This has been a wonderful first semester learning how to become a teacher. From making lesson plans to assigning students in the classroom I have truly enjoyed every moment of it. As sappy and corny as this sounds, this is the first real job I have been this happy to show up to work to do, even more so than illustration, which isn't simply drawing all day, you have to deal with clients who are not always the nicest and easiest people to work with. The same can be said with students, not every day is smiles and thank-yous, there are those rough and difficult days where a student will fight and drag you every step of the way, but rather than shoving your nose down to the grind stone, shutting up/putting up because it is the client's say that is the final say, just to get that commission check as with my previous illustration job, you work with the student, mediate to find a common ground where both the student and the teacher can learn from one-another, that way everyone comes away with something they can be happy and proud with, and as a teacher in training, I have learned so much from these students. Teaching is more than just telling students "this" and "that", but listening to their educational needs and wants and providing for them, modifying your teaching style to aide them, because you, as the teacher, are there for them.
I have learned so much this semester about teaching, students, as well as myself, and I am glad I have found a profession that I enjoy so much. It can be a bit scary and intimidating to stand up in front of a group of young learners, having to shoulder the responsibility as being the one they look up to learn what there is to know about, well, everything, and it does take kind of "traversing the unknown" kind of confidence to chart though rough waters, but after taking that plunge (as they say "you never know until you try") its something that I discovered that I loved doing, every step of the way and will work at to better myself in. I really want to become a better teacher and work hard for this, because, as they say, once you find work that you love to do, it no longer is work.
And on that note, I'm also very glad that I am also able to incorporate my art into the classroom. Creating projects and assessments that involve art making or I design myself are what I especially enjoy doing (we recently completed a writing assignment "Santa's Elves, Help Wanted" where the students had to write a "help wanted" ad for Santa's elves, and it had to describe a specific job the elf would have to do, reindeer feeder, sleigh polisher, present wrapper, doll dresser, suit clearer, etc. and I was able to create an elf patter the students could use to create their job elf. I had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed all the different ways the students modified the original elf pattern to fit their own artistic needs. As with everything else this past semester it was extremely fun and I had a blast every step of the way, and I am excited to continue on teaching and to continue on learning.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Public School Arts and Crafts (Let the Insanity Begin)
So far I have only been discussing the more educational (e.g. "writing, reading, spelling, math, etc.") side of my observations and time interning as a teacher, however I have yet to talk about the two instances where I have let some of my past experiences come into play into the classroom: the visual arts... well, not specifically the "traditional" visual arts like painting, sculpture, or even pencil drawings, no, these are more of the "arts and crafts" type of "visual arts".
Having 3 years experience working in a preschool (2-5 year-olds) with arts and crafts I thought working with first graders (6-7 year-olds) would be much more manageable. Not exactly. There was just as much chaos and confusion as there was with the younger students. Well, I thought, at least they should be able to follow more complex instructions that preschoolers, right? Again, not exactly. When teaching arts and crafts to preschoolers, I had to more-or-less make a completed project and simply have them "assemble it", which also seemed to be the case with the 1st graders as well (we were making spider hats for Halloween, I was going to show them how to cut the paper and put the hat together, however it I ended up having to cut the paper for them because they did not yet know how, that is to say, cut in a straight, folded, line... but trust me they knew HOW to cut paper, indeed, very indeed...).
On a positive note however the first graders were more aware of their behavior than the preschoolers. Preschoolers will get loud, wild, and excited during an art activity and while first graders will get excited, they have been in a traditional classroom environment long enough to know the rules about "inside voices" and "staying in your seats", which made managing the project much easier. Also cleanup went over excellent as well (this ties into my second instance, when recently we made construction paper holiday stockings complete with paper, scissors, glue, cotton balls and the messiest of all: glitter) whereas preschoolers will make a mess (but to give them credit are always helpful to get on their hands and knees and pick up every last scrap of paper, with one holding the trashcan, and all wanting to be a table wiper) the first graders were so efficient and tidy there was hardly any mess to clean up (they were actually very frugal with the glitter, one student would dollop a small pile of glitter in her hand and “pinch” it over her glue; so neat and tidy!) and they too were very helpful to also get down on their hands and knees to clean up every last scrap of paper as well as be a table washer!
Working with an older group of students with arts and crafts is very similar to working with younger students however I believe there are benefits of teaching students who attend school, specifically a school that has older students for the younger ones to model after. At the preschool I worked at the 2 - 5 year olds were all grouped together and all displayed similar behavior, however students, who attend school with an older and more mature group of superiors, have role models to look up and aspire too, which in turn is beneficial to the older students as well, who have an image of maturity to uphold for their younger peers.
Having 3 years experience working in a preschool (2-5 year-olds) with arts and crafts I thought working with first graders (6-7 year-olds) would be much more manageable. Not exactly. There was just as much chaos and confusion as there was with the younger students. Well, I thought, at least they should be able to follow more complex instructions that preschoolers, right? Again, not exactly. When teaching arts and crafts to preschoolers, I had to more-or-less make a completed project and simply have them "assemble it", which also seemed to be the case with the 1st graders as well (we were making spider hats for Halloween, I was going to show them how to cut the paper and put the hat together, however it I ended up having to cut the paper for them because they did not yet know how, that is to say, cut in a straight, folded, line... but trust me they knew HOW to cut paper, indeed, very indeed...).
On a positive note however the first graders were more aware of their behavior than the preschoolers. Preschoolers will get loud, wild, and excited during an art activity and while first graders will get excited, they have been in a traditional classroom environment long enough to know the rules about "inside voices" and "staying in your seats", which made managing the project much easier. Also cleanup went over excellent as well (this ties into my second instance, when recently we made construction paper holiday stockings complete with paper, scissors, glue, cotton balls and the messiest of all: glitter) whereas preschoolers will make a mess (but to give them credit are always helpful to get on their hands and knees and pick up every last scrap of paper, with one holding the trashcan, and all wanting to be a table wiper) the first graders were so efficient and tidy there was hardly any mess to clean up (they were actually very frugal with the glitter, one student would dollop a small pile of glitter in her hand and “pinch” it over her glue; so neat and tidy!) and they too were very helpful to also get down on their hands and knees to clean up every last scrap of paper as well as be a table washer!
Working with an older group of students with arts and crafts is very similar to working with younger students however I believe there are benefits of teaching students who attend school, specifically a school that has older students for the younger ones to model after. At the preschool I worked at the 2 - 5 year olds were all grouped together and all displayed similar behavior, however students, who attend school with an older and more mature group of superiors, have role models to look up and aspire too, which in turn is beneficial to the older students as well, who have an image of maturity to uphold for their younger peers.
2nd Grade Observations
2nd Grade Observations
When I went to observe in the 2nd grade classroom at Chicora Elementary school, the atmosphere did not seem all too different from that of the first 1st classroom (the grade I am currently interning in). The major difference would be instead of reading to the students the students do read for themselves (and more frequently) but other than that, there wasn't much of a difference to observe. The class day began with the classroom "morning meeting", which consisted of the teacher reviewing the date and going over the "morning math problem" (there 10 squares on a quilt, and 5 different colors if each color is used once, how many times is the color blue used in the quilt). The students were a bit talkative (because they had just arrived at school) but because this was not a part of curriculum and more of a morning sharing activity (the students who wished were allowed to share answers with each other). After a few minutes when it appeared as if every student had solved the problem the teacher used her SmartBoard to solve the problem drawing a 10 squared quilt and filling in each square with a different color in order (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, red, yellow, blue, green, purple) and then counting the blue squares. The students who answered the question correctly got a sticker on their sheet and had the students put away their sheets to take home to show to their parents.
Next came the reading unit. The students were reading a book “Bread and Jam for Francis”. The teacher would call on each student to read a short passage on each page of the book for the first half of the book (15 pages). After wards the teacher had a question and answer session with the students asking if “bread and jam make a healthy meal”, “what do you need to make a healthy meal”, “what will happen if you only eat the same thing/unhealthy foods all the time”? During this time many of the students were very eager to answer and the ones who remained quiet the teacher did begin calling on for responses, and aiding their answering process if they did not know the answers on their own. This activity continued until the students began to get restless and more talkative/less focused, which is when the teacher had the students clear their desks of their books for their spelling test. The change of activity did re-focus the students, as they remained quiet as the teacher passed out their spelling tests. The students who finished their tests early were allowed to read quietly at their desks (books they had gotten form the library, their literature books, “Bread and Jam for Francis” or a book for the classroom bookshelf).
Next the students were called to the carpet again where they were allowed to participate in a math activity with the SmartBoard. Each round the player of the game was given a net with a number on it and were tasked to catch “addition” butterflies with two numbers on its wings that were to be added together. The player was to take their net and click/touch only the butterflies whose wings added up to the number on the net. The students were familiar with this game, and knew that if they wanted a turn they were not to talk aloud and at first they were able to contain themselves, however, after one student completed their first round, the students would proceed to call out the correct “answer” butterflies to the student playing the game. This was allowed however because it did aide both the students who knew and the students who did not know the different addition formulas (as long as the students were not screaming and kept the volume at a manageable level.
The second grade classroom had a more independent feel than the younger classrooms and the students perform and absorb more. Behavior and classroom management did have the same issued present (focusing on the task at hand, managing volume and movement about the classroom) however these older students were able to control themselves for longer periods of time, when they lost this control it was much more boisterous and rambunctious, and more enforcement was needed on the teacher’s behalf to regain control (with more mature students came more mature classroom control).
When I went to observe in the 2nd grade classroom at Chicora Elementary school, the atmosphere did not seem all too different from that of the first 1st classroom (the grade I am currently interning in). The major difference would be instead of reading to the students the students do read for themselves (and more frequently) but other than that, there wasn't much of a difference to observe. The class day began with the classroom "morning meeting", which consisted of the teacher reviewing the date and going over the "morning math problem" (there 10 squares on a quilt, and 5 different colors if each color is used once, how many times is the color blue used in the quilt). The students were a bit talkative (because they had just arrived at school) but because this was not a part of curriculum and more of a morning sharing activity (the students who wished were allowed to share answers with each other). After a few minutes when it appeared as if every student had solved the problem the teacher used her SmartBoard to solve the problem drawing a 10 squared quilt and filling in each square with a different color in order (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, red, yellow, blue, green, purple) and then counting the blue squares. The students who answered the question correctly got a sticker on their sheet and had the students put away their sheets to take home to show to their parents.
Next came the reading unit. The students were reading a book “Bread and Jam for Francis”. The teacher would call on each student to read a short passage on each page of the book for the first half of the book (15 pages). After wards the teacher had a question and answer session with the students asking if “bread and jam make a healthy meal”, “what do you need to make a healthy meal”, “what will happen if you only eat the same thing/unhealthy foods all the time”? During this time many of the students were very eager to answer and the ones who remained quiet the teacher did begin calling on for responses, and aiding their answering process if they did not know the answers on their own. This activity continued until the students began to get restless and more talkative/less focused, which is when the teacher had the students clear their desks of their books for their spelling test. The change of activity did re-focus the students, as they remained quiet as the teacher passed out their spelling tests. The students who finished their tests early were allowed to read quietly at their desks (books they had gotten form the library, their literature books, “Bread and Jam for Francis” or a book for the classroom bookshelf).
Next the students were called to the carpet again where they were allowed to participate in a math activity with the SmartBoard. Each round the player of the game was given a net with a number on it and were tasked to catch “addition” butterflies with two numbers on its wings that were to be added together. The player was to take their net and click/touch only the butterflies whose wings added up to the number on the net. The students were familiar with this game, and knew that if they wanted a turn they were not to talk aloud and at first they were able to contain themselves, however, after one student completed their first round, the students would proceed to call out the correct “answer” butterflies to the student playing the game. This was allowed however because it did aide both the students who knew and the students who did not know the different addition formulas (as long as the students were not screaming and kept the volume at a manageable level.
The second grade classroom had a more independent feel than the younger classrooms and the students perform and absorb more. Behavior and classroom management did have the same issued present (focusing on the task at hand, managing volume and movement about the classroom) however these older students were able to control themselves for longer periods of time, when they lost this control it was much more boisterous and rambunctious, and more enforcement was needed on the teacher’s behalf to regain control (with more mature students came more mature classroom control).
Sunday, December 6, 2009
My First Lesson Plan (Chicora #3)
I have had experience teaching to students before I carried out teaching my own lesson plan. Before starting my masters in education classes I was teaching at an academic preschool. Every week the preschool would be taught a theme (pets, underwater animals, family, outer space, transportation, etc.) and I would create an art lesson for each theme, cardboard tube pets, paper plate fish, family tree, construction paper telescopes, paper airplanes, etc. Just simple crafts, no where as near as complicated as researching standards, and developing a whole lesson plan, materials, procedures, and assessment, but it did give me experience in working with children and creating different art activities they can do to aid in their understanding and enjoyment of a theme/subject matter.
When I began teaching in a public school the students were older and could grasp more concepts and could be provided with more complex tasks to complete. Designing a lesson plan for these learners would take more planning and a better knowledge of what they are capable of learning and accomplishing. After observing the classroom and working with the students along with simple teacher assistance tasks such as aiding in spelling, composition, and general classroom management, I began coming up with a few ideas of what I could teach these students. I decided that I would be teaching a writing assignment in response to a piece of literature, as that was what they were most familiar with in their current classroom curriculum structure. I choose a children's poetry book that was related to Thanksgiving, (it was 3 weeks prior to the holiday) "Its Thanksgiving" by Jack Prelutsky, which included poems about Thanksgiving meals. I would read the poems about all of the different kinds of foods that are normally served for Thanksgiving (as well as creating a vocabulary wall list of foods listed in the book for the students to reference in their writing for ideas as well as spelling), and then have them write what are their favorite foods to have for Thanksgiving.
The students enjoyed listening to the poems, and especially enjoyed creating the vocabulary wall (raising their hands and naming off all of the foods mentioned in the poems). When it was time for them to go back to their desks and write they were not too enthusiastic but still did so in a collected manner. Repeatedly they raised their hands to ask me to assist them in their spelling and this was the major teaching point of my lesson plan, not what the students would write, but if they used the vocabulary wall successfully to aide in their writing. I would remind the students to check the vocabulary wall first before asking for assistance and it worked quite well. Once the students became familiar with the idea of referring to the vocabulary wall whenever they need to spell a word they were unfamiliar with they began to enthusiastically write with more confidence. When all of the students finished with their writing they shared their writing about their favorite Thanksgiving food at their tables and we were able to hang their writings outside of the classroom to display every students hard work.
I found teaching this lesson plan very rewarding and enjoyable. Yes, there was work in researching the standards for the plan, designing and modifying the lesson plan to meet different learners needs, but even will all of the work involved, I really did enjoy every aspect to creating the lesson plan. Thinking of how the students would react and absorb each aspect of the plan was exciting even fun to think about choosing the book for the plan and seeing how each student would react differently form the book.
I learned a lot from my first formal lesson plan. Firstly, lessons cannot drag on or be focused on the same thing for too long, students will get bored and loose interest in the education and will begin to direct their attention to more disruptive outlets. Another thing that needs to be stressed is "sharing", the fact that I the teacher cannot be everywhere at once, and the students need realize that they will need to share my assistance with each other, so setting the classroom behavior expectations with the students is another thing that a teacher will need to consider as well when creating their plans. All in all I had a lot of fun with the plan and the students enjoyed the lesson as well and I am excited to make more plans in the future and teach them to eager learners.
When I began teaching in a public school the students were older and could grasp more concepts and could be provided with more complex tasks to complete. Designing a lesson plan for these learners would take more planning and a better knowledge of what they are capable of learning and accomplishing. After observing the classroom and working with the students along with simple teacher assistance tasks such as aiding in spelling, composition, and general classroom management, I began coming up with a few ideas of what I could teach these students. I decided that I would be teaching a writing assignment in response to a piece of literature, as that was what they were most familiar with in their current classroom curriculum structure. I choose a children's poetry book that was related to Thanksgiving, (it was 3 weeks prior to the holiday) "Its Thanksgiving" by Jack Prelutsky, which included poems about Thanksgiving meals. I would read the poems about all of the different kinds of foods that are normally served for Thanksgiving (as well as creating a vocabulary wall list of foods listed in the book for the students to reference in their writing for ideas as well as spelling), and then have them write what are their favorite foods to have for Thanksgiving.
The students enjoyed listening to the poems, and especially enjoyed creating the vocabulary wall (raising their hands and naming off all of the foods mentioned in the poems). When it was time for them to go back to their desks and write they were not too enthusiastic but still did so in a collected manner. Repeatedly they raised their hands to ask me to assist them in their spelling and this was the major teaching point of my lesson plan, not what the students would write, but if they used the vocabulary wall successfully to aide in their writing. I would remind the students to check the vocabulary wall first before asking for assistance and it worked quite well. Once the students became familiar with the idea of referring to the vocabulary wall whenever they need to spell a word they were unfamiliar with they began to enthusiastically write with more confidence. When all of the students finished with their writing they shared their writing about their favorite Thanksgiving food at their tables and we were able to hang their writings outside of the classroom to display every students hard work.
I found teaching this lesson plan very rewarding and enjoyable. Yes, there was work in researching the standards for the plan, designing and modifying the lesson plan to meet different learners needs, but even will all of the work involved, I really did enjoy every aspect to creating the lesson plan. Thinking of how the students would react and absorb each aspect of the plan was exciting even fun to think about choosing the book for the plan and seeing how each student would react differently form the book.
I learned a lot from my first formal lesson plan. Firstly, lessons cannot drag on or be focused on the same thing for too long, students will get bored and loose interest in the education and will begin to direct their attention to more disruptive outlets. Another thing that needs to be stressed is "sharing", the fact that I the teacher cannot be everywhere at once, and the students need realize that they will need to share my assistance with each other, so setting the classroom behavior expectations with the students is another thing that a teacher will need to consider as well when creating their plans. All in all I had a lot of fun with the plan and the students enjoyed the lesson as well and I am excited to make more plans in the future and teach them to eager learners.
Classroom Placement Reflections (Chicora #2)
The one thing I have read repeatedly when dealing with "difficult" children is for you, as the teacher, to find out what the difficult child wants to learn, then teach them that. Honestly when I first read this I was more than a little skeptical. A troubled child wouldn’t be interested in school at all, let alone have anything in particular that they would want to learn, right? If I were to approach a child and ask, "What do you want to learn today?" wouldn't the difficult child answer "nothing", "I don't want to" or "I want to go home"? You try your best to reach out to these children and they don't give you anything to work with, or do they?
It was writing time in the first grade classroom that I have been interning in and one student was being particularly difficult, while every other student in the class was busy writing in their notebooks (about their pets) the difficult student would not only refuse to do his own work, but would persist in disrupting other students by wanting to play and talk with them while they were busy working. While the classroom teacher was busy assisting other students with their spelling and composition, I went to the disruptive student and tried to encourage him to participate in the assignment. When I asked him "why don't you want to write about your pet (or you can make up a pet if you don't have one)" he unsurprisingly answered, "I want to go home with my dad". Thinking back to all that I have learned this semester, I decided to try out "teaching him what he wants" by applying it to the writing assignment at hand "how about we write a letter to your father asking him to take you home" to which he replied "ok, do you have any paper". It actually worked. He sat and wrote a letter to his Dad alongside with his classmates who were also busy with their own writing.
I was glad I was able to assist this student in overcoming his frustration with writing and his abrasive attitude towards education. I learned that by just taking a few extra steps of guidance and insight a teacher can make a student with a difficult child. Not all children approach learning the same way and on that note a teacher can not assume that the same lesson can be taught to all students the same way. Managing an entire classroom is a daunting task with a room full of learners who each approach learning a different way, but finding a way for each of them to get a fair education can be very rewarding, for both the student and teacher.
It was writing time in the first grade classroom that I have been interning in and one student was being particularly difficult, while every other student in the class was busy writing in their notebooks (about their pets) the difficult student would not only refuse to do his own work, but would persist in disrupting other students by wanting to play and talk with them while they were busy working. While the classroom teacher was busy assisting other students with their spelling and composition, I went to the disruptive student and tried to encourage him to participate in the assignment. When I asked him "why don't you want to write about your pet (or you can make up a pet if you don't have one)" he unsurprisingly answered, "I want to go home with my dad". Thinking back to all that I have learned this semester, I decided to try out "teaching him what he wants" by applying it to the writing assignment at hand "how about we write a letter to your father asking him to take you home" to which he replied "ok, do you have any paper". It actually worked. He sat and wrote a letter to his Dad alongside with his classmates who were also busy with their own writing.
I was glad I was able to assist this student in overcoming his frustration with writing and his abrasive attitude towards education. I learned that by just taking a few extra steps of guidance and insight a teacher can make a student with a difficult child. Not all children approach learning the same way and on that note a teacher can not assume that the same lesson can be taught to all students the same way. Managing an entire classroom is a daunting task with a room full of learners who each approach learning a different way, but finding a way for each of them to get a fair education can be very rewarding, for both the student and teacher.
ECDC Observations #2 (10/14 - 10/15)
I noticed the "transitional activity" played a large role in the ECDC methodology. Whenever an activity was started or completed the children would always return to the center rug for discussion and reflection. Transitional activities were even used not only in the main classroom, but other classroom as well, for example, the physical education room (at the end of the activity the instructor would ask, "what did we learn today?” "what was your favorite activity?" before having the students transition back to their home classroom).
Another striking observation I made was how the teachers were more laid back in their management of the classroom and would not be in a constant "hover" state. They would concentrate their attention on a single area of the room and focus on their area for large blocks of time. However the students did not require much teacher assistance were able to handle themselves quite well. Even if a conflict were to arise within the classroom the teacher would allow the two conflicting students to resolve the matter on their own. I did not observe any verbal reprimanding from the teacher to the student at all, time outs or having any students being sent to the office or behavior rooms, due in part mostly to the students well behavior.
The teacher was always presenting the children with challenges and would not let them simply play idly or participate in an activity simply for the act of doing something. The teacher always made sure the students had a goal or task they were working on. To me this seemed like both a pro and a con, a pro because it kept the students stimulated, on task, and busy learning with a goal in sight, a con because it did not allow the students to learn and discover on their own (though to play devil's advocate, the teacher did not stress the assessment of the goals as much as the participation).
Perhaps it was due to the fact the students were given so much freedom in the classroom to peruse their own routes and needs educationally, which resulted in their lack of "acting out" or misbehaving. The students at ECDC were allowed to peruse their own impulse needs thanks to the freedom, which was allowed for them in the classroom, rather than a child placed in a regimented classroom. With no given free-time to act on their own impulses, students in a form fitted classroom with no time to act or follow their own wants or needs cannot control their own impulses, and students will low tolerance or self-control will let those impulses come out and disrupt the classroom at inappropriate times.
ECDC has made an example out of allowing and providing students with their own time, space, and responsibility to think, reflect, and act upon their own actions as well as providing them with the freedom to manage their own educational process. From my observations at ECDC it seems to be a good practice to allow children the freedom and space they need to set the pace for their own educational needs while still providing goals for them to reach on their own terms.
Another striking observation I made was how the teachers were more laid back in their management of the classroom and would not be in a constant "hover" state. They would concentrate their attention on a single area of the room and focus on their area for large blocks of time. However the students did not require much teacher assistance were able to handle themselves quite well. Even if a conflict were to arise within the classroom the teacher would allow the two conflicting students to resolve the matter on their own. I did not observe any verbal reprimanding from the teacher to the student at all, time outs or having any students being sent to the office or behavior rooms, due in part mostly to the students well behavior.
The teacher was always presenting the children with challenges and would not let them simply play idly or participate in an activity simply for the act of doing something. The teacher always made sure the students had a goal or task they were working on. To me this seemed like both a pro and a con, a pro because it kept the students stimulated, on task, and busy learning with a goal in sight, a con because it did not allow the students to learn and discover on their own (though to play devil's advocate, the teacher did not stress the assessment of the goals as much as the participation).
Perhaps it was due to the fact the students were given so much freedom in the classroom to peruse their own routes and needs educationally, which resulted in their lack of "acting out" or misbehaving. The students at ECDC were allowed to peruse their own impulse needs thanks to the freedom, which was allowed for them in the classroom, rather than a child placed in a regimented classroom. With no given free-time to act on their own impulses, students in a form fitted classroom with no time to act or follow their own wants or needs cannot control their own impulses, and students will low tolerance or self-control will let those impulses come out and disrupt the classroom at inappropriate times.
ECDC has made an example out of allowing and providing students with their own time, space, and responsibility to think, reflect, and act upon their own actions as well as providing them with the freedom to manage their own educational process. From my observations at ECDC it seems to be a good practice to allow children the freedom and space they need to set the pace for their own educational needs while still providing goals for them to reach on their own terms.
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