Week 4

MONDAY, AUGUST 27TH

Today I addressed all of the missing assignments and failing grades I'm seeing. At first I was doubting myself, wondering if I wasn't clear about my expectations or instructions for submitting assignments on Canvas but I realized I have done literally anything and everything I could to make sure they had time in class to complete assignments and submit on canvas, to verbal and visual reminders. Sooooo it's their problem. I have decided to structure my grading as follows: if they submit their assignment on time and I need them to redo certain parts or they forgot something, I mark it as an F. This alerts them that it's something they need to pay attention to and fix rather than seeing a B or a C and being complacent. I give them a week to redo and resubmit the assignment for full points. Then if students did not turn in on time, they receive a 0 and have a week to submit it with deducted points for lateness. So far marking things I want them to resubmit or retry so they can work towards mastery of a concept or technique as an F has done a great job in catching their attention. I of course had a flood of students who had individual circumstances that prevented them from turning in on time or completing an assignment so I got overwhelmed with trying to remember who was absent, who's digital device was dead that day, or who didn't have their camera, etc. My mom said I should keep folders that students put written requests or notes about special circumstances on the particular day of certain assignments so I can keep track of all the nuances.

I also went through the rubric and clarified what I would be looking for in their project. I thought they were flying through this project, but almost all the classes asked if it would be due in two weeks or so when I thought they'd be done by Wednesday this week. It's good that it will take longer because I was planning on it though. I think the basic structure can be constructed very fast, but the smaller details are taking them longer. Still super engaged and focused though!

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28TH

Nothing really significant happened today. Everyone is just continuing to work on their projects. I am having to try and step out of my own aesthetics and how I picture the final product since students are creating such a wide variety responses to the project objectives. So while they're hitting the objectives I set (which I left very open for interpretation to incite a creative response), I still had a product in mind. So making sure I'm not being subjective when talking to them about their work is my goal right now. That's really all I have to report!

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29TH

Today I had an issue with one of my sped students in first period. S. is known for being fully capable of doing the work but refusing to do it out of laziness and stubbornness. She has taken Intro to 3D about five times (don't get me started about how I don't believe they should have sped students taking the same courses over and over instead of pushing them a little further each time) so she knows the routine.We are currently working on a wire/reed sculpture in class where they create an abstract sculpture that represents them. We have modified it so that she is creating something that interests her and is less of an abstract concept. After brainstorming, she decided to create a Sonic the Hedgehog shoe. She did well in the beginning twisting wire to create the base of her sculpture, but these past few days she has been refusing to help her aid, L. I asked S. to try attaching one of her twisted wires to the sculpture and she said, "No thank you." Then when asked to assist in holding up a piece of the sculpture so that L. could attach it for her, S. got more irritated saying "No thank you!" I said I heard her and that maybe we should press pause on the project until she was ready to participate as L. shouldn't be making the sculpture for her. This only irritated S. more. I take it that S. was taught to say "no thank you" as a polite way to communicate her frustrations or feelings, but has now confused it as a means to get out of doing any work that is asked of her. I took the opportunity to contact her teacher and communicate what happened in class. He came down the next period and told me that he talked to her and told her that her aid is no longer allowed to do the project for her. It was just nice to have that reinforcement and support from her main teacher as I'm sure he and S. have a better relationship than I have with her at the moment.

I also had an annoying incident during 7th period. Basically, I was forcing students to clean up like 5 year olds and then while they hovered by the door waiting for the bell (which I explicitly tell them to stop doing every day) I noticed someone left EVERYTHING out on their table. I couldn't picture who it was and asked "Who left all of their materials? Who sits there?" and they just stared blankly at me and then left when the bell rang. Thankfully, two sweet students stayed after to help clean up the mess, but I was livid. There's literally no reason not to clean up. So to address the issue tomorrow, I'm going to change procedures. The reason they go hover by the door is because, as the last class, they have to put their seats up, so their standing around and slowly but surely meander towards the door. I am now going to have them clean up and then sit in their seats until the bell rings. THEN they can put their seats up and leave. This way I can assess who hasn't cleaned and can prevent clustering by the door. Gonna try and keep my cool tomorrow even though I was literally furious. Hopefully tomorrow is better!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30TH

Today was just a work day so not much to report! I've been trying to sit at a different table for each class each day so I can get to know each group of students a little better and have some conversations over their interests. One table and I talked about all of our favorite books we've read recently.

Already running into issues with people being done way earlier than I expected. Danielle said if I genuinely don't have any improvements to suggest that I can let them work on other school work during class. I guess I'm not totally opposed to it, but four days of study hall in my class seems excessive.

The projects are coming along well! I'm excited with the results so far! The more sophisticated designs use line variety, wire and reed, and play with positive and negative space. The more unsophisticated or crafty looking ones use a lot of color and don't explore variety. I think I might limit the project in the future to one pop of color.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 31ST

Another project work day. There has been one class period that is driving me nuts with how silent they are during class. It makes the environment and myself feel awkward so I don't feel as comfortable to go up to them ask talk to them about their projects (not to mention they never ever come to me with any questions). So I decided to be the bigger person (as an adult teacher haha) and push through the awkwardness and ended up having good conversations with a lot of them. I think they'll begin to open up more now that I've opened a door. They'll still be quiet as heck, but they might ask me questions now. Excited for the long weekend!