Reflect on Experience

This was an enlightening experience in so many ways. In the beginning I found it difficult to adjust to the "working" lifestyle when for the past five years I've lived mainly as a student. I realized a 7:30 to 4 schedule is tiring.

I approached student teaching as a semester that would be stressful, and have found out that this placement has been less stressful than I anticipated. The relationship I have built with my cooperating teacher is relaxed and comfortable. I am fairly confident in saying that she has become a friend and confidant I hope to keep in touch with as I dive into my teaching career.

A lesson I have learned is, in order to gain confidence from someone, you must prove to them that you are capable. For the most part, I treated the semester as an interview, but often found myself trying to get along and do what was told by the cooperating teacher more than wow with an impressive lesson plan. It was only until recently that I have projected my voice and ideas confidently with avail-- which I wonder, is that mostly my fault or should my cooperating teacher have informed me when I would have gained control? Throughout the placement, I didn't know where the boundary of control was between my teacher and I, and often, I was concerned if I was supposed to do more. My cooperating teacher's axis of control was different from others in seminar. From discussions, it felt as though others were given complete control of classrooms and lessons right from the beginning. My placement, on the other hand, was different. I was eased into the reigns. Sometimes it was frustrating-- I often wondered whether I would ever be able to use my own voice, lessons, and ideas. Yesterday was a horrible day. I was not "on." I couldn't keep track of time, and my teacher seemed hesitant to let go of her control, which was terribly frustrating. Somehow, today was an entirely different day. We came in with new ideas, new motives, and I was given the reigns. I even taught a lesson, an idea of my own, on the whim. It was empowering to know that my teacher was there to assist me in becoming my own teacher.

I found this experience to be fruitful. I have learned that elementary is not easy, and it requires a lot of preparation, organization, bright spirits, and smaller concepts. It was difficult for me to organize ideas, because I have never written a lesson plan for an elementary level. I have learned that being organized is enormously important, and that students at the elementary need to know the basics of every step. It is important to have clear expectations of management and behavior, and mostly, it is imperative that a teacher takes good care of their health--mentally and physically. (I'm still working on the physical end of things.... my body just aches.)

I believe a successful teacher is primarily a matter of... this is a difficult thought to complete. There are many attributes that form a successful teacher-- organized, kind, empathetic, confident, consistent... the list goes on and on. To limit it to one matter is nearly impossible, but I will try. Primarily, what I believe a successful teacher contains is the ability to move and grow with the ever-changing world of art (or any other subject). It is incredibly important for teachers to never loose sight of the world around us. Daily advances are being made with technology and society that affect the kind of art being made. Art changes with the people, and as an art teacher, I believe it is crucial to acknowledge current art and how it may affect our students.

Just as it is important to implement new and current art, introducing old and ageless art is as well. A successful teacher in my eyes is an educator of not only one subject, but a teacher who acknowledges that different subjects can intertwine and improve together. Essentially, the successful teacher I so ineloquently described is a completely well-rounded person. Someone who exhibits good character while staying educated about the current surrounding world.

September 15: Classroom Management

Within the past month of student teaching at Lakeview Elementary in Solon, I have adopted a word that I feel could be the most essential rule to a positive teaching/learning experience. That rule is respect-- students and teachers must be respectful to others, to the classroom, to materials and supplies, and finally, to art produced. At the beginning of the semester I thought the phrase "show respect" was redundant and overused, tossed around like a hot potato. I was delightfully proved wrong. It is a phrase that is overused so often that most forget the meaning. While rules were being established by my cooperating teacher, students were asked to thoughtfully reply to "how do you show respect?". Hypothetical scenarios were tossed while true, continuous thought was provoked. Students that act out of line or deliberately paint glue on the tabletop are asked, "are you being respectful to the table?" I have realized the easiest way to maintain the integrity of new supplies is to personify their existence. By giving an eraser a feeling, students are able to understand the golden rule as it applies not only to people and animals, but supplies and things. "Now class, do you think this eraser with pencil marks and holes was respected last year?" I don't know whether personifying objects in a secondary art room would be appropriate--students may begin to think you're crazy--but the idea remains the same. Show respect to all-- including every thing.

September 8, 2010

As an art teacher, it is assumed that our lessons will deal primarily with art. Our ideas, our motivations, our experiences and our challenges are to be devised around the promotion of art in the lives of our students. In order to attain a quality of control and reciprocity between student and teacher, a high degree of expectations need to be established from the beginning. I greatest fear as a teacher is not being able to provide high enough expectations for students. I know what I must do, and I know I will be able to do it, but I also can see the importance of maintaining expectations. It's not enough to merely set expectations. Students must hold and continue to hold a degree of accountability in the classroom.

When I reflect on influential classes I have taken, one teacher stands out above the rest for setting high expectations. That teacher was my piano instructor. I remember the first day I met her. We had a preliminary lesson where my brother and I played songs we already knew. The lesson posed as an interview. We were either good enough, not good enough or showed potential. Initially, my piano playing techniques were mediocre at best. She was unsure whether I was at the level needed for her teaching. She dealt mostly with students who received honorable mentions or won statewide competitions. I felt deceived, cheated, but mostly, challenged. I knew where I needed to be, and I was not about to let someone tell me I couldn't do something. So I practiced. And practiced. And practiced. And practiced. I knew what my expectations were. I knew what Anita wanted from me. I knew what I could become. Although I was able to succeed against her uncertainty, I realize this technique of establishing expectations will not work for every student. In order to make this technique a success, there must be a certain amount of confidence already in a student. They must know who they are and rise to challenges. Working with students who have a low confidence and who never rise to the expectations that are set will be the most difficult and the most rewarding. Once a student's confidence is built, expectations can be met.

I find the classroom community established in my current placement is one that encourages creativity, cooperation, confidence and security. It is built with rules that don't inhibit a student's ability to create, but acknowledges the expectations that are intrinsic throughout the school. Students know how they are to behave, and they understand the consequences when they don't. Students seem to want to do their best, and my cooperating teacher is equipped with techniques that build a student's confidence, that challenges a student's actions and abilities, and that manages a classroom efficiently.