Keep it Short

The first time I did painting with a class, I didn’t realize how short of an attention span the students had.  I did my first demo on brush strokes from the Impressionists style in the centre of the room.  I asked all of the students to gather around the demo area to watch me paint.  The problem was that many of the students decided to stand behind students and eventually slouched back.  I had asked several times for them to come close but they just refused/ looked bored.  I had to focus on the demo and accept that not all of the students will be interested no matter how much I tried to engage them.

Acknowledging that not all of the students were going to stand close to the demo, I decided to paint my worksheet and hold it up each time I worked on a new portion of the worksheet.  After I spent some 15-20 minutes doing the demo, I felt like I needed to end it.  I let the students work for the remainder of the day but unfortunately, they ran out of time.  They had to wrap up their paints to use for next day.

I asked the teacher about how I conducted the class and she mentioned that I needed to keep my demos short and let them work for 75% of the class.  The students prefer to work and they want to work.  They will zone out fast if I talk for more than 15 minutes.  I must figure out how to condense my talk but do I need to do this for presenting information?  For demonstrations, I believe that keeping things short and sweet is necessary.  For longer presentations, breaking it into portions is probably best.  Add in some brain breaks and activities or discussions.

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Y.A.S. aka “Young Asian Syndrome”

I have said this many times but I will say it once more.  Being a young woman of Asian descent has given me more heartache than one can imagine.  I have been told regularly that I look younger than my age and I can acknowlege this because I believe it.  I have told many colleagues, friends, and peers that I feel “inferior” sometimes because of this.  It is a general stereotype that Asians tend to look alot younger than they are and to an extent, I believe it is true.  I have gone through many experiences when I feel that my appearance is detrimental to my quality of life.

Practicum is one example of how looking young and tiny works against me.  All of my students tower over me.  Some of them even look older.  Psychologically, I feel unauthoritative.  How do I overcome this?  I tried to compensate by dressing older and wearing some makeup.  Maybe I will even put my hair up.  I decided this week to wear heels so I feel “taller”.  All of this is in my head because none of these external modifications can change how mature of a teacher I am.   I am also vertically challenged.  This only contributes to the frustration of looking young.  Recently, I spoke to a teacher and she expressed the same sentiments.  She told me about her battle with YAS and the reality of teaching.  Be tough but nice.  That’s all it boils down to.  Do not give in to them!

How will I overcome this innate feeling of inferiority?

1. I will continue to present myself maturely.  That is, I will address students with respect and demand the same level of respect back.

2. I will not give in to students who try to coerce me into doing something that I don’t believe they deserve.  Ie. Friend staying in the class with them; leaving to buy food; doing other work in class; not bringing in their homework

3. I will present myself professionally.  Continue to dress appropriately and look groomed.

4. Do not talk down to students.  This is the last thing I should do in my position.  It makes me seem extra bossy than I am or should be.

This is an interesting post but legitimate nonetheless.  I am sure I am not the only one who deals with this.

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Three Musketeers

The headache started in the morning when I arrived to set up for my first class.  Even though I knew that I needed plenty of time to set up and had arrived 40 minutes before class started, I still wasn’t finished setting up on time.  I had a student come in and help me with the chairs (luckily) but he would continue chatting with me.  This chatter, which I normally love, was in fact distracting.  I felt like my mind was in many places and I couldn’t focus the way that I needed to.  What I needed to do was to set up the individual stations and set up the glazes, bottles, and paints.  When the bell rang, I was mostly prepared but I still wanted to make things nicer.  For the most part, everything was in place and ready to go.  Mentally, I was still all over the place.  I had to gather my thoughts and focus on the task ahead- that is, presenting to this class and going over the notes I had prepared the night before.

I had to do a glazing demo which went well.  I think it did anyway.  I made sure to cover all the key aspecs about not getting glaze on the bottom or on the edges of the tiles.  In addition to that, I had to stress that the brushes be kept in their respective glaze jars so as to not mix them.  Doing the demo actually slowed my racing mind which was good.

When they were working, some of the kids work so fast while other work so slowly.  How do I find a balance between these two?  I am still working on this.  The kids who were “done” glazing were told by me to draw more designs for future tiles.  Because we had so many, I thought this was the most appropriate activity.

The class after was my ceramics class.  This class included the three most difficult students I had to deal with.  They were not cooperating and fooling around so my SA gave them detention.  After school, I came in to work with them and they worked very well.  The invididual working time was conducive to getting work done rather than sitting together and goofing off.  After that, I wanted to have a quick chat with them.  I was brutally honest and told them that their disruption gave me headaches.  I communicated that they worked very well on their own but that together, they lacked the discipline to complete any work.  They also distract each other from completing work.  I told them that what they were doing was disrespectful and that I want them to succeed.  The last half of my practicum teaching this class must end pleasantly.  This is their goal and they must cooperate.  First they will sit apart then if they’re good, they can sit together.  I felt good talking to them one on one.

The highlight of my day was working with the Challenge kids.  These kids are the ones who do enriched courses and today was a workshop day for them.  I signed up to teach them an art history workshop about Impressionism.  Unfortunatley, due to miscommunication, the workshop didn’t start until 20 minutes later when I finally found the students.  The students were more engaged than a regular class and one student was a whiz at art history.  I hope I inspired them to continue learning!

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o’ mice an’ men

The single most important trait of a good teacher is possessing the ability to ADAPT to different situations.  For most of my life, I have planned out everything to the detail.  These plans were meant to guide me and remove any risk of unwanted surprises.  Of course, as the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. Robert Burns couldn’t have said it better.   I will never forget the moment when I read how the mouse’s home was upturned and ruined by the human plow.  You can plan and plan and plan but things often turn out to be different.  I was saddened for the mouse and saddened for me.  I was in Grade 12 and on my way to university next year.  What if my life plans go astray?  What will I possibly do?

Luckily, over the years, I have learned to adapt to different situations.  Changes are thrown at you and you must respond by thinking quickly on your feet.  One wrong move and you’re a goner…especially on practicum.  I have seen some students shine and some go down in flames.  What makes for a successful practicum?  There are a number of factors that will affect whether or not a teacher candidate will succeed, scrape by, or fail.  I’ve boiled it down to the following variables.

1. SA & FA

2. Students in the class

3. What you’re teaching

4. Where you’re teaching

5. Personality

6. Administrators

7. Connections

8. Flexibility

Simply put, who you work with and where you work are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.  If you happen to have a personality conflict with your SA, FA, Administrator, or fellow colleague, be prepared for rough waters.  No matter how hard you try, working with people who you do not agree with will wear you down over the course of 10 weeks.  The biggest milestone however, is making it to 5 weeks.  Psychologically, if you can overcome 5 weeks and hit spring break, you’re good to go for the last half of practicum.  Of course, this is all internal and when it comes down to it, YOU are the only thing standing in YOUR way of succeeding at your practicum.  If you happen to be tired all the time, prone to breakdowns, have a difficult time dealing with stress-inducing situations, then it may prevent you from doing well during your practicum.  I can speak for myself.  Sometimes, I lack the proper motivation to get me out of bed and teach.  This is the honest truth.  I am not perfect and I am often tired.  I am tired from worrying.  I worry a heck of a lot.  What separates me from those who will flounder is the fact that no matter what, I will always bring myself to work and do my very best.  Even if you’ve had a rough day (or night), you go to work being the professional that you are supposed to be.  Treat the students with respect and remember that you are here to help them learn.  Do what YOU can to light the flame of imagination in their minds.  I am reminded fairly often that I am here, in this program, at this school and with these students because I wanted to EDUCATE and GUIDE the younger generation.  Perhaps I have an idealistic view of what art education can  do for the children but my intentions are honest.

This post was inspired by the need for me to change my lesson plans last minute.  Last week I was told that I was losing one class and today I was told that I needed to cut the first Photo class in half to give time for some students to process film.  This film should have been processed in the last class.  I was a bit frustrated at the fact that I needed to change my plans minutes before I actually teach it.  How do I modify something that I spent hours planning? Luckily I was able to shift things around and make it work but it really showed me how much flexibility a teacher needs.  Be prepared but most of all, be prepared to be FLEXIBLE!

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Classroom Setup

The setup of the classroom is absolutely essential to the success of a teacher’s instruction.  I never realized this until I actually had to set one up, especially one which required a projector, laptop, and a screen.  I attempted to set up my regular art room and found that the screen was just much too far for people at the end of the class to really see anything.  This can’t be helped.  This is the set up of the classroom and I cannot move the screen.  The next dilemma I faced was setting up the photo lab with a projector and screen.  Luckily they had a screen but the set up of the room was problematic.  I did not have in my possession, an extension cord for the projector.  Where the screen was to be set up, I could not find an adequate place for the projector.  The projector was either too far off to the side due to cord length limitations or the screen would be too angled.  Dilemmas!

I decided to fiddle around with the other power outlets in that room.  Fortunately, there are many outlets in that room to power all of the computers.  This meant that I could find the most ideal location for the projector, unhook the cables from the computer, and plug in what I needed.  Luckily, it worked!  I will be using this set up tomorrow.  I am so glad I went in after school to set up the place beforehand.  I did not want to freak out the day of.  The other good thing about teaching a short class is that I don’t need to do many presentations!

Tip of the day: always do a full run through when setting up your projector, screen, and laptop!

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Quiet Time

Today was the last day that the special needs class will work on their balloon pinatas.  Many were finished or nearing finished.  There were a couple of students who were still painting their balloons.  I knew that they probably wouldn’t finish their balloons in time but that was OK.  When they have free time, they can come back to their projects.  I did lend the ones painting their balloons (the ones who were behind)  a hand in painting theirs.  I didn’t want them to not have anything to talk about.  The working period was short today because I wanted a Show and Tell at the end of the class.  Perhaps they aren’t used to talking about their work let alone their art and I wanted to give them a chance to share their work.

I had them clean up about 15 minutes earlier than normal to save time for the quick presentation.  The class only consisted of about 12 students so it wasn’t going to take too much time.  I had each student come up to the front and hold their balloon out.  They flashed it around the room and waited for guesses to come in as to what the concept or main idea of their balloon is.  It started out a bit slow as the first presenter was quite shy.  I wanted to proceed with the presentation in the following manner:

Ask the class to guess what the concept of the presenter’s balloon is.

1. What is the concept of your balloon?

2. Describe why it looks this way (why did you choose those colours, designs, decorations?)

3. Are you happy with your balloon?  What about it makes you happy?

4. Are there any changes you would like to make to your balloon?

5. Open up the discussion to the class.  Do they have any suggestions?

After the first few students, I realized that they were quite happy with their balloons and would usually not have any suggestions of improvement.  I decided to remove questions 2-5 for a couple of reasons.  The first one being 1. They don’t seem to have any qualms about their balloon.  They are usually quite happy about their product and 2. We didn’t have that much time to spend on each of their presentations.  The bell rang with 2 students left to present but the class stayed regarldess to finish the presentations.  I realize that sometimes teachers can go over time, especially with non-timed presentations.  At least I got through most of them before the bell!

After the presentations were over, I told them that on Wednesday we would begin a new unit.  This new unit involves glazing ceramic tiles with garden scenes.  I had the help of my CS student to put together inspiration boards of garden plants and bugs.  I hope they will enjoy this project!  I only have them for about 6 more classes 🙁

The next class I taught was the Ceramics course.  Today the students were introduced to Peer Assessment.  They were given worksheets and were told to “interview” each other on their shoe concept.  I made sure to be very clear on filling out their names up top and writing the name of the student who they assessed.  I knew that it would take a lot longer than I expected so I gave them plenty of time.  I collected those sheets that were done and gave those who needed more time time to work on theirs.  I spent the rest of the time checking their sketchbooks and it took me to about the end of the period.  The class worked very diligently and it was very surprising.  The pairs that I arranged were meant to separate the friends and group people who normally don’t speak together.  For the most part, it worked.  It was nice to see them talking and this one particular student, who I normally have trouble with, seemed to work well today.  The class was quite pleasant.

One thing that continues to bother me is the student who continues to step on my toes and not deliberately.  The freedoms that she has been used to are gone and she doesn’t seem to understand that.  In my class, you must respect my rules.  Some difficulties I faced from this student include: not cleaning up after herself and disrupting the class during silent reading time.  Once again, I had to tell this student that this behaviour was not acceptable.  Sometimes they just need to be told that several times before they actually internalize it.

At the end of the day, I decided to talk to the head of the ELL department about my students.  It turns out that she was actually having a private meeting with one of the trouble student’s mother.  I believe they are quite aware of the situation I am facing with these students, but for me to touch base with several of the ELL teachers will only serve to benefit me and these ELL students in the long run.  Hopefully a solution can be found soon.

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Timing the class

Recently, I distributed the first Peer Assessment sheets for the students to fill in.  I didn’t think it would take as long as it did.  Some students finished fast because their answers were not thorough.  Others, like the ELL students required more time.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to time this and do a sketchbook check.  The first class I did this with, the peer assessment took 20-30 minutes.  I didn’t think it would take this long but knowing the duration that it could last, I made sure to give the second class more time for their peer assessment.  I took less time with the students for the sketchbook check because there were so many I had to go through.  Even though took less time with each student, I still only made it through half of them.  The kids at the bottom of the alphabet are lucky in that they get the weekend to do their sketches!

A few things that I wish to correct or address:

1. Sketchbook checks do take the whole class- thorough ones anyway

2. Peer Assessment requires at least 30 minutes.  I need to tell them I want FULL sentences and explain WHY they come up with the answers they do.  I will most likely need to rephrase some of my questions for the Peer Assessment sheet.

3. Dealing with those ELL students.  Many who struggle with English still need extra help and attention.  I tell them all the time that they need to come up to me if they need help.  They just nod and say “yes”.  I can only take their word for it but I cannot expend my energies to help the one on one every class.  I’m doing what I can but many just don’t do the work.  It’s not fair for me to mark them down because it is not an intelligence problem; however, it is also not fair if I mark them high for not doing the same amount of work that the other non-ELL students are expected to do.  This the biggest challenge I am dealing with.

4. Being flexible with sick and absent students.  Do I wait for a sick note or do I take their word for it and give them more time to do their work?  Many non-absent students still fail to keep track of their due dates and act surprised when the due date creeps up on them.  I believe I have made an effort to keep things transparent including the due dates.  Do I need to remind them everyday?  Do they not take any responsibility for getting their work in on time?  Instead, many are left rushing last minute to complete their tasks.  Perhaps this is the norm?  There are many students who are responsible and hand in solid work on time.

These are my reflections from the past week.  I am nervous for next week.  I start my 80% load this coming Monday.  I just pray that I will be OK. I am most worried about prepping for each class in time.  In addition to that, if I can get through these next two weeks, then I get  to have a break for two weeks!  I really need this!

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Students Leaving the Classroom

This is a big pet peeve of mine.  Students who just walk out of class assuming that I am fine with it or don’t see them.  Yes, I do see you!  It’s rude and it concerns me because I am responsible for your welfare!  I think much of it is their belief that they may just come and go around a teacher who is not the “real teacher”.  Perhaps they want to see if I will let them go or if I will actually say something to stop it.  Recently, there was a student who enjoyed particular freedoms and decided to leave the classroom and do other projects knowing that I was the teacher.  It disappointed me because this student is a responsible and smart student.  I felt disrespected but my SA had a talk with this person and made it clear that it is my classroom now.  I know now that I can be more stern with these students because I always stick to my word and maintain high standards.

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Full Load Ahead

Next week is when I take on the 80% load.  I am nervous and glad at the same time that Spring Break is coming!  I cannot wait!  Today I was told that I needed to talk to the special needs teacher to figure out when to work on the tile project.  This was an opportunity for me to collaborate with another teacher and do something that would leave a lasting mark on the school.

These tiles are to be installed in the school garden.  For the last few years, the students painted tiles and installed them into the garden.  The varied designs looked beautiful against the greyness of the surrounding school walls and rocky structures.

My SA suggested that they could work with a garden theme and I agreed.  I needed to look for pictures of flowers, plants, vegetables, and plants that would suit the garden theme.  I had trouble finding bug pictures though.  Most of the magazines in the classroom were women’s magazines :(.  I did find some pictures of flowers and vegetables and the occasional bird.  I looked through the National Geographic magazines for pictures of insects but still no luck.  The current collection I have now is pretty good I think.

When my full load starts, I worry about how I will set up the different classrooms in time.  How do I run from one room to the other?  I have a feeling I will need to come very early before school begins to set up the powerpoint presentations and projectors.  Luckily, I don’t have to do too many as I am only teaching them for 10 classes.  I hope this will go well.

In regards to the daily log, my SA wanted me to show her my daily thoughts, things that come up, observations, troubles.  I feel that I communicate them with her verbally but I need to write them down.  For the most part, I tell her my concerns verbally but I should not have an issue jotting down thoughts for her to read daily.

 

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