My Final Thoughts!

This semester I have learned so much about myself personally and as a teacher. I have found my place and slowly am finding my teacher’s voice.  I have found personal strength to push and get through anything thing my students, parents, school or life presents to me. Along with personal strengths, I have learned many things in theses area: viewing and responding to art, developing art curriculum, teaching art, peer units review and revised teaching portfolio.  

Fall semester of 2012 has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride for me. I have experience things that I wouldn’t wish on my worse enemies. Fighting through trauma, being a full time student and working to support three households has shown me that I can take on the world and if I put my mind to it then I’m going to do it. This was proven during my Tiger Artist teaching day. I had worked all night, got off at 7 am, made it to campus to help set up for the students and then taught along side my co-teachers. By the time the students left I wouldn’t have slept for almost 16 hours but it was completely worth it. Being with the students made me feel like I had slept for days, I had energy to share. That’s the moment I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Being with the students changed my whole day and gave me the best high I could have ever asked for. Being able to push through this moment proves that I have the strength to deal with whatever my students, parents or school administration throws at me. No matter how hard it has been this semester I want nothing more then to be an amazing teacher and change as many lives as I can.

In regards to the technically things I have learn this semester my favorite was viewing and responding to art. This has always been my favorite part of art and has become my favorite part of teaching. I believe that students cannot make mindful art without knowing where art has been and where it is going. Student’s art is meaning full because of the piece of them that is placed in the art but mindful art needs to be rooted in past art and moving forward with art. I have learned skills to help students talk about art such as VTS, showing videos to help students connect art with other things and using discussion question to guide mindful thinking about art.  These things helped me plan my art curriculum perfectly.

Having so many examples of good unit plans guided me in creating my own unit plan with ease. I used the many things I learned about viewing and responding to art to create the many class discussion presented in my unit plan. During this semester I have taken a in-depth look at the show-me state standards, GLE’s and personal goals for student. Doing this helped me develop my unit plan and made it something I am passionate about and dear to my heart. I learned the technicalities of creating a lesson plan because of my tiger artist lesson plan. Having a group of experience teachers point things out in our tiger artist lesson plan helped me remember the things that needed to be corrected or addressed in my personal unit plan. Also having everyone get open constructive criticism helped me not make the same mistakes in this unit plan.

Creating this lesson plan is only the first step to teaching art. I learned many things about teaching art from my host teacher during my field experience at Paxton Keeley. Mrs. Stoddart was an excellent host and taught me more things then I bargained for. She modeled what an organized, well-managed and creative classroom looked like. From time to time she would tell me little things that she changed from her first year of teaching. Even thought I wasn’t able to write down the advice but the things she had to say still rings through my mind. I will not forget anything she has told me. Organization and small pieces of advices were not the only thing my host teacher gave me this semester. She also, through watching her teach her own classes, showed me different way on how to explain complicated ideas or techniques to students. For an example, when the students were learning how to make facial figures for their famous Missourian project she showed the students the students basic shapes to create the eyes, nose and mouth of the human face. She used a two-finger method to create the small triangle that the students used for the nose. I was tested in my ability to pay attention and if I really understood what she was showing the students when she asked me to show three students who were behind how to do the facial figures on their Missourian. This moment was an important moment for me. Even with all the teaching advice I have gotten I was extremely nervous about teaching on my own (and I still am just a little less now) so need less to say I almost cried when she asked me to show the students what to do. I took a deep breath and tried to remember every step she showed the students and assisted the students with their project. When she came to look at their work she said it was good and only had a few things she wanted to change. This made me proud and gave me the courage that I was looking for. This is when I started to find that teacher’s voice.

Along with the many lessons and opportunities to learn what good teaching looks like, what a lesson plan entails, and how to connect with students the best learning opportunities started in my classroom. For both the Tiger Artist lesson plan and our personal unit plan we did peer reviews in the classroom. This help tremendously because I was able to see what other future teachers were thinking and what they would change if it was them creating the lesson. This made me feel a sense of community and showed me what it meant to explain yourself to someone who isn’t already in your head but is trying to find a place to access it. I got amazing feed back and thought about things that I never even noticed before. Along with getting amazing advice I also was able to get great lesson ideas. Teaching is just like art. Artist borrow things from each other and revamp it to make it their own, this is the same for teachers. There are so many lesson that I can’t wait to revamp and use with my students and this has only been made possible because of the teaching community this class has given me.

I never created a teaching portfolio before so doing it this semester was rewarding and quite an experience. I didn’t realize how much work I did this semester until I filled up almost 100 plastic protection sheets with information on what I have learned and did this semester. I was able to see were I grew, were I have stayed the same and the things I didn’t even realized I did or knew. I cant wait to take a second look at my portfolio at the end of next semester to see the leaps and bonds I have made. Even thought it took a lot of time and was hard work I enjoyed it. I’ve even been thinking of taking a second look at it during break to add things that I have missed or wish I would have added (I say this because I’m realizing more and more about myself as a teacher since I have a clearer head and more thinking time).  

I didn’t not know why on earth I wanted to be a teacher, I remember saying “I can’t be a teacher because I don’t want to deal with no one else kids” but the truth is all I want to do now is teach. I persuaded a degree in teaching because I know as long as I have a teaching certificate I will find a job. Working and money was the only thing on my mind because I was being told that only having an undergraduate degree in fine art would not make me enough money to survive and create a different life for myself. But as I started to do field experiences, learn what it means to be a good teacher, and grow a bond with the other future teachers that were in my class I realized I wanted not more then to become a teacher. My focus about teaching was no longer on me and the idea that I couldn’t deal with children but placed on the fact that students need good, hard working teachers. There is a group of students waiting for me and I waiting on them so we can change each other’s lives. I realized this semester that as teachers we are nothing without our students! I already love all my future students and can’t wait to meet them, they mean the world to me and I will do anything to be the amazing teacher they deserve.