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.