) I held a critique with the students for their Gradient Design projects and then taught a new lesson on Op Art.

     I did the “Good Cop, Better Cop” critique again so the students could improve in the process.  We began class by discussing the rubric so that the students would know what to look for in critiquing the works they were assigned.  I had all the artwork out on the center tables and asked students to take a walk around to look at all of them.  Then they went to their good cop piece and wrote down two good things about it in their sketchbooks.   After a couple minutes, I had them switch and do the same with their better cop piece, noting what could be improved.  Then I projected each piece on the board and had the two students assigned to it come up and talk about what they wrote down. 

     I struggled with time management with this critique.  I commented too much on the first pieces to be projected and not enough on the last ones because I was trying to fit more in, but still there were four pieces left at the end that were not critiqued.  It was okay because Mr. Powell said he would finish the critique with them the next day, but I still need to work on that.  The reason I spent so much time on the first pieces is because I was trying to continue training the students to use art language.  I think it was a valuable experience for some of them, and I saw some improvement from the first critique I had with them, which was exciting.  Every critique can’t take two days though, so spreading the time out evenly between each work is necessary.  I could probably take some time from the beginning where I explained the rubric and had the students walk around as the students become more familiar with the process. 

     I also had some students in the back of the classroom who were not fully engaged in the critique when they weren’t presenting.  While other students were talking about a piece I just gave stern looks to the ones chatting and that worked for a little while, but I had to repeat that tactic a few times.  It made me wonder if I should have addressed it more.  I also wondered if it would be better to bring stools up to the front in an arc so that students could see better and maybe that would keep them more engaged in the discussion.

     My Op Art lesson went really well, and it was a really fun day to teach!  The students were interested in the lesson, answered my questions well, and asked some really good questions of their own.  I spent more time on the “lecture” portion than I planned on, but I felt like it was really valuable time for them, so I didn’t want to rush through.  We talked about what Op Art is, what artists have to think about to make it, and two Op Art artists: Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley.  Then I introduced the project and walked through an example process with them for a practice piece. 

     I spent a lot of time planning this lesson and creating the PowerPoint presentation because I got excited about teaching it, and I could definitely tell during the lesson.  The information came out of me without my having to think about it much, and I was able to enjoy interacting with the students without worrying about what was coming next.  I even wore a black and white patterned dress because it reminded me of Op Art; I think I’m becoming an art teacher!

Amanda - Mock Interview

I interviewed with Principal Bruhjell last Friday, November 9th in the conference room at Southwood.  It was a fairly comfortable setting though I was a little bit nervous about the possibility of not knowing how to answer something he might ask.  Mr. Bruhjell made it a little more casual by giving me feedback after each question I answered and I took notes.  Afterwards, he gave me the question sheet with his notes on it, so it was a really valuable time.

He asked 9 questions:
1. Tell us about your background and include any experiences and training that have prepared you for this position.
2. How do you plan for instruction?  What resources do you use?
3. How do you assess student progress?
4. How do you organize your classroom and manage student behavior?
5. How can you connect your activities in the art room into lessons taught within other subject areas?
6. Why do you think art is an important part of a child's education?
7. Describe some ways you present and display student work throughout the school and the community?
8. What would be your vision for the program?
9. Do you have any questions?

According to Mr. Bruhjell, I did well with most responses by being careful to answer every part of the question and stopping when I had answered it instead of filling the time while he was writing notes by rambling.  He talked about how some people do that when they are nervous and sometimes they can say things they don't really mean.  He also liked that I talked about proactive strategies for classroom management that aim to prevent issues instead of focusing on punishments for when issues arise.  He told me to make sure that in answering #2 I mention state standards early on because it is really important for administration to hear that a teacher is aware of standards and knows how to use them since that is what their school is measured by.  He also told me that even though I don't have my own classroom yet, I should answer questions as if I do to make my answers more confident and mature.  For example, with #5  I started my answer with "I would like to meet with teachers from other subject areas..." but he said phrases like "I would like to" or "I plan to" give reason for doubt in a principal's mind as to whether or not the teacher will do what they "plan" on doing.  He told me to go ahead and say, "I meet with with teachers..." and that way the response is more clear and shows an appropriate level of confidence.

This was a really helpful assignment that gave me a lot of practical knowledge about the interviewing process and more confidence about interviewing for "real."