4/15-4/19

Last week in the classroom was a blast.  I went out on Wednesday until about 1:15 in the afternoon and Friday for the entire school day.  Wednesday was nice because we had the block schedule again.  Ceramics class was in session the entire day and I had the opportunity thanks to my cooperating teacher to teach the new lesson to the class as they were ready to begin it, although I did not get to teach the entire class all at the same time.  Instead when I arrived there at 7:30 in the morning, the teacher wanted me to begin working on the project the students will be starting next.  I had to sketch out some ideas for a culturally influenced tea pot/set.  I instantly thought of an idea that looked good on paper and I started to build it.  During the block class periods, as students began to finish their previous assignments the teacher would instruct them to see me for further instruction.  As I was building my idea for the assignment, I was also introducing the next assignment to these kids, using mine as an example and referring to the rubric they received to show them what the criteria for the assignment was and how to begin the project.  It was nice being able to talk with these students in smaller groups and sometimes one on one because through the process of asking certain questions it is easy to gauge what the students are truly interested in and from there it is easy to help jog their imagination in the direction of a finished tea pot set that means something to them on an emotional level. 

Friday I had the chance to stay for the entire day and had a really good time.  I got to continue working on the ceramics project but I also had the opportunity to teach a lesson to a couple of classes.  Color schemes was the main focus of the lesson and granted some of the material was new, each class I taught it too was at a different point in the lesson so it was nice being able to still introduce new bits of information to the students.  My cooperating teacher had me put together a power point to go over this information with the students and I was surprised at how engaged the majority of the class was during that time.

The most enjoyable thing during Friday that I had observed was how engaged all of the students are in the art program itself.  The teacher was getting ready for a show that was happening on the 20^th, (the following day) and was stressing out a bit because she didn’t think she would be able to get it all done in time for her to make it for her prior engagement in Idaho later that day.  Once I arrived I started helping her out immediately and soon enough many other students had shown up early and offered their help as well.  We were done with all of the tasks that needed to be completed by the time first period started.  The students were all happy to offer their spare time and the teacher was very grateful for their help and support.  Once again this is a perfect example of the kind of successful and inviting classroom I want to create for my future students.