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Presentations & Due Dates

Today was the first due date for one of my class’ major projects.  I warned them that I was going to collect the artist statements as well as their art projects (social justice comic).  If they do not hand in their comics today, then they face the consequence of losing marks.  They will lose 1 mark per day including today (the due date) if not handed in.  They must also hand in their artist statement with the possibility of a mark deduction as well.

I started off the class by collecting their artist statements.  Many seemed concerned and shocked that I would pull such a move.  My SA had set up the classroom so that deadlines were

rolling and flexible.  The moment I impose solid deadlines, they are in shock.  I saw many “deer in the headlights” when I demanded the artist statement immediately after taking attendance.  They were not used to such strictness in art class.   I proceeded to take them to the multipurpose room where I had my CS student set up the chairs.  There they brought their comics and everyone was encouraged to present their project regardless of whether or not they had completed it.  I told them to relax and that this is not going to be hard.  All they have to do is talk about their art project and to breathe.

The first set of students I went order from one end to the other end.   They were told to talk about

1. Title of the comic

2. Concept of the comic

3. Brief summary of their comic

The majority of the students did a very good job in presenting their topic.  Understandably, the nerves got to many of them and they slithered/ran back to their seat prematurely.  The main thing was that their ideas were conveyed and how they could relate them to social justice.   Students who struggled with speaking English used fellow classmates as translators.  This was a fantastic tactic and was much appreciated by the class.  I feel very fortunate that I can count on these students who were willing to volunteer.  In the other class, I went up to help a student with translating his comic.  I wanted to make sure that all students were going to participate.  At the very end, I did a brief wrap up asking them what they learned from this project and how they felt seeing other people’s work.  The overwhelming response to these comics was a sense of disillusionment with reality.

The majority of the comics illustrated popular or anecdotal stories.  Many of these ended bleakly with the ending of the story resulting in death of the main character.  On the flip side, there were also quite a few that had ended positively presenting an optimistic outlook for the characters in the future.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to ask questions and to give feedback for each student but I could tell that the majority of the students enjoyed being in a different room and sharing work with their peers.  Tangential questions also surfaced as a result of the great discussions we had surrounding these comics.

I was disappointed to see that at the end of the day, I only received about half of the student’s projects.  This means there will be a lot of late marks!  I felt that I was being fair by extending their deadline to a week after spring break.  Still, no matter how many times you hammer it into them, if they don’t want to do it, they will not do it.  In addition to that, perhaps I had hoped for more ground breaking stories of social justice whereby the protagonist identifies the social issue at hand and comes to a realization that solving this issue is more important than he/she can fathom. Groundbreaking and even shocking discoveries occur in the story that will lead the protagonist to this conclusion.  However, the vast majority of the comics that came from my students were ones that depict a problem that ends either positively, negatively, or ambiguously without explaining what the significance of these issues are and why they must be dealt with vigorously.  I felt that the stories were more contrived to fit a happy or dismal ending just because I asked for a “resolution”.  I believe that they all understood the concept of social justice very well and their work certainly reflects their knowledge and negativity surrounding social issues, particularly the inability to come up with plausible solutions.  Perhaps it is difficult to write this type of a comic because solutions to these social issues are hard to come by in the real world let alone in the fictional one.  Overall, I am proud of their efforts.  I challenged them and they, for the most part, realize that handling social justice issues is an ongoing job that everyone must work together at.

See pictures below:

 

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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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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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Be the Facilitator

I had another formal observation recently.  I was teaching special needs children and I really wanted to help all of them.  I made sure that all of the students were spoken to and gave extra attention to those who needed the help.  I spent more time with those who were behind or who were struggling to progress with their project.  I wanted them to clean up early because the last thing I want happening is to have them go over and the bell rings.  Especially not with my FA there.  There was extra time and I was wondering what I should talk about. I began to chat with the kids individually so I could get a better sense of who they are.  I enjoy getting to know them so sitting around chatting with the group is quite pleasant.

After the class was over, I had a debrief with my FA and she told me that I had good rapport with the students and was helpful to all the students who needed me; however, I needed to facilitate the entire class more.  I made sure I walked around and talked to all the kids but I guess that wasn’t enough.  I felt that some of the kids were quite independent and many “didn’t require my help”.  I decided that I was going to help a couple of students who were behind but unfortunately, this was seen as taking away from my ability to facilitate the room.  I agree and disagree.  I made my judgement call and felt that I had spent time walking around making sure that they were all helped before focusing on a specific few.  Nevertheless, teachers are supposed to be the facilitator of learning and not their buddy.

On top of the facilitating portion, I also needed to remember a few things when I teach.  It has never really been broken down to me like this before, but it helps:

1. Intro (with review) – Set up an objective/goal for the class

2. Conclusion (review objective/goal) + preview of next class

I knew that all of these measures are important but it’s so easy to just forget!  I need to make sure that I address these points each and every lesson, even if they’re just working periods.  In addition to that, am I the ONLY person on earth who FORGETS to turn off the lights and close the blinds during a presentation?  YES?  I think so.  I must have been so nervous/focused on what I was teaching the kids that I forgot to do this many times.  My SA had to save my butt and turn off the lights for me.  Embarrassed and relieved at the same time, I thanked her for doing this.  I must really make a mental and literal note to do this every time I present!

 

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Consequences, Consequences

Today my FA observed me teach the ceramics class.  I typically have trouble getting through to this group of students so naturally I was worried about my observation.  I wanted to teach well but I also wanted to be relaxed while I teach.  She called it a “performance” much like myself.  I was going to have the students gather into groups that I assigned randomly, and encourage them to share their shoes with the group.  The point of the exercise was to talk to each other about their design and development process.

The biggest difficulty I found with this is how quickly their conversations would go.  They would describe it in a couple of sentences and call it a day.  I guess I am used to the discussions that take place in university where people can elaborate for a long time.  I forget that they are not used to these sort of discussions and are probably uncomfortable in sharing.  Perhaps their ideas are there but they haven’t learned to articulate them.  I am hoping that with more class discussions, they can feel comfortable.

Another barrier to the presentation was that my classroom is not presentation friendly.  It is very long and often times, when I present, there are many students who sit in the far back who can barely see the projector.  Unfortunately, this is the set up of the room and cannot be helped.  For more formal presentations, I think I will have to address this by moving the tables aside and creating a round circle with the chairs.

During the debrief with my SA, she used the word “consequences” many times.  I need to enforce my consequences on my students so they don’t keep acting out or taking advantage of my generosity.  For instance, many students lost their concept sheets that they were supposed to hand in and I kept handing them out again.  My SA said that I should come up with a plan to make sure they KEEP their sheets or else face negative consequences for losing them.  One suggestion is that I tell the class that they only get 1 handout and no more.  If you lose it, you will have to copy a friend’s sheet.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  I agree with this because photocopying all those sheets is a huge use of paper.

The other problem I am having is how to deal with smart aleck students.  I had one in particular who would respond to my questions with “I don’t know” and roll his eyes and use sarcasm as a way to alleviate the challenging questions I would pose.  It really frustrated me to see how he was undermining my authority and my intentions for him to learn.  I’m not sure what to do but I think I will continue to just encourage him to think about his art and to mark him accordingly to the work he actually produces.  I can only push so much.

I also began marking this week.  It takes a LONG time!  I can’t imagine marking academic papers.  I marked the concept sheets based off my rubric I created.  Most students did very well except for a couple who I knew rushed it.  They deserve the low mark.  I have the rubric to back me up.

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