Trey King Presentation on Student Teaching

Expectations
Be flexible! Every week you should reflect and change your expectations of your cooperating teacher and your students.

Planning Lessons
Use the summer to write lesson plans.
The more variety you have going into student teaching the better.
Use technology to your advantage because kids eat it up!

Liability can be an issue, so make sure when you confront a student that your cooperating teacher is there to back you up.

When teaching at the elementary level get to know every student individually.  Smile, because they are excited to be there, as should you be.
Trey's cooperating teacher used a bell to be given to the student of the day.  The student was responsible for ringing the bell to keep the class attentive.  This also teaches them leadership and management of the class.

"You will fall on your face, but you better stand up and laugh."

Save your rules for your class. Follow your cooperating teacher's rules.

Participate in art club, because it develops relationships and connections.  Also, keep in mind that you are a student teacher, don't expect to be at your cooperating teacher's level.

When interviewing, ask what the community thinks of the school's art program.

Being Friends With Students

When observing at the high school in my hometown, it was difficult to stay away from the "friend zone" with students, especially because I have a younger sister and brother who attend the high school I was observing at.  The students who knew my siblings wanted to be friends with me as well.  There were students who wanted to talk about what they did on the weekend or other things that were going on in their lives, but I tried to avoid this by trying to talk to them about art or their particular project they were working on.  My cooperating teacher, thinks its important to get to know what goes on in her students lives outside of the classroom, but the age difference helps when avoiding being friends with students.  Her rule is if students want to talk to her about something that isn't class related she will listen, but also knows its her responsibility to report anything she feels the need too.

Assessing Art

My cooperating teacher assesses art on an individual basis.  She noted that it is very important that you get to know your students and their abilities to be able to assess art fairly.  For each project the student's complete she has a rubric.  When handing in their final project, she has the student evaluate themselves with the same rubric she uses to give them a final grade.  This gives her an idea of how the student felt they actually did compared to her own perspective.  It is important when grading to have measurable points given, but art can also be subjective and vary from student to student.

How To Prepare for Principal Evaluation

When I asked my cooperating teacher how she prepares for her principal evaluation, she explained how her main concern is making sure the day the principal is observing she has a lesson to teach.  With most of her classes the majority of class periods can be work days, so it is important that she plan ahead to make sure that she has a longer lesson to teach when the principal comes into observe.  Because she is a veteran teacher, she feels very comfortable with with her teaching practices.  Her years of experience has led to ease when preparing lessons.  The only thing she really has to do is make sure she also gives her principal the lesson plan beforehand.

Observing a Landscape Study

Teaching the Color Wheel

Bob & Darrel

After listening to what Bob and Darrel had to say, I became much more aware of how political the teaching profession is.  Politics are constantly changing, therefore our job requirements and benefits are adjusted from year to year.  Some important advice that Bob and Darrel gave are as follows:
1. Be Yourself.
Students figure out very fast if you are a "fake"
2. Follow curriculum.
3. Beg, Borrow, and Steal.
4. Listen to your Grandma.
"Be Kind"
5. Classroom Rules Make a Difference
Be consistent
6. A bad lesson and/or a bad week makes you a better teacher.
Take lesson plans seriously
7. What the hell is a VEBA?
8. Humor humanizes the room.
Those who hate chemistry like to come anyways.
9. Students are generous but not that generous.
10. Administrators are people too and they deserve appreciation.
11. Love your job.
12. Get to know your students.

Observation- March 16th

This morning I observed my cooperating teacher teach a lesson on art history and she went through every period leading up to post-modernism.  This was an introduction to the next project where students would be painting a subject of choice.  She had the students gather images of paintings, in which she pulled the images up on the SmartBoard and had a discussion about why they were a successful painting and had them identify what period they belonged to.  The next hour of class students were still working on their landscape paintings.  I noticed that there was such a wide variety of skill and artistic talent.  Some students really grasped the concept of color theory and created atmospheric perspective successfully, while others struggled to shy away from an elementary-looking landscape! 
In the ceramics class I observed Mrs. C demonstrated how to load the kiln, and she also showed two students from the class who had finished early with their projects.  At first the students made the mistake of loading the kiln with larger pieces towards the bottom.  Mrs. C corrected this issue by reloading it with small pieces on the bottom and the largest pieces on the top.  This saves on space and the kiln holds the most pieces at a time by loading it this way.  Its important to fit as many pieces as possible into each firing because of budgets.  Its not cheap to run the kiln each time.
During my cooperating teacher's prep hour she gave me a rundown on how her online grading system works, and then let me grade the color theory projects I had taught and enter them into the grade book.  For the color wheel and each color theory study points were awarded for each swatch they were responsible for painting.  For example, the value study required seven swatches of distinguishable value change and if a student displayed a full scale of value they were awarded all seven points.  If they showed me less than seven swatches they were deducted points.  It wasn't a very complicated project to grade, as it was pretty straightforward, but it was still great practice and experience for me!

Observation- March 15th

Today I taught a lesson to Art I on landscape paintings.  The class had already begun working on this project, but I had noticed along with my cooperating teacher that they were making some of the same beginner mistakes.  I set of up four different studies of landscape and demonstrated the use of warm and cool colors, complementary colors, and how the atmosphere reflects light.  I had also brought in some of my own landscapes that I had done in the past to show the students how I had used the techniques I had just showed them in my own art.  Both classes that I taught this too paid close attention because I had brought in some of my own work that "Wowed" them.  I proved that I was an expert on the subject and that I had alot of knowledge to offer them.
I also observed a class of students with special needs.  There were four aids in the room, approximately one aid per two students.  I felt that most of the students needed their own individual aid, but this wasn't the case.  I found it great experience to work with these students and work on my communication skills with them.  Also just becoming comfortable with the wide range of students I had in the classroom.  The other aids voiced that I had been a great help bouncing back and forth helping students when needed.  Some needed help putting together bracelets and others needed my help painting.  I can see where if I had a student with special needs in my classroom without an aid how much attention I would have to dedicate to them.

Why Choose the Art Teaching Profession?

When I asked my cooperating teacher why she had chose to become an art teacher she voiced that it was not her first choice.  She had originally gotten a degree in genealogy and was interested in making a lot of money.  Of course she had waitressing jobs and was one of the first women to work on an oil field.  She was making a lot of money but wasn’t very happy with what she was doing.  Her mom had always said that she would be good at teaching, but the paycheck turned her away from the profession.  She had taken lots of studio classes throughout the years and it seemed obvious that she had a passion for art.  She was miserable working in the oil fields and would be a single parent in the future, so she decided to find a more practical job.  Teaching art was the logical choice at the time so she could work and raise her children.  Now, she claims that it was the best decision in her professional career and she wouldn’t trade teaching art for anything else.  Mrs. C claims, “The art room is like home to me.”

Observation- March 14th

This was my second day of my lesson.  I felt that the students had opened up to me more and gave me more of their attention at the beginning of class.  As I started class I felt much more relaxed and at ease while instructing the class.  The use of walking around with the color wheel and pointing out different color schemes and answering questions by pointing to the color wheel served as a great learning tool.  I also felt that the one-on-one interaction it created with the students was helpful and I found that students were more apt to ask me questions. 

I did a review on the smartboard at the end of class.  I developed this activity for the students that had finished their other project early to keep them occupied.  I made the mistake of not being more interactive with the students when using this activity.  I discussed this mistake with my cooperating teacher and she suggested that I have the students come up to the smartboard and run the show next time to give them ownership of the classroom.

Observation- March 13th

My cooperating teacher had asked me to come up with an activity for her painting section to do. The night before I was frantic looking through material and trying to decide how to teach them about color theory and color schemes.  I will admit that I felt a bit overwhelmed with all the freedom that she had given me and was a bit unsure of what she was exactly expecting out of me.  I barely slept that night as I was full of anticipation and nervous about teaching a lesson, as this would be my first time.  I came up with an exercise that I would walk the students through.  The day before students were introduced to the color wheel and had to create a color wheel of their own.  Today I began with students taking out their palettes and passing out new paper.  I directed students to fold their piece of paper into six sections and label appropriately: value-tints and shades, complementary, analogous, triadic, and split complementary.  I then followed with explaining what each concept of color meant and had the students display it in the designated box.
I felt that the students responded well.  I did have a few student who were absent the day before and had not done a color wheel yet.  Lucky for me, I had Mrs. C to take those students aside and get them caught up as I continued to instruct the rest of the classroom.  Now I realize that in my own classroom I will not be that fortunate to have extra help with students who have fallen behind.  During my explanation of what analogous colors are I had a small group of girls who were chattering in the corner.  Instead of interrupting the class, I waited until I was done with instruction and then followed up with the girls after.  Of course, they had not been listening and I had to explain the concept over to them.  My cooperating teacher advised me to not let them get away with this so easily or in other words not be so nice.  Next time I shouldn't continue until I have their attention or afterwards give them a stern explanation of why this behavior will not be tolerated in the future.

Observation- March 12th

Today I spoke to my cooperating teacher about how she runs her first day of class.  She goes against traditional roles of teacher talk and going through the curriculum.  Instead on the first day she likes to start right in on a small project, because she feels that students can only absorb so much on the first day.  She waits for the other teachers to finish their first day run through before she starts in with hers, and it isn't all in one day, but introduces new things each day to the student.  As for safety in the classroom it is a continuous day-to-day reminder rather than a load of rules and precautions at once.  It varies from project to project and at the start of every class she gives reminders to the students, such as making sure they have safety goggles on in the metals class.  She also depends on the students to be responsible for each other.  They are at an age, where they know to identify hazardous situations and if they see one of their fellow classmates not using a tool properly to stop the student and notify the teacher.  She really believes that it takes everybody in the classroom to establish a safe working environment.  Holding the students accountable for their safety helps the classroom to unify as one working body.
We also took a look at the kiln and helped her load up a batch to fire.  At the moment one of the kilns is not working and she had to order new parts for it.  She explains that this is a case that you cannot plan for, but adapt to it when arrives.  She has to look at her budget to order new parts and also the set backs that is may have on students projects that may not be fired as promptly as planned.  Also she noted to me that when I land a teaching position that this will be something I will have to take notice of right away and become accustomed to the equipment that the school has.  Every school is different and I will have to adapt quickly to the resources and tools they provide when I enter into a new teaching position.

Observation-March 9th

During my hours of observation I paid close attention on reflecting how students treated me as a person.  Observing in the same high school that my younger siblings attend made it difficult for me to establish a teacher to student relationship, because some of the students that know my sister or brother wanted to also establish a friendship with me.  As I walked around the room some of the students wanted to tell me all about what they did last weekend, but I think they quickly got the hint that I was more interested in what they were creating out of clay and refocused.  While some students were eager to talk to me and ask questions, other students were more uneasy about my presence in the classroom.  Even when I loaded them with questions they were very short with me.  Right now I have to ask myself, how I reach students who seem closed off? Is this because this is only my second day in the classroom? Is it because I am a visitor? Will a better relationship be established overtime?

How do you assess student artwork?

When assessing student artwork, I take many approaches in evaluating student's learning.
I will use summative assessment, such as a portfolio to take a look at how a student has grown and progressed during their time in my classroom.  I might also use an authentic assessment, which  is a great tool to use in art.  This is useful when a student his handing in a final project.  Using a rubric can outline key learning objective and include a student's reflection of what they learned.  If a student can provide in writing what they have learned, I will know that they are learning what I am teaching.  Students should know what I am grading before they start a project and if they meet the criteria they will learn.  Some students need more structure and guidelines, while others may need more freedom.  This is up to my discretion based on a student's individual needs.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is an experience of beauty and requires no practicality.  A regular experience can be turned into one of aesthetic experience.
An assignment offered to students can be to take regular experiences in life and turn them into aesthetic experiences.  Also you can have students choose a painting and describe it aesthetically.

The gift of art is to open up opportunities for our students to recognize the potential that they have and teach them to love themselves.

Everyone has their own preferences to art. Aesthetics applies critical thinking skills. People value art in many different ways such as functional, historical, religious, economic value, pleasure, or decorative.

Observation- February 24th

Today was my first day in the classroom, in which I spent observing a metals and ceramics class.  My cooperating teacher, Mrs. C, started her class with a review of how to solder.  This was information needed to be given to the students, but they some of the class lost their focus easily.  I think more of an interactive review, such as holding the students accountable for what they have learned previously by asking them questions would have kept them more engaged.  After the review, my cooperating teacher introduced me as Ms. Haakenson, which is still strange to hear, but the reality of becoming a professional is becoming more real each day.  Some of the issues I noticed in a metals class is some of the sexist roles that take place.  Many of the boys tried to act tough and impress the girls in the classroom with their soldering skills.  Even though the boys wanted to solder pieces for the girls, my cooperating teacher established that their would be no help given to the girls from the boys.  There was some complaining at first, but Mrs. C quickly stated that this was not negotiable and the arguing ceased.
I enjoyed working one-on-one with the students, some were not as eager to talk to me as others were, while some were enthusiastic and had many question of me to ask.  One boy in particular was very intrigued to hear about the college experience and asked me quite a few questions about my experiences with classes and the social life.  One question in particular that through me off guard was, "Is college any better than high school?"  It wasn't as much as the question that surprised me, but instead the look on his face of hopelessness.  His disheartened attitude about high school prompted me to ask him a few more questions about his hopes and dreams.  This boy was in hopes of pursuing a medical career but also taking art courses throughout his life, because he had a passion for art and it was the one thing in high school that he liked.

Bullied

Jamie Nabozny is a former gay student in Ashland, Wisconsin where he faced bullying everyday in middle school and high school. After he suffered through school, because district officials would not do anything to stop the bullying he sued the district for $900,000.  Now Jamie speaks out about his experiences to support a movement to eliminate bullying in our nation's schools. 
After viewing his documentary and him share his thoughts about the subject I gained useful information to apply in my future teaching practices.  Jamie outlined three important issues that need to take place in our schools and they are: Prevention, a Comprehensive Approach to Bullying, and a Societal and Big Picture View. 
With Prevention our children need to understand that our world is changing constantly and they can't fear the future, but instead celebrate diversity.  Also Empathy is a skill that should be taught to our students.  Sexism is a problem and a cause of the bullying, and in order to prevent bullying these views of gender stereotypes in our society need to be changed.
In understanding a Comprehensive Approach to Bullying school officials and teachers must turn directly to our students.  Kids are 100% sure of where and when bullying is happening, therefore they need to be bought into the problem.  Students should be using their ideas to eliminate bullies, but the adults need to allow the students the power to do so.  There are three things that Jamie outlined that teachers can do to stop bullying. One is ensure that your classroom is safe, which is directly related to your classroom management style. Two, take a stand against indirect harassment, such as stopping the use of the phrase "That's so gay." Third, use correct language when reporting bullying.  Be specific and use terminologies such as assaulted or harassed.
Lastly the big picture is to create an environment/society of acceptance.
This experience was very touching and made me more aware of what students face in our schools.  It was heart-wrenching to hear about the emotional and mental toll it takes on a person.  As a future educator in the public school system, I will take a stand to eliminate bullying and create an environment in my classroom that is accepting of all.  Like Jamie pointed out, we're not a better person by standing back and doing nothing.  We can't be neutral, because no child should have to go through what Jamie did.

Ann Oberding

Always keep an open-mind when considering elementary or secondary levels as you job search.
Art teachers wear all different kinds of hats. An art teacher must be able to bring knowledge of other subject areas other than art.
The word of advice from an experienced art educator to a beginner is To Be Flexible!
When working with differentiating students it is important to keep them with their group of peers. Be aware of sensory issues when you have a student with special needs in your classroom.  Also you may need to designate more one-on-one time with that particular student.

Thoughts-Peggy Larson

Take risks as an art teacher after the first few years.
Live in the moment and just roll with it.  Improvise when needed and be flexible as an educator.  Respect a students ideas and influences. Take action on students inputs.
Reward students now. They shouldn't have to wait 12 years for a diploma.  Make sure you are recognizing students efforts and dedication to art in school.
Advocate the arts and reach out to your community.
Everyone's decisions now impact the future of arts.
Incorporate contemporary art and don't become complacent with traditional lesson plans.
Have high expectations for your students and they will rise to the occasion.

The Choice Between Discipline-based Art Curriculum Or A Choice-based One

I would put a disciplined-based curriculum first, but I am open to a choice-based one.  I think that they both have variables that can benefit a classroom.  Within a choice-based classroom you would allow students more freedom.  I think it is important for students to have guidelines and follow directions during earlier years of youth and as they grow older allowing students more freedom.  D.B.A.E. provides a base in my lesson plans, but there is also room for other attributes within a curriculum.  It is important that I can evaluate that the students are learning from the lesson plans I am teaching, therefore a disciplined-based curriculum provides me with this.

Trends in Education To Which I Am Professionally Committed

I am committed to providing students with the best learning experience I can offer them.  I believe that there are many different options in providing a suitable education to each student, and there isn't one solution or one trend to solve every issues.  There are trends such as Response to Intervention (RTI) or Disciplined Based Art Education (DBAE) that I am familiar with and would incorporate when needed.

What Does it Mean to Be A Reflective Practitioner?

It is important to be a reflective practitioner in the educational field.  Part of the teaching experience involves the unknown and overcoming new obstacles with your student.  In each situation that I run into it is valuable to consider the causes and the outcomes of each circumstance.  After reviewing each circumstance and I must evaluate what could be done differently in the future.  There is always something to be learned and I will always strive to be better by improving myself as an educator.

What is more Important, Art or Teaching?

As an art educator, I believe that teaching must come first in the profession.  It is important to know the content area of art, but our students must be our priority.  Without these students, I wouldn't have a job. My passion is working with students and helping to prepare them for their future.

Do you need to be an artist to be an art teacher?
I believe that as a teacher it is essential to be an artist yourself.  Students will have more respect of a teacher if you are practicing what you preach.  If you are teaching skills then you need to be able to do them proficiently.

How do you deal with safety in the classroom?

I believe it is important to take precautionary measures in the classroom. It is best to prevent an accident before it happens.  At the start of the year, walk students through the classroom and point out potential safety hazards and explain how to avoid them.  All materials in the classroom must be safe for students to use and age appropriate.  The classroom should have posters put throughout the room to deal with accidents that will happen, such as how to use an eye wash station.  Make sure students know how to use the tools and materials they are using effectively by demonstrating how to use it before they start a new project.  Also having a color-label system in the room to identify safe and hazardous materials could be useful.

What To Expect The First Day If You Are My Student

If you are a student on the first day of school in my art class you can first expect to get to know me as a person outside of teaching.  I would share information about my family, pets, my hobbies, and some of my own art work.  I think it is important for students to feel comfortable with me as an instructor.  After I give a brief introduction about myself, I would go on to sharing my rules and expectations of the students.  This needs to be in detail and make sure that if the students have any misunderstandings of what is to be expected of them.  After rules are established, I would give a brief explanation of what to expect in the course.  At this time I would give the students a survey to give suggestions and to voice what they expect of me.  If time, at the end of the period I would do an icebreaker to get to know the students.

Present and My Future

Currently, I am finishing my last semester at Stout and will begin my student teaching in the fall of 2012.  Over the past 4 and 1/2 years I have gained valuable knowledge and skills to succeed in my field of profession.  I am very anxious to start student teaching and find a job after completing graduation.


Once I have obtained a teaching position, I hope that I can influence and be a part of the communities art movement in the school district that I teach in.  After I have established myself as an art teacher, one of my goals is to have my own art studio and continue to make worth throughout my life.  I want to outreach to my student's and serve as an inspiration to them to pursue their dreams in the art world.  In my future teaching years, I also hope that I can have an influence on those students who are not interested in art as much and show them how art serves as a positive dimension in our society.