Gearing Up for Student Teaching

This morning I had an interview with an elementary teacher about possibly being her student teacher for the fall semester.  Throughout the interview I learned that she doesn't have a standard degree in art education and that she is one of three elementary art teachers in the district.  In looking throughout the classroom I noticed that the art lessons that she has been using are rather generic and art history based.  She said the only drawback to the choosing me as a student teacher is that I showed up late for the interview; she stated that she wasn't trying to be mean or bitchy but by stating that that's exactly how she came off.  My only pet peeve about the interview was that her email said that I could arrive between 8:15 & 9:45 and she said that I was late or that I would have been better to meet on Wednesday when she originally called which at the time I was just walking into work.  I guaranteed her that when it comes to teaching I have been to schools at least half an hour early.  The long and the short of it is that I got the position as her student teacher for the fall she is going to talk to the middle school and high school teachers about taking me on for my secondary position.  So the good news is that I have at least one teaching position for the fall out of two.  Now I just need to take 1 or 2 summer art classes to raise my GPA and then I will be all set for the fall semester and on to graduation.  

Day Two of Subbing

Here it is a week later and I have officially finished my second day as a sub.  This was a different school and a whole different type of class all together.  I showed up at the elementary school 20 minutes early so I could familiarize myself with the classroom and the lesson plan that the teacher was leaving behind. This was an interesting assignment because I actually got to meet the teacher before the beginning of the school day to go over the lesson.  This was also a self contained special education classroom within the elementary school for 1st and 2nd grade students.  I found out from talking with the teacher that there was one student with muscular dystrophy another with a colostomy and one with cerebral palsy.  Once I met the students I really grew to like this class as the day went on.  The first part of the day was spent in art where the students got to glaze I got to help the student with cerebral palsy in that class I was amazed at how enthusiastic he was to be working on art.  This has been one of the more enjoyable classes that I have been in during the last year.  I think that maybe down the road I wouldn't mind going back to school and getting a degree in special education.  The afternoon was taken up mostly by an assembly based on a children's story.  At the end of the day I walked the kids to the bus so they could head home. 

My First Day as a Substitute Teacher

May 16th was my first day as a substitute teacher, I couldn't get to sleep the night before so I stayed up all night reading and working on potential lesson plans in case I needed a back up.  I started getting ready at 6:00 AM even though I didn't have to be at the school until 8:30 AM.  I arrived a good half hour early, this was a huge school it had three floors.  I found out after I got there that the teacher I was subbing for had a student teacher who would be taking charge of the classes for the whole day I would just be there as a qualified assistant.  This was in some ways a blessing and a curse, on the one hand my first day as a sub would be a breeze because this guy would be doing all the heavy lifting.  The curse part of it was that he was doing such a good job that my being there was just a formality mostly all I did was take attendance, I didn't even get to introduce myself to the classes.  By the end of the day in the planning period I found myself nodding off because I was so tired due to not getting any sleep the night before and boredom from not being allowed to participate in interacting with the class.  All in I hope my next sub position is a little more hands on.