As you can see, part of the requirements of the ARTED208 class is keeping a blog. What's really cool is a lot of student continue to use the blog through the rest of their education and into their teaching, along with using it as an important example of their readiness to be student teachers in our Benchmark II interviews.
One specific requirement for my current observational teaching is to answer a certain set of questions that reflect on the students, the teacher, the classroom, etc.
1. How do the students act upon entering the class? How does the teacher act?
I definitely could see a difference as the grades moved up in age. 6th graders entered the class with extremely high energy and talkative with one another. 7th graders came in quietly giggling with one another, and 8th graders came in even quieter and took their seats while being on their phones. The teacher waited till the bell for the period to begin rang before addressing the class - unless some statement given to the first couple of students to tell the others wasn't being followed; such as students getting out supplies after the teacher stating not to do stuff.
2. How does the teacher get their attention to begin class? Is there a procedure for listening?
The teacher gets their attention for class by talking in a loud, clear voice and beginning to talk. It is expected the students will put away their phones and stop their conversations. I am assuming this is because the teacher has gained a level of respect from them. There really is no procedure for listening - it is expected that when he is talking, no one else is.
3. What is the current project? What are the objectives? What materials are being used?
Sixth graders are currently working on a painting project that involves tracing a posterized version, 3 layers, of themselves. After that, they pick one color to develop a dark, a medium, and a light of, to paint in their tracings accordingly. The idea behind this is to not frustrate the students that their work isn't perfect, but allowing them to trace - it gives them confidence in their drawing skills. They use graphite pencils, tracing machines, and paint.
Seventh graders are working on a drawing project that works to develop value. Students could choose between different categories such as, "tattoo drawings, pets/animals, things that are black and white, etc,". Learning Targets include, I know how to use a wide range of values to show strong contrast, I know how to draw with clean lines and have crips values, and I know how to create great transitions between values with my blending stump. For materials, they use a variety of graphite pencils, paper, blending stumps, and erasers.
I sadly had to leave before I was able to sit in and see what the eighth graders were learning, but I will definitely be talking about their projects in the near future in my blog.
4. Comment on the teacher's instruction.
The teacher has essentially gained the respect of most if not all of his students. They listen to him, and behave pretty well - even if some get off task and distracted. He keeps things professional with the class, and doesn't seem to have a sense of humor really. The class is technology oriented through their computers, drawing tablets, tracing lights, etc.
5. How do you see classroom management being handled? Are any students being off task or disrespectful - how does the teacher handle this? Is there a system of discipline that the school uses?
I would say classroom management is handled when problems arise. I say this because the students all seem to respect Mr. B, and disciplining issues rarely happen. Some students do get off task - especially with his 6th grade group right now, but he handles it through their discipline algorithm. The school district created this algorithm because of discipline problems, and from my understanding, it's the first one that's actually worked. How it is set up, the student gets two official verbal warnings. After that, they get sent into a quiet place away from the rest of the students. Both the students and the teacher take time to calm down, and then the teacher takes a moment to ASK the student why they are doing what they are doing. It's really question based and not accusation-like. After that, the student is let back into the classroom if they come to an understanding, but if the student continues to misbehave they are sent to the office and either get a minor or a major referral. Depending on the severity of the offense.
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