Week 8

Today Ms. O demonstrated how to solder metal together so I observed her demonstration. She does demonstrations in small groups based on the progress of the students. If a chunk of three or four are ready to move on to a step she has not demonstrated yet she will show those students. Then the next wave of students when they reach that point. Sometimes if there is only one student ready for a demonstration and she has already demonstrated the technique to a group previously, then she might ask a student who she knows has it locked down to show the one student. Peer demonstrations are great because they help the demonstrator feel more confident and teaching a process helps ingrain little details that might slip away if you don't have to say the steps out loud or make sure someone else is getting all the steps correct. Even though I had only done it once last year, I felt confident after reviewing my skills in the first period and helped a student with an intricate piece in second period.

Intro to 3D classes are doing great! I am very excited by their progress with their zoomorphic vessels. I love the first two periods because they are SO eager to hear my opinion or work through a problem together. It makes me feel really capable and wanted which is a good feeling! I have noticed that the days I am not there Ms. O obviously gives suggestions and comments, and it's funny because almost any time I give a comment or suggestion it's the complete opposite of what Ms. O offered, which is totally fine! We just have different ways of working. I am eager for when I can be in the class each day so they have consistent feedback.

I went and observed in two other classrooms today. I think I'm going to take advantage of observing other classrooms in the school while I have the opportunity. Today I observed Mrs. Horst's painting class and Mr. Rawlins' drawing class. Mrs. Horst set a few objectives for this project and left it up to the interpretation of the students. They are supposed to create visually engaging composition using a unique perspective. I felt like only two or three students really got out there with their chosen perspectives, but all of their paintings are great! Mrs. Horst has a great atmosphere that expects students to be working without feeling harsh. Like if a student is not on task she'll hover over their shoulder and make a funny comment about what's on their phone or laptop and the student will laugh and put it away. It is a controlled classroom without feeling oppressive, a hard balance to strike at times.

Mr. Rawlins' class does sketchbooks on Fridays. he walks them through the technical process of drawing a cube or sphere or cylinder or shading, etc. and then has them practice in class. I like this opposed to as opposed to having students take home sketchbooks to do the assignment as it reminds me of the flipped classroom in other subject areas. Today students were drawing a lego from life which one would think is simple enough, but when he broke it down, it is a pretty complex form that includes cubes and hollow cylinders and shading.

I definitely will take the opportunity to observe more classes of the art teachers in the department as I will probably never be able to do it again. I never did before because I was nervous of being an unwanted presence in the students' space, hovering, being annoying. But they actually really engaged with me well and I actually got into a pretty in depth conversation about college with a small group of them as they were painting.

I am hanging out in Fishers right now waiting for the Community Night for Fishers percussion and winter guard. I'm excited to see some of our students perform and hopeful get my foot in the door with the guard director!

UPDATE:

Community night went great! The percussion and guard are SO talented! It was great to watch our students perform and Ms. O had never been to winter guard and percussion show before so she was extremely impressed by the caliber of their talent. The set turned out great as well. I went up to Mr. Kohler to tell him they looked great and then he introduced me to the guard director and she said they definitely would need extra hands to help out so I think I'm in! I will follow up after the winter season is over so she's a little less busy and we can actually hash things out, but I'm excited!

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