![\"Oil](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/charlotta\/files\/2015\/07\/IMG_5865-e1437448086536.jpg\")
<\/a>Oil pastel art work by other teacher candidates inspired by the work of Emily Carr<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Surrealist inspired sketches by teacher candidates<\/p><\/div>\n
During our art class, our teacher endeavoured to teach us to notice and appreciate an aspect of each individuals work, and to think of oneself as a learner, filled with potential. We created many projects during that class, using various materials and engaging different subject matter. With each project, our instructor was encouraging, and enthused. When I engaged with students during lessons, I communicated \u00a0that same positive point of view when looking at their work, while engaging them in thinking about what they could do better. \u00a0I think that placing an emphasis on the process of learning, as well as fostering a growth mindset is essential when communicating with students. I tried to foster this by asking questions like: What do you understand? What do you like about this drawing? What did you learn in that book?<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Myself and a zucchini cultivated in a school yard garden in Montreal<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>School yard garden in Montreal<\/p><\/div>\n
Creating place based, hands on learning opportunities for children is a practice that I value highly! During my practicum, I had the opportunity to teach the French Immersion Grade One Science Plant Unit during which I had the children thinking about plants in their immediate environment through observation of the trees and plants in our backyard, and to grow their own seeds to understand more fully the needs of a plant.\u00a0The creation of a school yard garden in Montreal where we taught children about plants, about soil and built the planter beds with them, was a really exciting adventure for both myself, my two co-workers and the children in the after-school day camp.<\/p>\n
During our community unit, we started by thinking about ourselves, and what made us special. Then we thought about how this made our classroom a special community, and then our school. My most successful lessons during that unit were those in which the kids were engaging with each other, or with a task that required some detective skill, or sense of observation. In one lesson, we deduced what the birds eye view for the classroom would look like by first practising by looking at an amusement park. \u00a0Our community map was a vocabulary revision exercise for our class, and we had lots of fun drawing and placing the buildings on the board to create a community. We then went over the various types of buildings while acknowledging each student’s work. Due to the short time I spent in the school, I did not create enough links with the parents and the other staff in order to have them come in and\u00a0talking about their roles in the community.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Self portraits inspired my Modigliani<\/p><\/div>\n