First week and second

Hey. My first week of classes was really cool! The only thing is that. The teacher I am shadowing got really sick my first week and wasn't in class the last part of the week. They are finishing projects for 4 shows and for the Texas Tech open house. This week I have been helping them with their projects and being shown how she grades and also how to make everything look professional for the shows.

Feb 20-24

Feb 20-24

So how was your first day? What did you notice about the school, your teacher, students, and/or the neighborhood? How were you received? Exactly what day/s and times are you at your school? Keep in mind, that we will be doing this for the next 21/2 months. I will post when a reading is due from the books in B-12, so you will have plenty of time to read them. Hope your week is off to a good start. Ed Check

Teachers assistant day 1

My first day as a teachers assistant was this past Thursday from 12:15-3:15. I immediately started with kindergarteners where my teacher ms. Higginbotham read to them A Very Hungry Caterpillar. They looked at the pictures and we pointed out that anything is made more interesting when using more than one green or one yellow to make an object like a leaf for example.  In each class There  aren't very many kids which is so nice. Similar to what Lauren wrote in her post about the teacher gaining respect and strictly enforcing rules and procedures at the beginning and then loosening up and becoming more friendly and joking with them seems to work great. After that we see 5th, 4th, and 3rd each 45 minute class periods. Each class was different as far as what they were working on but every time they came in, they systematically and happily grabbed their work, working together to distribute materials all with little help from the teacher. They are mid-project and EVERY student was happily working and talking amongst their friends but there was little bad behavior and lots were involved in what they were making. Asking questions about concept and form, most of the classes are working on pieces to symbolize equality and justice :)

Student Teaching up to February 19th

It's been really fun so far!

My teacher, Ms. Zesiger, is really sweet. They like to keep the kids pretty quiet and orderly there, which makes sense since elementary school kids generally tend towards the opposite of quiet and orderly. It's funny though, because she tells me a lot about building up a repertoire with the kids. At the beginning, she said she couldn't really let them get away with things because she needed to establish herself as a figure of authority, and solidify the rules as things that could not be bent. Then, after that, she could let up a little bit and joke around with them occasionally.
I only come on Mondays and Fridays for the 3rd and 5th grade. Though they're the older classes, Mondays and Fridays are the worst days because on Monday the kids are missing the weekend, and on Friday the kids are excited for it. I guess it's good I'm there though, because I can at least help make things less crazy on the worst days! Plus I get to experience the hard bits of teaching, which is what I want to know about. You just gotta raise your voice to be heard sometimes, it ends up. And some kids are just going to be grumpy and you can't do anything but set them in timeout to cool off. It's so fast paced, and Ms. Zesiger literally has 600 students. They change out every week to a different class, so I'll be meeting a new group of kids tomorrow (Monday.) I'm excited!

Feb 2: Assignment from Perr Book--choose two lessons

There is no blog assignment for this Thursday. The second half of the Perr book is 24 lessons. What I would like you to do is go through the lessons and choose two: one of the lessons that would work well for you as an artist and learner that is interesting to you--in other words a lesson for you as a learner and artist, and another lesson that might work in a school situation--you can choose the level--that you might teach as an art teacher. Feel free to change things in the lesson as needed to meet your interests or needs.

We will share our two choices this Thursday when we meet in class in B-14. We will finish watching the Judy Baca video as well. Please make sure your LISD criminal is up-to-date. See you Thursday. Ed Check

January 31: Making Art Together: Step-by-Step

We will be talking about the first 24 pages in class starting on Thursday, but for today, please post at least twice to the following prompts abut our readings.

Herb Perr: pp. 1-24

Welcome and Overview

Welcome to Art 3364. Once again, this is a private blog for our use only. Please remember to update your LISD criminal check. You can do that by:

Criminal Check with LISD

Follow these simple directions:

1. Go to LubbockISD.org

2. Find PARENTS bar and scroll down to Volunteer in LISD

3. Click on VOLUNTEER APPLICATION

4. Scroll down to Returning Volunteer

5. Check in with your previous User ID and password--that you saved and remembered

6. Update your form for spring 2017

7. Submit and check back in 24-48 hours for clearance

8. Print three copies of clearance again (Give one to Ed; keep one on you when visiting; keep one in folder).

This semester you will be volunteering with a local elementary art teacher for three hours per week. You will be assigned a teacher and school. It will be up to you to negotiate a three hour volunteer slot either once or twice per week. That will be up to your schedule and your teacher's schedule. It shouldn't be too difficult to do that. You can go twice per week during this class' official time, or schedule another time slot that works with your schedule and your mentor teacher schedule.

After the first three weeks of class, you will be checking the blog weekly for updates and to answer questions from selected readings. I also encourage you to journal during your volunteer time--writing down what you are seeing and experiencing and feeling and learning. The purpose of this class is to give you an extended time of exposure to elementary learning settings and time to experience week-by-week things that happen in classrooms. You will assist your teacher, quite possibly help them outside of the classroom if necessary, and quite possibly get to teach part of a lesson if things go well in your practicum.

We meet early on in the semester at TTU physically for the first few weeks, and then virtually through blogger, and then we meet for the last day of class at TTU and then again for our final. All the rest of the time will be spent volunteering three hours per week at your placement.