maria pairitz's
community of teachers portfolio
iii. individual development
evidence
Every teacher knows that our students are not just students. They complex human beings with cultural, physical, cognitive, psychological, and social-emotional needs. As an educator, it is important to identify the level of each student's needs and provide support for their continued development. To do this, healthy student-teacher relationships should be established in which the teacher acknowledges and values the student as an individual. Through the evidence I have collected, I demonstrate my knowledge of the child and adolescent development and my abilities to adapt my teaching to individual student interests and needs.
The evidence I have collected includes student Process Logs, EdTPA Planning Commentary, Observation Drawing with Children, feedback from students, individualized curriculum for an ELL student, a pre-assessment activity, and journal excerpts from student teaching.
Through these experiences, I have learned how individual developmental characteristics influence student's behaviors. In a classroom ranging from 14 to 18 year old students, it can be difficult to accommodate a wide expanse of developmental needs. The best way to support each student is to really get to KNOW each student. I prided myself in my ability to check in with every student each day, learn their names correctly and promptly, and talk to students about their interests and fears. In several instances, as recorded in my journal excerpts, I had to respond to student behaviors that were reflective of typical teen anxieties. Knowing what to say and do was vital to further establishing a trusting relationship and encouraging their individual development.
My mentorship and student teaching have provided a repertoire of experiences to draw from in the future. I have reflected over and asked for feedback on my ability to understand and accommodate individual development. With the evidence and reflections provided, I believe I have reached Ready to Teach for this expectation.
Process Logs
In an effort to track individual progress of projects, I created process logs. These are an ongoing document that students keep that includes entries that document their progress during project. The entries include the date, a picture of their work in progress, and a short reflection on what stage they're at, what they are working on, personal insights or problems they've run into, etc. This not only allows students the opportunity to reflect on their project, but helps me track individual progress. This is important because each students differs and being able to see their individual growth in art helps me to appreciate each individual’s unique efforts to achieve and be successful instead of relying on the final product that may or may not be artistically or technically "successful."
Observation Drawing with Children
Observation Drawing with Children offers guidance in helping children develop mental and physical abilities used in the discovery of and creation of meaning through drawing. Each chapter begins with a developmental framework that helps teachers understand developmental characteristics ranging from Kindergarten through sixth grade and then offers developmentally appropriate lessons and instruction.
I referenced this text when creating my curriculum for Saturday Art School for my 2nd and 3rd graders. At this age range, children are beginning to organize their worlds of objects and experiences and make distinctions between groups and categories. With this in mind, I developed a ceramics lesson that asked students to select an environment (pond, ocean, or rainforest) and depict the animals and plants that live in that environment. Children at this age are also becoming more selective about their friends and forming social groups, so I was flexible about where and who I let my students sit with but also made sure to keep students that were left out enter some of the established social groups. I also provided plenty of opportunity for them to talk to each other and share their discoveries and insights.
Individualized Curriculum Materials for ELL Student
I have been working to individualize curriculum materials for an ELL student (H.) with very limited English. I recognized that H. was more successful reading English than listening or speaking it. Knowing this, I made sure to begin typing out oral instructions for the day in a simple, checklist format so if she ever got lost during my presentations or instructions she could refer to those notes. I also made sure the powerpoint presentations were available on Canvas for everyone so anyone, including H., could pull it back up and look at anything they might have missed.
During the elements and principles unit, which is the largest chunk of vocab in the entire semester, I individualized her vocabulary sheet by including the word in English and Vietnamese translation of that word. This seemed to help her. The biggest challenge came when it was time to take our elements and principles of art unit test. Students were expected to memorize all the terms and match them with the correct definitions that were provided on the test. The last half of the test was a paragraph that they had to fill in the blanks. I gave H. a word bank so she could focus on matching the correct terms with the correct definitions instead of worrying about recall, and omitted the fill in the blank paragraph. I thought I had properly accommodated her, but when I graded it, her score was poor. Luckily, at this point I finally received her ILP which suggested providing two choices for her to choose from. So I completely re-wrote the test, shortened the definitions even more and made it a multiple choice test. She nailed it that time!
Journal Excerpts
These journal entries provide accounts of instances I've worked to modify curriculum or meet students where they're at psychically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally, and to support individual needs.
During 5th period I noticed one of my students was still not making progress on his ceramic vessel. He's a freshmen and is really excited to have made friends with upperclassmen that like him and so he's been distracted. I've joked around with him saying, "D., man, when you gonna start adding some stuff to your piece?" for the past week, but today I decided not to let it die out with, "I'll get there Ms. P!" So I asked him if he was having trouble coming up with a personal story to use as inspiration so I asked if there were any books, movies, stories, that he liked and would like to use instead and he played the typical I have nothing interesting to offer and don't care about anything. His peers kind of joked about it with him and I told them to knock it off so that I could have a serious conversation with D. When they wouldn't stop I told Derrick to go to the other table to begin brainstorming some ideas. When I came over a bit later to help him brainstorm, I noticed his ears were red and his eyes were welling. I touched him on his shoulder and assured him he wasn't in trouble and I wasn't upset, which opened the flood gates. I quickly escorted him to a separate room because I didn't want him to feel embarrassed if his peers saw him. I left him there and told him to take a minute to relax and calm down and that I would be back in a minute. I went over to his friends, and since I knew they genuinely liked and cared about D., I told them that I thought I might have embarrassed him in front of them and to just be cool tomorrow and not bring it up. They all were very kind and agreed. I let Jasmine next door know the situation so another adult was aware I would be alone with a student and then asked Danielle to cover the next class so I could talk to him. I went in and sat down with D. and let him know that I was sorry if I had embarrassed him and that it was not my intention. He said I didn't embarrass him but that sometimes he just gets overwhelmed and I caught him off guard. I asked him if he was stressed out about coming up with an idea for the narrative vessel and he said yes. So I told him that as long as he explored texture and form I didn't care what the project was. I asked if there was anything that interested him in my demonstrations and he said he liked the examples with pattern on them. We looked up some artists that do geometric patterns on their vessels and we agreed that he would do that. I gave him some more time to relax before going to his next class. I felt horrible. I know I wasn't the cause, but that I triggered whatever else was going on with him. I wanted to cry when I saw his face.
Students continued to work on their pieces. I had a disappointing with one of my students, C. He was one of my favorites off the bat because after the first day of school, when we made the spheres, he came up to me and said, "Awh man, we aren't working on our spheres today? I was up all night thinking about what I want to improve!" This really made me happy and I held very high regards of him ever since. Well, he's really been struggling with the clay project and getting inspiration for it. He has great ideas, but I can tell he would rather not do anything than execute his ideas poorly. So he's been at a standstill for the past week. Then, when I finally got him on a roll, he decided to smash his project. He was laughing with his peers but I knew it was an act. So I calmly told him, "I'm really disappointed you decided to smash your project rather than take a risk. Understand that I don't care if you produce an amazing vessel, but I want you to be able to persevere through problems. If you can't persevere through an art project, how are you going to persevere through tougher things that will hit you later in life?" He could tell I was sad and serious, so after class he came up to me and addressed me in a little more serious tone saying that he wanted to start over. I said that was fine and that I hoped he knew I wasn't upset with him, but just concerned about these attitudes and behaviors developing when he's faced with a challenge. I told him that thought very highly of him and expect better from him in the future. It was a good conversation that I think sobered him up. Hopefully we'll be a little more productive tomorrow.
Last night I had parent teacher conferences and one father told me that his daughter had it stuck in her head that I didn't like her. He explained that she felt like I only helped people with upbeat projects and because she chose to go dark I didn't like her project. This girl is so quiet and did so well on her project that it is displayed in the hallway. I always walk around and check in with each and every student, and anytime I ask how she's doing she says "fine." And if I do offer suggestions she kind of glares until I go away or gets defensive. Just typical teen angst. But it made me upset that a. I hadn't even picked up on the fact she thought I didn't like her and that her project really frustrated her and b. she misconstrued things so much in her head. I talked to my mom and she said that teen girls have negative voices so when she saw me talking with other students, she assumed I didn't want to talk to her and when I did come to talk to her I was judging her, so there's no winning. But I think her dad went back and talked to her that night because today I was able to offer suggestions and sustain a conversation with her.
I had an incident with a student today. W. and I have a good relationship and I thought he enjoyed when I joked around with him. But it came to light that he doesn't know if I like him or not. I explained that I was always teasing him and he communicated that he thought so but that it was difficult for him to know when I was joking or serious. It just showed me that my actions can be interpreted differently by my students and to be sensitive and aware to that.
Today I attended my first IEP meeting. The special ed teacher invited me to help give a fresh perspective on S.'s progress in her general ed classes. I was able to share our experiences with her. I prepared by printing out her grades and writing positives and areas to improve. One area she needs to improve is understanding that saying "No thank you," does not exempt her from doing work she doesn't want to do. The mom was understanding and assured me that I had to hold my ground with her or else she'll steamroll over me. The meeting consisted of her behavior coach, social worker, mom, teachers, and me. I honestly was overwhelmed by how much I learned about her and just loved the dedication of these people, all focused on her success. It made me wish that we had a team of adults for each and every student that was just as dedicated to their success. It's idealistic, but to expect teachers to learn about all 120 students' needs and histories is crazy.
The meeting mainly focused on her transition to adulthood. She is in her senior year, but the mom would like her to continue school for a year or two to continue to develop skills that will help her function in the world. It was a great experience!
Section 2: Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching
Section 3: Supporting Students’ Visual Arts Learning
Individual development is a large component of the EdTPA. Knowing student's individual interests, experiences, cultures, and physical and cognitive capabilities is essential to adapting your teaching to an individual student’s needs. In sections 2 and 3 of my commentary, I demonstrate the knowledge and expertise needed to support individual development in my lesson plans and instruction.
Student Feedback
At the end of student teaching, I had students fill out an evaluation form so I could gauge my strengths and weaknesses during student teaching. Two of the questions I asked pertained to individual development. As you can see above, 90.5% of my students agreed or strongly agreed that I demonstrated interest in, and concern for my students. I find this reflective of my practice. Several students commented in the comments section that I did a good job getting to know my students and developing relationships with them. What did surprise me was that only 77% of students found that my lessons and projects connected to their personal interests and needs. This I did not find reflective of my practice because I based the curriculum around the theme "Identity" (see Curriculum Development). Each project was specifically designed for students to respond to with their personal experiences and interests. For example, my Spirit Pod project challenged students to create an abstract sculpture that represented their spirit while my Narrative Vessel Project asked students to use form and surface decoration to create a ceramic vessel that told a story of a personally significant memory or life event. A few students elaborated in the comments section that they didn't like that each project was so deep and personal and would have liked to have a project that was more fun and spontaneous and not so focused on them. I've thought about these responses and since adolescents do tend to have lower self-esteem and feel as though they don't have much to contribute, I can understand why they might not want to focus on themselves and dig deep into their personal insecurities for each project. I will consider this when I develop curriculum in the future.
Some specific comments that highlight my ability to identify and support individual development are included below:
She didn't judge her students or talk negatively about their learning or progress.
She gave everyone a chance to participate on the level they desired to participate on.
I remember one day Katie was having a bad day and ms p kept on checking in on her!
She checked on me occasionally, to make sure if I needed support on my project. I felt higher comfort in this class compare to my other classes.
Ms. P also acknowledged that students all had different levels of talent. I appreciate that a large part of grades for a project are based of effort and perseverance, not aesthetic features.
Sphere Pre-assessment
At the beginning of the year, I asked students to create a sphere from an assortment of random materials. There were no directions beyond that objective. My students surprised me with the variety of responses they produced. I use this pre-assessment as an opportunity to see what level my students are at and look for those who may extra support or need an extra challenge.
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.
Quiz Day! I had my doubts about having a quiz with that quick of a turn around, but 1st period blew me away! I did have an odd case though. After first period left I noticed that I didn't have the test of one of the students. I looked up his 2nd period and pulled him aside with the teacher's permission. I asked him where his test had gone and he acted surprised and said, "What? I didn't turn it in?"and I said, "No. Could you have misplaced it? Is it in your backpack?" I just tried to make him feel comfortable and not like I was upset with him. As he was scrummaging through his backpack, I remembered that I also hadn't received his vocal packet so I said, "do you have your vocab packet?" and he said, "Oh I left that at home." And right as he said that, I saw the vocab packet in his backpack and said, "Oh this is it right?" And he was like yeah. So I said I would look around the classroom, but since he lied about the vocal packet I know he ditched the test somewhere. I talked with Danielle and the department head, and Osborne said that I should just leave it be over the weekend and approach him on Monday and explain that I understand if he was anxious since we didn't give a lot of notice that the test would be this week and that we can reschedule it for a time when he's available to redo the test. I'm not getting upset about this because it was obvious that this was a case of test anxiety and he needs to feel safe and supported.
During one of my classes, a very shy, anxious, freshmen, girl pulled me aside and asked if she could talk to me. She said she had a situation that her mom hasn't been helpful with and don't have another adult that she feels comfortable talking to. I thought it was going to be very serious but it was just about how she should pursue a crush she has on a boy. It was very sweet that she felt comfortable enough with me to talk about it though!
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I had been able to discretely pull aside most of the kids that have IEP's/504's yesterday to talk to them about what supports or accommodations they would need except for one student who has autism but is high functioning and performs at grade level in most areas. I figured he would do fine on the test but today as I was individually assessing students during the first review activity, I noticed he was struggling to remember the words and was writing down definitions instead. Towards the end of class I asked him if he would like a word bank so he could focus on matching the correct words with the correct definitions. He said that would help but then asked why I was offering it to him. I told him I wanted to make sure that all students received the proper support they needed to succeed. Then he asked is all the other students were offered a word bank. I told him that some other students would be using a word bank too as they need it. At this point it was obvious that he did not want to receive any kind of "special" treatment. He said he was going to study really hard tonight and let me know if he needs a word bank tomorrow. It's weird because in all other instances, offering the word bank made the student feel cared for and acknowledged while it made this student feel like I was giving him special treatment. I think in the future I'll just be sure to acknowledge and praise his independence and abilities in class so he knows I don't think he is "less" than the other students.
I looked into resources to help my one student who speaks/understands little to no english and one of the other art teachers introduced me to a feature on google translate where you can upload any document and it will automatically translate it to whatever language you select. So I translated my instructions for the Identity page into Vietnamese for H. and she seemed very grateful! I couldn't translate the quiz on Canvas since it wasn't a document, but H. was resourceful and copy and pasted the questions into google translate. The only issue is comprehension. One of the questions was "what are your interests outside of school" and she responded "I like the trees outside of school". So I'll have to figure out if there's a way to improve comprehension. I asked H. if there was anything else I could do to help her and she asked if she could write in her 1st language and then use google translate to submit her responses. I said that was perfectly fine.