We are so close to the end of this semester, a semester that taught me more than I thought possible. And with the end coming to a close, that means there is a whole bunch of last minute things to be done that weren't taken care of in the beginning, haha.
I will finally answer the rest of the assigned reflective questions in regards to my student practicum experience.
Question 6: "Are there rules posted? What are they?"
At the beginning of the experience, Mr. B didn't actually have the rules posted. That was something my co-teacher, Lindsey brought to his attention. It was almost like he had a, "d'oh" moment with how helpful having the rules in visible spots for the students would be. About halfway through, he got them posted on the backs of their cubbies that face the student work section. These rules talk about classroom etiquette such as picking up after oneself and not wasting materials, but it also described their discipline policy that is school-wide and has just been put into affect in the last year.
Question 7: "How does the teacher address safety issues?"
During our time with Mr. B, we never got to see him address safety issues in the class, so I asked him how he goes about doing such. He stated that whenever they start a new project, and there is possible safety concerns, he goes over with the students how to properly handle the equipment. Sometimes, the equipment cannot be handled by the students so he explains the reasons why. His number one thing is to always explain "why" about new situations or with questions. And then, if students break the safety rules the discipline plan is put into action.
Question 8: "How does the teacher handle: bathroom breaks/locker/drinks? Radio/Ipods? Telephone? Use of materials? Borrowing materials overnight? Cleaning up?
Mr. B teaches middle school and up, so the first day he has them in sixth grade he gives them the, "You're almost all adults," talk. Through this, the students are given the power to go the bathroom without needing to ask. The only way they can do such though, is if the bathroom pass is in the classroom (aka not being used). When they leave, they are expected to take no longer than 5 minutes, and if they constantly abuse that rule, the privilege of bathroom breaks is taken away.
Students are allowed music in the classroom if they have earbuds and are not doing any extra stuff such as social media and games on their phone/ipod. There is also conditions such as them getting their homework done, misbehaving, etc. They also need to have a B or better in the class to have access to that privilege. Mr. B does play music over his speakers during work time which all the students seem to enjoy.
Borrowing materials overnight is not an issue because at the beginning of the semester they are given an art kit with all the supplies they will need for that class. Items are accounted for when the kit is checked out to them, and if the items aren't there at the end of the semester/quarter, they student pays the teacher the replacement cost. That isn't an empty consequence either. He had students who did not receive their diploma because of replacement costs they accumulated throughout their art years.
With cleaning up, it is the expectation that they are all adults and he is not their parents. Students lose privileges such as music if they do not clean up after themselves. They may also lose points - when the class has gained 10 points through review questions asked they get to come to class and get straight to work. If they lose points, they have to go back to reviewing questions.
Question 9: "Does the teacher use a lesson plan, curriculum map, or a calendar to plan units? Does he/she have a written curriculum? What does the plan include?"
The teacher uses lesson plans, but does not have a curriculum map. He has something a little different which is a book of all the lessons the previous art teacher taught, along with all the art lessons he has ever taught and project examples with each one. He has done A LOT. I think it was really cool to see all the options he has created along with how he constantly looks to revamp the art program and not give the same old same old every year. We did express that it would be beneficial to create the lessons around multiculturalism and art history more, and that was something he stated he is looking into developing more.
Question 10: Ask students questions.
Lindsey and I got to know the students throughout the weeks. At the end of our lesson, I felt very much like when I had to leave the children I babysat for four years. I made connections with them, and now I will probably never see them again. Throughout the lesson, the children expressed that they really liked how they were able to do the portrait on someone they admired. We got to see why they chose the person they did through the paragraphs they wrote, and it was really interesting to see the not as shallow reasons that (I may) have expected. Other projects they had done was a clay house that got really detailed! I was a little intimidated by them in the beginning that I probably didn't get to know them as well as I could have, but come the week of us teaching I was able to see more of them and their talents from my direct working with them. I saw that the IEP student was very talented with painting and had a good eye when it came to picking out the different values. I saw the almost alarming levels of anxiety one student dealt with in regards to deadlines and wanting things to be perfect. And I saw another student that I would have pegged as a meat-head jock, do some beautiful stippling with his painting.
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