My journey thus far as an teacher assistant

I am so thankful for the opportunity Ive been given to teacher assist at Walker Charter Academy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the short time I have spent there I have already learned so much by just being in the physical context of a classroom setting, although I've only begun to skim the surface. My cooperating teacher at Walker Academy is Mrs. Turnbull who has been so helpful and open to allowing me to learn many aspects of being a teacher.

Throughout my ten or so weeks at Walker, I have participated in many activities such as:

-Introducing myself to and meeting the entire staff of a new school
-Choosing materials to use for specific projects
-Documenting and uploading student artwork onto a website called artsonia, which is considered on of the worlds biggest children's online art gallery where teachers from around the world can upload their student's artwork
-Assisting in coordinating the schools own personal Art Prize in which any student from grades young 5's through 8th grade, or even family members and friends could submit work made with any medium         
     -Assisted in the display and labeling of artwork
     - Entered my own work
     -Created and organized voting slips for each individual classroom
     -Tallied up votes for the top ten winners
     -Displayed and labeled top ten works
     -Created certificates for top ten and best of grade artwork
-Duties such as filling paint containers, supplying the class pet geckos with water, making copies,traffic duty, ect.
-Assisting students  with ongoing projects as a group and as individuals
-Preparing and teaching my own lessons

I have taught several lessons in the classroom so far. I have used powerpoint presentations to present artists, their work, art terms, and inspirational quotes. I have given examples through other artist works, my own demonstration in class, and with students work which shows they have understood a learning concept and demonstrated it well I have assesed student learning with activities such as concept mapping, free-writing, and self reflection worksheets. I have also implemented music in my classroom and have found it to be a very good tool to utilize which assists the students to retain a more focused state when working. 

A challenge I have encountered in my teaching was assisting the students who were struggling with  the assignment and getting ideas from their head to the paper. In a lesson I'm doing on storytelling, I realized after my introduction to the lesson, I should have been more specific in what key components make up a story and also should have further emphasized what fantasy actually is compared to reality. The discussion of these specifics could have further developed student understanding and brainstorming, and application.

Another thing that was brought to my intention which I value strongly and want to incorporate into my classroom is my personal relationship with the students. I want to build a classroom where learning is easy. I believe learning comes from a certain kind of vulnerability, and students can only feel vulnerable when their comfortably. I think that making myself relateable and personable, will really assist in this process. Another way to help this process is to work on remembering students names. Although I see a lot of different students every day, this is a good practice to do.
     

Ahhh inspiration!

My bags are packed and ready to go! I've just begun my journey home for Christmas break and I'm already feeling so refreshed and inspired by the things which I value the most like the outdoors, (specifically the u.p.). family, and friends. The blue hues of the snow and the trees lit on fire by the burning sunset perfectly display their beauty as I drive past on the highway. Hugs and laughs with family and friends truly warm my heart and inspire me to be the loving person I desire to be. All is well with my soul as far as I'm concerned and I'm excited to refuel myself with inspiration from the things I love and can use in my artwork or even for strength when times get hard. Seasons greetings fellow blog readers with peace love and joy!

As a future educator, I often look to my own teachers and the strategies they use to teach. One of my most recent observations is how students work so differently from one another and how they may or may not be punished or rewarded for this reality. I came across this little dilemma because of my own personal experience with this. I tend to be a very slow creator when it comes to my artwork, versus someone who can spend one fourth the time that I do and receive an equal or even better grade then my own. This observation is not out of jelousy or anger, maybe a bit of frustration, but because I think its important as a future teacher to take the diversity of how students work into consideration when grading their work. Although the quality of the work between two students might be the same, one student might have put many more hours and effort into their work, or one student might have progressed in their work and maintained a good sense of work ethic.

in progress

As a sort of continuation from my last blog, I would like to further share my ideas on the community among artists and art educators. Although we are all our own individuals, each person we meet and get to know influences and inspires us in one way or another. In the art world, im speaking more specifically about artistic inspiration. Everyday on my artistic journey, I am more convinced of this concept the more I find myself engaged in the unique way in which all of us create and the choices we make. When I get to know my fellow classmates better and see more of the art they create, I really come to appreciate their personalities, their creative process and artwork. I believe these things truly impact myself and my work in a very positve way, and I wonder where I would be as an artists without the others around me.... What kind of artist would be I be without those friends, their encouragement, constructive criticisms, or inspirations? Just another reason to embrace the artists, future teachers, and the huge unexplored world of art around you!

Monster Cookies..

As I continue on this journey of pursuing my degree in art education, I face challenges and new obstacles every day. Class loads and preparations for applying to the college of education can become extremely stressful sometimes, if you let it. Although I've pondered this thought before, I just recently had an experience which made me recogcnize the importance of fellowship among the art educators community. A few girls from my Teaching the Nontraditional Canon class and I decided we should escape the stresses of it all and go to a restaurant and eat their monster cookies! It was one of the best experiences Ive had with my classmates because of two reasons. One was that the, "Monster Cookies," we had were warm, gooey, and delicious, but also, that spending time with other art educators and sharing our thoughts, troubles, ect. was a really stress relieving experience. I think that even when we all actually get in the classroom and start teaching, that making time for this fellowship is even more important for sharing struggles, accomplishments, and new ideas for projects. So if your feeling stressed or overwhelmed, take advantage of the fact that their are others out there just like you, and go eat some monster cookies!