Week 8

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH

Today I demonstrated several different surface decoration techniques. It went smoothly and I'm excited to see what they do! I spent time with AP going through some of my drawings from my college courses and I got to talk to them more about sighting and mapping drawings before getting too specific. It was a good opportunity to get closer with the kids since I'm not the lead teacher. Other than that, not much happened.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH

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!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH

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.

In AP we continued to work on drawing models from life. We had them set their drawings out for us to look at during prep. I wrote little notes on sticky notes for areas to improve and things they did successfully. I noticed that there were a lot of common errors (squishing the figure onto the page, drawing the fingers individually instead of focusing on the full structure first, not adding establishing value all over the page, etc.) so I think I will address those issues before they start their final drawings tomorrow!

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27TH

Today was another work day. 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.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH

Today was a short day as I had to drive down to Bloomington for a Global Gateway meeting. So not much to report! Getting excited for Australia!