Standard II Reflection
ELEMENT A: Teachers foster a predictable learning environment characterized by acceptable student behavior and efficient use of time in which each student has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults and peers.
Part of the class set-up was a selection of daily sketch prompts designed as a way for students to hone their hand and eye coordination skills. Every day, for the duration of the class, the students had eight minutes to sketch out a drawing corresponding to the prompt. This allowed some time to relax a little from lunch right before and get them in the mindset of making art.
It became a useful tool at the end of the semester when checking through sketchbooks because I was able to see how far they'd come from the beginning, how many chose to procrastinate, and who was part of the group that never turned anything in or did the work. |
ELEMENT B: Teachers demonstrate an awareness of, a commitment to, and a respect for multiple aspects of diversity, while working toward common goals as a community of learners
One of my favorite lessons from my time at Rocky Mountain HS was the heraldy project at the very beginning. This project had students focus on a logo or emblem that was their crest amongst the Lobo-nation. They were asked to think of at least ten things or ideas that were important to them or that they liked and then choose four to six that they wanted to include in their final coat of arms.
This served as the "get to know you" project where people could include parts of their heritage, interests, beliefs, and other aspects about their life that they wanted people to know about them. Anything would work, as long as it was school appropriate, and allowed for a wide range of designs and personal tastes. The idea of creating crests as individuals in a "kingdom", also, worked towards the idea that they were a community within the classroom and not just standalone people. One of my main goals in any classroom is to at the very least make sure that they're talking with one another, sharing ideas, and asking for feedback openly rather than keeping to themselves when feedback is crucial to developing one's art. |
ELEMENT C: Teachers engage students as individuals, including those with diverse needs and interests, across a range of ability levels by adapting their teaching for the benefit of all students.
In a high school setting, it is difficult to differentiate between students that require extra help, adaptations, or are struggling, but when it comes to elementary, the students are more willing to ask for help and students with special needs are more prevalent.
For some students, they don't even have the ability to make art completely on their own and usually get directed to different activities rather than art. In some cases, like with the Maasai Necklaces project from Olander, the lesson can be easily adapted on the spot so that the students with special needs would be able to participate. Normally, the product was to be a necklace made from a paper plate with a pattern created using Crayola markers. However, this student didn't have the best motor skills, so after talking with my mentor teacher and the para, it was decided that the best option would be to have the student pick what color of paper they would want next. The para would then cut it and glue and repeat this process until the entire plate was filled. For someone like this student, it was an incredible thing to see because most of the time she would be doing a side activity that would only sometimes correspond to the art that was being made by the rest of her peers. Of course, when it comes to students in elementary level, it usually works well to plan with the para then and there than to assume something and have a separate activity already prepared. In some cases, this has worked, but because of the swing in moods it is usually better to wait and see what the situation is like first to ensure they have an optimal art experience that day. |
ELEMENT D: Teachers work with families and/or significant adults in the lives of their students.
In my time student teaching, I didn't get to interact with parents as much as I would have liked to or thought I would. I met a couple parents during parent teach conferences and back to school night for high school, but other than that there was minimal contact.
The most memorable and enriching experience was during my second placement at Olander when I was able to assist with the Foothills Mall art show and talk with a handful of other Poudre School District art teachers. I was able to see what other schools were doing in terms of projects, talk with them about what things were like on their end, and get a little feedback about being in the field as an art teacher. It was clear that these moments were, also, times to decompress and talk about different ideas that they were thinking about using while being able to loosen up outside of the classroom. During this set-up period, I heard some of the teachers exchange lessons they were doing and even offered a little bit of input here and there. |