Teaching lessons in four classes gearing up to add a fifth

I am currently teaching lessons in four different classes and currently I am gearing up to teach a lesson in first hour tomorrow.  So far I all of the classes are going quite well I do have to say that second hour has really taken a shine to the duct tape project one student is even making a vest out of duct tape, I can't wait to see what that turns out like.  Fourth hour is starting to get frustrated with is new ring project part of the that is the overwhelming new experience of the project but part of it comes from the fact that this class is overly impatient and expect everything to happen now, immediately. 

After School Art Club

This is my first official day as an art teach at the after school program that is art club.  One of the students from fifth hour came in she has been absent quite a bit and needs help to finish to get started with is new project.  I start helping her with the work it quickly becomes apparent that she is a special needs student.  I think I spent the the entire time in art club attending to this one student.  I came to realized from this experience that some students require full one on one attention which is really hard to do when you have that same student in a class of thirty four students. 

New Project 4th Hour

Oh fourth hour you are the smallest class of the bunch however you are the most out of control.  Today I am starting a new project with them.  This project is one of Ms. Knights tried and true projects the silverware rings.  I showed another youtube video as kind of a lead up into what I am expecting them to do with this project.  I have to admit the youtube videos are growing on me I really liked researching this project and finding out some of the history of the where this project came from. 

New Project 2nd Hour

I started a new lesson for second hour today, they are going to begin making a duct tape project.  This project is usually for the students to make a wallet or some other functional item out of duct tape.  The classes reception to this project was quite warm  to my surprise.  I look forward to seeing where they take this.  I introduced the piece with a youtube demo video, this is something that my cooperating teacher is really into however I don't know what to think about this yet. 

IEPs

Today I got my first look at the IEPs for the students in my classes.  I must say I was taken aback at first that some of these classes had so many which is kind of a shock.  There is not a single hour throughout the day that does not have an IEP student.  The real shocker is that there are so many in some of the classes, take fourth hour there are six of them in there and that is one of the smaller classes I have throughout the day. 

The Substitute

Well I am back from being out sick the other day but today my cooperating teacher is out sick and has called in a sub.  This is truly my first on your own trial by fire experience teaching when you are in charge all day long.   Of all the classes I have during the day fourth hour is my most trying but they are still working on a previous project.  The only two classes starting new lessons this week are fifth and sixth hours.  Both classes are starting a ceramic project which is right up my ally I have to say that I am really looking forward to these two.  The lessons are fairly straight forward slab, drape or coil built vessel.  These are the first two classes that I am actually introducing a new project in. 

Sick Day

I had to call in sick today, I have been battling something that I picked up in the elementary level and it has left feeling severely under the weather I the last couple of weeks I think today it reached its peak I should be back tomorrow however I will be completely in charge since my new cooperating teacher will have a substitute.  

Second day at the high school

My second day at the high school, I am still observing but now I am starting to take attendance and answering questions from the students.  I am kind of jumping in because I want to start my unit as soon as possible. 

First official day at BHS

I have to get up a whole hour earlier, to get here on time.  I must say that upon my first impression the high school is run much more efficiently than the elementary schools however I feel that if the same amount of money was pumped into the elementary schools they would be just as well run.  My new cooperating teacher gives me a tour of the rooms the school and the procedures for setting up the classroom each morning.  Today all I really did was walk around and observe the way Ms. Knight ran each of the classes. 

PD Day for Student Teachers

All of the student teachers are required to spend all of today at a PD event held at EMU.  I learned some interesting ideas that I want to try and incorporate in the high school classroom for classroom management. 

This is officially my last day at the elementary level

I walk into the school knowing it is my last day here, it make me wish that student teaching for K-12 went a semester in primary and a semester in secondary because I feel that I just got started and now I have to leave.  I just found my rhythm and now I am getting dumped out of my fish bowl into an overly large pond that  I don't feel prepared for.  We see a few more a our original classes today but all of the fourth graders are still Meaping.  I was able to finish up about half to the lessons I had started with the classes at the Edge.  That afternoon we found out that starting on November first the specials schedules will all be shifted around and restructured.  Its a shame we can only imagine what all this upheaval does to these young students. 

Road trip to Resa for PD Day

Today my cooperating teacher and I went on a road trip to Berrien county to attend a day of the dead workshop geared towards art teachers.  We were surprised when we arrived that there were very few art teachers in attendance.  In fact it was a good balance of art, spanish, music and social studies.  I was kind of taken aback that there were really only fifteen teachers in attendance.  I made it a point to talk to everybody and pass out business cards in case they hear of any art education positions available near by. 

Teaching the ASD class

I have been setting up this lesson all weekend this is probably perceived to be one of the most challenging classes to ever work with.  However ever it turned out great they were not as out of control as they could have been.  I was kind of bummed when I walk past their classroom that morning and saw that they had done and art project that was almost identical to the one I had set up called the five little pumpkins.  

Final Monday

I am frantically trying to finish up any of the lessons that I am currently working on with the students to allow for a seamless transition back to Mrs. Hickson.  The first graders are be finished by Wednesday with their Paint Chip Rainbow projects.   

Final Friday

It is hard to believe that this is going to be my final Friday at the elementary level.  Today I had a student named Nolan who is one of the toughest cookies I have ever had to deal with.  He was a disruption every five minutes I even went as far as to give him a time out in the corner which he still managed to disrupt the class further by hitting the light switch.  I informed his teacher that I recommend he get a card flip when he gets back to class to which she informed me that he is already on red.  If the student has already blown through all of the corrective behavior procedures then what else can be done. 

More Meaping

Here at the Edge again the Meaping schedule is still messed up the regular elementary teachers have a little more control over the overall testing schedule but it specials teachers are still left out in the cold again we only have two classes instead of our regular number. 

Second Observation

Today I had my second observation.  It didn't go as smoothly as I had originally anticipated because I tried at the last minute to incorporate technology with an elmo that we had in the room.  This is the half-way point I in a week I head over to the high school I am somewhat excited but I feel so unprepared for what might lye ahead for me. 

Day 26, Day 1 of MEAPING

Since today was the first official day of MEAP season we only had two classes today both in the afternoon in morning we were relegated to proctoring the test while teachers had their prep.  During this morning I got to hang out with Declan because they didn't receive his large print test yet.  It was pretty good I got to find out some more of his interest and he gave me two good ideas for future lesson plans.  However I won't be able to implement another plan to integrate him into the class before I leave the elementary school. 

Day 25, ROY G BIV

Today I am starting a new lesson with the young fives called ROY G BIV Bracelet.  One class finished the Pixelated Rainbows which they just started on Friday.  The ROY G BIV lesson didn't go as smoothly as I thought in fact I could see I was loosing them near the end. 

Day 24

It's Friday again another week down.  Today I am starting the Pixelated Rainbow project here at Savage.  I have noticed that each time a I teach a new lesson for the second time I have tweaked it severely.  I changed the organization here at Savage and one of the classes is already half done.  compared to the two at the Edge where it will probably be a three day lesson.  Most of the Tiki Mask are done by now. 

Day 23, Pixelated Rainbows

Finishing the third grades self portraits but fourth is still in the middle of their Exquisite Corpse project.  There is one student in there named Declan that is visually impaired I have tried several things to get him involved and today I was so close to bringing him into the group work but at the last five minutes he ducked out into the hall frustrated.  So close yet so far away.  Now in the afternoon I had two classes that were going to be starting a new project I like to call the Pixelated Rainbow it looks a little bit like something out of mine craft. 

Day 22

Wednesday, I haven't seen these kids in two weeks because of the PDD and with them I still have to finish the what is art which they would have had last week if we had seen them.  So all morning I was lecturing and teaching a kindergarten class and a first second split both working on the Tiki Mask. 

Day 21, First Day in Clay

On this fine day I am starting a lesson near and dear to my heart, with a third grade class we are starting a lesson called Experiencing Clay Vessels.  I showing the kids what they can make with a ball of clay.  We are using an oil based clay that will allow them to work the clay over and over because it will never dry.  I promised them that they would be able to take the clay home to make things out of it at their own convenience after I was finished teaching the lesson.  This particular lesson I gauged would take about two days.