Week 15

Today I subbed! Ms. O was out of town for a wedding this weekend. The day went smoothly aside from the reoccurring issue of a few students doing other classwork instead of working on their projects in Ms. O's class. I feel that this is a typical problem to have in art classes because students have the perception that the other classes they are studying or finishing homework for take priority over art classes, even during class time. It was hard for me to tell them that they couldn't be working on homework for other classes because I caught myself thinking "Okay this kid is scared about his upcoming test on Shakespeare in 5th period and feels unprepared" and almost felt like letting him study for it out of sympathy, but then I realized it's his own fault if he's not managing his schedule and making time to study for this test outside of class. Kids sincerely believe it's okay if they miss a day in art class doing other classwork. They also tried justifying working on something else by saying "well this art project is due next Tuesday, but this worksheet in English is due today." Crazy. I think I do a pretty good job of keeping it light when I confront them and they generally respect me and put the other work away. So I want to develop better strategies for making sure students are staying on task, especially with an art classroom being so hectic and some things slipping by like students working on outside classwork.

I am finishing up the lesson plan for AP Drawing and 2D. I talked to them today and asked them for their thoughts on the ideas I had for the final so far. They were super helpful and gave me a lot of ideas for the project. I think conferring with them on what they wanted to do for their final project gets them more engaged and invested in it and I think that will show in the final product. HERE is my lesson plan so far (still making edits).

I am going to visit one more time next week since Ms. O wasn't here. I think I'm going to ask her to write up a little end of semester critique telling me what I did well, what i could improve on, etc and I'll write one up for her so we can prep for next semester and both get what we want out of it.

Now onto my final reflection. Last semester I did a reflection on my semester in CoT and I think I want to continue doing it. So here it goes!

This was my second semester in CoT so I knew the routine. I looked forward to every meeting and I think I did a much better job getting my two cents into our conversations. I posted and responded to our discussions on Canvas, did a better job keeping up with the forum even after I did my obligatory post and response, took my turn being Lead and doing Current Event, joined the Lead committee for CoT, and participated in the final project. I thought my lead was more successful than last semester's. I made sure we stayed on schedule so that my main activity wasn't squeezed in the last half hour of class. The "Raised by" poems turned out amazing. I was so pleased that we were all able to produce something so meaningful and fun. Being in Lead was a great experience. I did get to create the final design for the new logo after Shelby and I brainstormed on ideas together. The experiences I had in seminar this semester were important because they have made me a better member and leader of our community. I can apply these skills to my current leadership positions as President of She's the First and VP of Kappa Delta Pi. I can also apply these skills to being a teacher leader in my school's community. A pattern I noticed last semester included being afraid to voice an opinion that is different from the majority of the group, not getting to know my CoT members outside of seminar, and not going as in depth as I could with my responses on canvas. I think there has been significant improvement in all these areas! I put myself out there and disagreed with people more (in a respectful manner) during seminar discussions, the GroupMe we create as a class was great for getting to know each other better (we posted pet pictures to each other after every seminar), and I feel that my responses were more grounded and in depth than before. Patterns I notice this semester include the fact that I slacked on keeping up with the readings towards the end of the semester and also sometimes being dominating when working in group projects like the CoT logo and book cover with Shelby. Overall though, I feel that I had a successful semester in seminar once again. Next semester I plan to improve those patterns I pointed out, continue to be a representative for the Lead committee, and have another awesome lead like this semester!

For the portfolio component, I think I did a much better job with my reflections. I was able to turn in Diverse Learners, Collaboration, and Expressing Convictions at SP level, so I'm at a total of 7 expectations which means I am in a very good position to have about 13 expectations at SP before I begin student teaching. This is if I continue to turn in 3 per semester, but I would like to get them all at SP before student teaching, which I believe is achievable. This semester it was much easier for me to gather evidence since I had a mentor. I also believe completing this expectations at SP can be attributed to the Portfolio Action plan we had to create at the beginning of the semester. I thought this was great because I gave it to Ms. O and she was able to help create or find opportunities to gather evidence I had outlined for certain expectations. Definitely going to do this again for next semester. I also think that adding my journal to my website for my portfolio was a smart move and I like how it's turned out! Completing these expectations was important because it pushed me to get outside my comfort zone and get more hands on experience with my students. I can apply this to my next three semesters with CoT in that I will create an action plan each semester, set deadlines for myself personally since I will be submitting more than two, and continue being a self-motivator. Patterns I noticed in my portfolio is that I'm still not completely satisfied with my reflections. I feel that they aren't as in depth as they could be. I don't know if that's me not having enough experience in these competencies or what, but I'd like to improve them even more (so if you have any suggestions, let me know!) I think I continued to show that I am invested in this portfolio and I have fun doing it! Overall, I did a great job and I'm excited to continue building my portfolio! Next, I plan to work on compiling evidence for Curriculum Development, Classroom Management/Community, and Teaching Reading and Writing over the summer so I have a jump start for Fall semester.

Last but not least, my mentorship has been the most rewarding experience of my education to date. The fact that I'm okay with getting up at 5am once a week should tell you how much I enjoy being at Fishers. At the beginning of the year I was hesitant to talk to her students because I didn't want to "hover" over or bother them while they worked but Ms. O was very encouraging and helped me out of that mindset. I enjoyed getting to know each student and their ideas about their work. I enjoyed talking to other teachers in the department and seeing the projects their classes were working. All of these women are so innovative and inspiring, I hope I can be half as creative as they are when coming up with lessons! I think this semester I mostly acted as an observer and aid. I think this was due in part to the fact that I took a little longer to feel comfortable around her students and the fact that I am only able to come in once a week on a Friday instead of twice a week in the middle of the week. Fridays are for finishing up projects mainly, so I didn't get to participate in the beginnings of projects. That's why I have worked hard to schedule my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays next semester so I can have Monday and Wednesday to choose from to go to Fishers. This is perfect too because I will be in charge of the wheel unit for ceramics one next semester so I will actually be able to do demos and instruct students at the beginning of the lesson. I am also excited to help develop the curriculum for ceramics one with Ms. O and also work with her and Ms. Osborne over the summer to learn glazing techniques and go over lessons Ms. Osborne has previously done with the class. I've probably mentioned this all like three times now in addition to previous journals, but I'm just really excited! So my goals for next semester are to get more involved in the planning of the curriculum and lessons, lead lessons in class, and learn everyone's names in my classes.

Overall, this semester has been great. I love Ms. O, I love Fishers, I love seminar, but I hate you for leaving me. Jkjk. But still. I am so grateful for all that you've done for me and for Alpha. It will definitely be sad not to have you in class. I will definitely use you as a resource in the future though in addition to emailing you my journals every week (jk). Have a great life!! Don't forget us when you're famous!

(Also, I made the darn cutest storyboard "animation" for my final drawing project and I have to share. It's based on my childhood memories of going to my grandparents' house on weekends and trying to catch turtles on the pier. It's sups cute.)