Week 1

Wednesday, Jan. 8th

I left my Co-Op teacher know ahead of time that I would be a little late this morning because I was going to get my TB results and physical forms signed and then turned in at the district office. She was fine with it, but unfortunately things were beyond my control and did not go as planned. Due to my doctor's lateness, being 2 hours behind with all of his patients, and overbooking of patients, I was not able to make it to the school at all today. I left a message for my teacher with the school's secretary, and I also sent her an e-mail letting her know that I would not be able to make it. I am terribly upset that I had to wait more than 5 hours to get my TB results and physical forms signed, but I understand that it is important and required for these forms, along with my background check, to be submitted before student teaching. Therefore, I am glad it is now done, and I went ahead and dropped them off at the district's office right after I left my doctor's office.

Thursday, Jan. 9th

Today was officially my first day at the school. I was very excited this morning. I arrived at the school at 7:30 a.m., and the security let me in. I went into the main office, and realized that  nobody was there. Soon after a lady walked in, and to my surprise it was the school's principal. I introduced myself and also met one of the Vice-Principals. They were both very nice and welcoming.

My Co-Op teacher was very understanding about why I could not make it yesterday. Today I mainly observed her 6 classes and helped individual students work on their projects. I helped her set up the tables, picked up materials, cut paper, supervised students, and did morning door duty with her. Every class has art only once a week. Today we had 4 Kindergarten classes, one gifted 4th grade class, and one 1st grade class. Every class is unique in every way. The behaviors of the students in each class sets a different mood. 

The first class were 4th graders, and I was surprised to see a sign language interpreter there that interpreted what was said/taught for a few hearing-impaired students. I thought that this was pretty neat and an awesome accommodation for the students who really need it to succeed in the classroom.

There were some classes where the students were able to get the majority of their work done, but there were two Kindergarten classes where a few students displayed disruptive behavior. These 3 students each have a behavior folder, which is something new to me, that is given to every teacher they see throughout the day. It is the teacher's responsibility to rate the child's performance in 3 areas: respectfulness, following directions, and participation. These students did not have have a very good day so they did not get very good markings. There is a 1-2-3 scale that they use (1- not good, 2-OK, 3-Excellent).

One male student in particular had a really hard time sitting in his seat. He would get up and walk or run around the room with scissors in his hand, and my Co-Op teacher kept redirecting him to sit at his table. There came a moment where I did not know what to do or how to react. He took his scissors and I saw him try to cut another student's shoe laces off. I said his name out loud and my Co-Op teacher saw it as well. She took him to the side and spoke with him. The student still did not listen and continued being disruptive while she taught, so she asked me to sit with him and to try to help him get some work done. He played around with his sweater and ignored everything I was saying, until my Co-Op teacher showed him his behavior folder.

I realized that one student alone can really affect others' learning. Not much teaching was able to get done, and I felt bad. I am not sure how I would handle the situation if it had just been me in the classroom. Once things start to get out of hand in this way, where he could be a harm to others, I think I would maybe call the office. 

My Co-Op teacher and I started discussing how we could set up a schedule and plans of co-teaching, which I am very open to do. Tomorrow I will be attending a curriculum meeting with all of the district teachers (no school for the students).

Friday, January 10th

Standard 8 - Collaborative Relationships*Today was School Improvement Day, and the students got the day off. The entire district's teachers met at the school, including all of the principals. I was really looking forward to this day because I hoped to see 2 of my previous Co-Op teachers. My Co-Op teacher and I walked up to the table to sign-in, and there I saw my previous Co-Op teacher and the principal of that school. She re-introduced me to the principal, and she informed me that there will be a vacancy soon in the district and to make sure that I apply. I was very happy to hear that, and I will most definitely do that.

The time came where we each separated and went into our assigned rooms. There I met the soon-to-be retired teacher and one of my previous Co-Op teachers. It was very nice seeing them again and we talked for quite a bit. I did my best to network, and I feel like I have a good chance of possibly starting my career as an art teacher for the following school year.

During our time together we worked on developing a standard curriculum for the Art Department. It is a very hard thing to do because you cannot be too specific to the point where you "suck out all of the creativity of art." They came to a consensus and decided to do a general outline of units they each would teach and a rubric that could be used for report cards. It was a great opportunity for me to witness this and be a part of it.

Once the meeting was over, my Co-Op and I returned to her classroom and we sat down for an hour to plan and talk about the upcoming week. She actually had an outline of what she thought might be OK for me and I approved it. The outline is as follows:  

 

I love how my Co-Op teacher and I are able to get along so well and seem to understand each other. She is very kind and genuinely wants to see me succeed and I really appreciate that. I am learning so much from her already and I can see that she is interested to learn from me and know my thoughts/opinions about things as well. I will be doing some teaching this upcoming week. I am really looking forward to it!

Classroom Confidential - Schmidt

1. The multiple intelligences that I hope to use in my classroom are: visual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and verbal. In art it is always important to discuss what we are seeing and to share our opinions with others. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to interpreting an art work, therefore students who are "verbally smart," would be enriched by openly being able to share their thoughts to class through class discussion. Art gives "intrapersonal smart" children the opportunity to see their artistic abilities in a different light and be able to analyze what their strengths and weaknesses are. Doing self-evaluations in the classroom helps in this particular area as well.

Being seated in groups gives the students that are "interpersonally smart" the opportunity to socialize, but also to talk about each other's work. These students could end up helping others out by explaining things and offering friendly advice. Last but not least, "visually smart" students would be the ones who complete extra steps before you even introduce them to the class. These students can complete a project by just looking at the example that you put up. I think that it is OK if this happens. These students seem to develop a sense of independence early on.  

2. There are some ways in which I will use Schmidt's "full brain learning." For example, I will provide my students with options of creating a project each having a different degree of complexity. Having students make up their own project also engages them in "full brain learning." While demonstrating how to do a project, I can model how to think through a process, technique, or problem and how to come up with solutions. I will also have the students take advantage of their seating arrangement (groups) to help them learn how to communicate their ideas and present them to the class.