~ Isabel Fernandez ~
Community Teaching: Heroes
Day 1 (9/25) Lead Teacher
What worked well:
Overall the lesson went great. The students seemed engaged for the most part and I felt really confident as a lead teacher. I honestly wasn't sure about how successful our ideation sheet would, however, it seemed to really help the students plan out exactly what they want to do to create a successful hero.
What didn't work:
The most challenging aspect of the lesson was figuring out how to do whole class discussions when COVID-19 makes distancing apart of the classroom. I noticed that when we were separated the students had a difficult time paying attention to what their teacher and peers were saying. Also, the open-ended preassessment questions about what materials they liked was definitely confusing to them.
What would you do differently:
When we tried circling up at a distance the focus from the students was so much better. Therefore during COVID-19 regulations, whole class discussions and brainstorming should happen facing each other and circling up 6' apart seems o do the trick. Also with the pre-assessment, I would make sure to give clear instructions on an exact amount of materials they should circle because that part definitely brought up a lot of confusion and questions.
Day 2 (10/2) Assistant Teacher
What Worked Well
Once again we didn't hit too many speed bumps during this lesson. Viviene and I works really well to together and found ways to work as co-teachers instead of assistant and lead. The students got to work on their projects and finish creating their heroes by the end of class. All the students seemed very happy with their finished products and was able to talk about their characteristics to an extent.
What Didn't Work
Due to our limited time we did not get to have as long of a refresher/brainstorm circle for as long as we wanted and this made it very difficult for students to feel confident in starting their final projects. We also didn't have a teacher example of our heroes completed before the class so I (Isabel) had to quickly create on and present it to table-groups. Once we did this we had more success in student engagement and confidence. We did have a student that struggled with the teaching styles we offered so we had to find ways to get him engaged in a meaningful ways and that was challenging yet rewarding once successful.
What Would You Do Differently
If I were to teach this second part of the lesson again, I would make sure we had a teacher example prepared and talked about it during our refresher/brainstorm circle session. Also, I wish I could have figured out how to properly teach our struggling student sooner because it would have been interesting to see him put 100% into his piece.
Day 2 (10/2) Assistant Teacher
What Worked Well
Once again we didn't hit too many speed bumps during this lesson. Viviene and I works really well to together and found ways to work as co-teachers instead of assistant and lead. The students got to work on their projects and finish creating their heroes by the end of class. All the students seemed very happy with their finished products and was able to talk about their characteristics to an extent.
What Didn't Work
Due to our limited time we did not get to have as long of a refresher/brainstorm circle for as long as we wanted and this made it very difficult for students to feel confident in starting their final projects. We also didn't have a teacher example of our heroes completed before the class so I (Isabel) had to quickly create on and present it to table-groups. Once we did this we had more success in student engagement and confidence. We did have a student that struggled with the teaching styles we offered so we had to find ways to get him engaged in a meaningful ways and that was challenging yet rewarding once successful.
What Would You Do Differently
If I were to teach this second part of the lesson again, I would make sure we had a teacher example prepared and talked about it during our refresher/brainstorm circle session. Also, I wish I could have figured out how to properly teach our struggling student sooner because it would have been interesting to see him put 100% into his piece.
Middle School Teaching 11/2
8th Grade: Drawing Pathway
Experience Narrative:
I attended the middle school class via the Google Meets video. While Jenna (the teacher) taught the in person class, I introduced myself to the online section and instructed the on what was expected of them that day in class. We started with a "Two Truths, and a Lie", students shared one of their bingo submissions, and then I instructed them to complete a new BINGO submission from the "O" column and if they needed help to just rejoin the meeting.
What worked well
My instruction was clear and students did not seem to ever have any confusion about said instruction. Also, when the students did participate, they seemed happy to talk about their artworks and we did bond ever so slightly when talking about my "Two Truths, and a Lie".
What did not work well
There were only 3 students so the class was really reluctant to participate especially talking to me, a brand new person. When I followed Jenna's instruction to tell them that they can stay on the meeting or leave and come back when they need for help, all the students left the meeting. This is allowed but as a teacher, I felt lost to if they were even working on their projects and no student ever came back to the meeting. Also, I wish I knew a better way to connect with the students especially online.
Future Actions
For the next session I plan to bond with students a little more, especially since there should be more students on the meeting. I also think that my comfortability teaching virtually will grow over time. Hopefully this class more students will stay or come back to the meeting so that I can actually offer my help and assistance.
Middle School Teaching 11/9
8th Grade: Drawing Pathway
Experience Narrative:
I attended the middle school class via the Google Meets video. While Jenna (the teacher) taught the in person class, I did a quick introduction of myself to the online section because there was a new student. Then I proceeded to ask each student to share how they were doing by typing one word into the chat. Then each student shared their pathway project plan with the class. Once everyone shared, the students all left the meeting to work individually on their projects and never came back.
What worked well
Everyone was able to have a clear plan about what they were going to do for their pathway projects. Also, I am slowly beginning to become more comfortable with an online environment with each class. The student were reluctant to share again, however, I called out names this time and everyone shared their projects and plans.
What did not work well
There were only 3 students so the class was really reluctant to participate especially talking to me, a brand new person. When I followed Jenna's instruction to tell them that they can stay on the meeting or leave and come back when they need for help, all the students left the meeting again. It is still strange not knowing if they are actually working on their projects.
Future Actions
Hopefully this next class more students will stay or come back to the meeting so that I can actually offer my help and assistance. Also, next class I would like to do more than Jenna asks of me and ask more questions about the student's artistic process and planning.
Middle School Teaching 11/30
8th Grade: Pathway Projects
Experience Narrative:
I attended the middle school class via the Google Meets video. Due to new COVid-19 changes, Jenna and the whole class were now online. Jenna explained to the class that they would be called into a break out group that involved just the students, me, another CSU mentor, and Jenna.
What worked well
It was really nice to see what an online format may look like in an art classroom, especially since this doesn't look like its ever going to go back to "normal". All the students were on schedule and were working on lesson 3 or ahead on lesson 4. The students did a great job talking about their projects and asking question if they had any. They also did really well answering any questions Jenna, Abby, or I asked. Jenna had each of us take being lead teacher and that also went well.
What did not work well
I wasn't super sure what was expected of me as a teacher because we weren't prepared before hand. Also, some students still didn't share their screen so we couldn't actually see their progress.
Future Actions
I will take this brief introduction into the online teaching world and continue pushing it further to fit into my teaching style.
THE FINALE
I learned that I still know for a fact that I want to teach art. This experience also validated my leanings towards wanting to teach middle schoolers once I graduate with my teaching license. I learned that the online platform makes everything more chaotic. There are already a lot of unknowns in the teaching world because students always keep you on your toes, but online makes that even harder to navigate. I hope that this online thing that has happen due to Covid-19 gets better over time because its still such a new thing.