Week 4

Today was awesome! It was a half day for students for professional development day for teachers. During the half day of classes I attempted to begin working with C. a non-inclusive student that comes into Ms.O's classroom during first period to draw but it didn't go well. I noticed that he wasn't his usual self and that he was looking at his lap and rubbing his face instead of drawing. I went and sat down next to him and asked if he was going to draw today, and he mumbled something in response. I asked what he said again and he said, "You're annoying me." I started laughing because he has a little bit of an attitude with everyone so I thought it was funny. Ms. O asked what he said and I told her and she said "C.!" and he immediately started apologizing and feeling bad about what he had said. I told him it was okay and I was not mad and he asked what my name was and I took it as a sign of peace. I think he may have been having an off day because he didn't have his iPad or headphones, his teacher was not there today, and I am also a new presence out of his normal schedule. So I'll be more sensitive to that next time.

Ms. O and I spent prep collaborating on sketchbook ideas for drawing 4. I'm really going to take hold of this opportunity because she's developing the curriculum from scratch since they've never had a drawing for, and there's only 3 students so I'm able to collaborate on the curriculum in a relatively low risk setting. I think this will also be a good opportunity because she teaches AP art during the same class period as Drawing 4, so I can work with the drawing students so she can focus her energy on the AP students who have a portfolio due soon. She sent me examples of curriculum maps for her other classes so I can work on one for Drawing 4.

After the students left early we had our PD day. think it is great that they took time out of the school day for teachers to have a PD day because I think asking teachers to come an hour early or stay an hour late isn't has accommodating tho their hectic schedules as it is to just make time for it during their work hours. I also like that this is a school wide initiative. I don't know if other schools do this, I know my old high school had staff meetings once a month early in the morning, but not a lot of people went, and it was mostly to just discuss problems, not to focus in on learning new methods and approaches to teaching. We met as a whole school at first to talk about how the PLCs were doing and then we split off into our PLC's. So the visual arts department and the performing arts department were paired together and within the two departments people split off into learning groups to focus in on specific topics and then joined together today to present their findings to each other. There were groups focused on assessment, differentiation, performance, engagement, and community outreach. I thought all the ideas brought forward were great and we were able to collaborate as a community of the arts and discuss some issues we were facing in our classrooms and problem solve together. THIS LINK goes to all the notes I took during the school day and on each presentation in our PLC. This is a picture of the schedule we got for PD day.

After the presentations, we took time to reflect. What we got out of these presentations is that the arts are definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to differentiation, project based assessments and other progressive steps schools are taking. So the department as a whole wishes they were treated as a resource instead of mules to make center pieces for an event, or putting on a concert, and not given enough time's notice or respect that the art teachers have a curriculum they have to follow too.

For me personally, I found that these PLC's were a great way to research and collaborate on numerous topics without feeling overwhelmed. By delegating certain topics to a few people who do the intense research and then present to their colleagues everyone benefits. I am glad Fishers is taking such an active role in their teacher's professional development.

Then tonight I was talking to my mom about her day and she told me about a troubled student she's been dealing with. Long story short, this girl is a freshman and making dangerous choices concerning her body and safety not to mention her behavior and attitude. She is on the dance team which is comprised of a majority of at risk students, but they are expected to model great behavior and choices since they represent the team. This girl, D., was on thin ice with my mom after recording a live facebook video under the influence and cussing and then mentioning that she's on the concord dance team. My mom kicked her out of one of the performances but said that she had to step it up or else she would be kicked off the dance team. Later that same night she walked to the park alone at 2 am to get picked up by a friend and an older man to go to a party after calling another dance team member asking for a ride but being denied (the dance team member told my mom, which is how she found out). To skip ahead, my mom told D. that she had to follow laid out guidelines or else she would be kicked off for good. One of the guidelines was that she no longer has cell phone access for the next few months because she keeps making bad decisions. My mom collaborated with her mom, who is single and doesn't hold a firm line but means well, and my mom will be the one keeping her cellphone so it is not even a temptation at home. She could either agree to these rules or be off the dance team and to both our surprise she agreed to the terms even though she was mad as hell. My mom said she did all these things because she is trying to save D.'s life. Obviously this has been an accumulation of bad decisions that has lead her to this, but I think it is awesome ( and kind of BA) that my mom cares enough about her students to hold the line when it needs to be held.

Anyway, today was a really great day and I am glad I was able to participate in PD day!