Week 14 04/21

Shadowing - PiM Arts

This week was my first week with PiM Arts. I met with John’s class virtually on Wednesday. I got to see a small part of his day. I didn’t get to see a lot because I was meeting virtually instead of in person but I did learn some things. He has 3 classes, Photo Seminar in the morning, a second Photo Seminar class in the afternoon, and to end the day, a Film Seminar and Assistant & Director class. John starts his photo seminar classes with some small talk to get to know how his students are doing then he goes over what is due if anything and where they should be at in the project. After that he tells the class what's to come in the next class and the rest of the project. He also talks about the expectations for the critique of the project they are currently working on. Before he lets the students go to work time, he tells them what they should be working on now and encourages them to continue taking photos. The rest of those two classes the students had work time and could meet with John if they had any questions either in person or over email. For his film seminar class he started the class pretty similar to the photo classes. He had small talk and then went over what they will be doing today and where they should be at in their project. He taught them how to do color grading on their film clips in adobe premiere. I have no clue about film or what they were learning but I did find it interesting and learned from his class. They worked on the color of films (Luts) and John showed how to change color, shadows, highlights, and so much more on the way a film looks. John seems like a very positive and uplifting person. I noticed right away from the beginning of his first class on Wednesday that John brings joy into his classroom and is a fun teacher who is very supportive to his students. I am excited to go in person next week.

Week 13 04/07

Shadowing - PiM Arts

This week was a short week for my journal entry. I met with the teacher I will be observing for my shadowing hours. John R is the teacher and he works at PiM Arts High School as a Media Arts teacher. I am not very familiar with media arts since I am a traditional artist and am in the drawing and painting program at MCAD but I think it will be interesting to learn about and observe a high school art classroom. John and I met over zoom to discuss what my time at PiM would be like and when I am able to go to work around my schedule. I will be observing his photography and film classes. I am definitely excited yet nervous to be observing these classes. I have barely any knowledge of film and some knowledge of photography. I think it will be very helpful for me to experience the way a high school art classroom is because I am definitely torn between if I want to teach high school or elementary students.

Week 12 03/29

Hub Learning

Today I had my one on one meeting with Aki and Hub learning with the rest of the practicum students. For my one on one meeting Aki and I discussed my lesson that I had taught the week before. It was really helpful to go over the lesson and talk about what went well and what didn't so that I can revise my lesson plan for future use. She also helped me learn about what I need to do to receive my K-12 licensure to teach in public schools in the future. For Hub Learning we talked in small groups about where we are in our residency and how it is going for each of us. I love hearing about everyone else's residencies and what they are teaching for their lessons. We also shared about the interviews of teachers that we did. It was really interesting to hear about what others said for their interviews and I got a lot of information that I will be looking into from the interviews. We concluded class by talking about our teaching artist philosophies. I am excited to hear what everyone will write for their philosophy the next time we meet.

Week 11 03/22

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

This week I taught my final lesson at Weaver Lake. The night before I teach, I like to practice my teaching aloud to someone. So I had my husband go through my lesson and do the project so I could practice before I taught it. It went really well for the practice run and I took his finished project to the school the next day as an example. Having this pre-run was very helpful because I figured out a different/easier way to show the presentation and order of how I teach the lesson. On Monday I gathered all my supplies for the lesson and went to Weaver Lake. I taught the first half of the lesson before lunch and then the second half after lunch. It took a lot longer than I expected to do the lesson but Judi was okay with it taking longer. The thing that made this lesson longer than expected was the tedious preparation work before they started painting. This lesson was so much fun for the kids to do. I could see on their faces their excitement and joy as they were creating. Also they were showing their artwork to everyone and I know I only like showing art that I am proud of. They were very excited to create something they’ve never done before. It was definitely a learning experience for me on timing and how to teach a class how to use paint that is permanent. Judi said that it is always tough to do paint with young students since it can get out of hand easily, but I feel that it went well for using paints with them. When the students got to the part of etching into the paint to create their designs, they seemed so excited to see the colors show through the black paint. Overall, I think that my last lesson at Weaver Lake was a great way to end my residency. It was so fun to work with the students and Judi was an awesome teacher to observe and have as a mentor. I’m so happy that Judi said I can come back whenever. Also she wants me to come show my personal artwork to the students and talk about what I am doing in school.

Week 10 03/17

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

On Wednesday, I went over my lesson plan for next week with Judi.  She helped me figure out some of the final items such as the standards and what to draw on the vases.  I finished my example for the students and created a powerpoint to share images for the students.  After lunch, Judi asked if I would like to do a draft drawing with the kids so they can practice before creating their final project.  I was ready to do that so I taught them how to draw a greek vase based on the images in my powerpoint.  I showed them what we will be creating and how we will be doing simply so it just gave them an idea of what's to come.  They seemed super excited to create this project since it's nothing like they have done before.  The rest of the week, I discussed with Aki about my lesson and shared my draft plan with her.  She has helped me make the lesson better by giving me tips on what to adjust on my lesson plan.  I am definitely excited to teach this lesson to the kids, I think they will love it.  But I am kind of sad because this is the last lesson I get to teach to Judi’s class.  

Week 9 03/10

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

On wednesday I went to the Weaver Lake to observe and learn from Judi. I came with an idea on what I’d make for my superhero project, but I found out that they are learning about Greek Mythology currently. Judi suggested that I do a lesson on Greek Mythology since it will coincide with what they are currently learning and reading about. I do not mind this change, I love Greek Mythology and the book the class is currently reading, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Judi talked to me about standards for this project and we started coming up with ideas for the kids to create. I am excited about this project and what I am going to do for it. I'm not 100% sure on what the project will be yet, but I already know that this will be so fun for the students. Also today, I got to help a few students with some work they needed to do. I am happy that Judi has let me be more of a Teacher's Assistant now. I helped one student with multiplication which I was nervous about since I haven’t done that sort of math in a while, and I helped another student with their tessellation art project. I hope to be able to continue helping Judi and her students even when I am not teaching them. The rest of the week I will be in contact with Judi to get the plan together on my final lesson for her class. I only have a few more days with Judi before I have fulfilled my requirements for class but I will definitely continue to go if Judi would like me to.

These images are of the students working on coding. I thought it was really interesting that Weaver Lake taught coding and it was cool to see how the students create programs with coding.

Week 8 03/03

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

This week I was super busy with getting a huge project done, so I wasn't able to go into Weaver Lake. I was bummed that there wasn’t a different day that I could go in because I really enjoy seeing the kids and just being in the wonderful environment that Judi creates in her classroom. I did work on some ideas for the next lesson that I will be teaching. We decided to do a superhero theme because Weaver Lake Elementary has a theme for this year and its superheroes, so it would match with their school theme perfectly. Last week Judi sent home with me a book about superheroes that the class reads and learns about. It is actually very helpful in planning this project. I’m not sure exactly what I will be doing yet but I’m definitely getting excited to do this project with them.

Week 7 02/24

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

This week I had my class with Aki and we all shared where we are in our residency placements right now. I learned about all my other classmates' residencies and how they are going. One thing that stood out to me was in one of my classmate’s placements, they are using art projects to teach other life skills which I thought was a smart way to use art lessons. I talked to my class about teaching a lesson because I was one of the first to teach a lesson to their residency placement. In my residency at Weaver Lake, I mostly observed Judi teach and made examples for Judi. One project Judi’s class will be doing is tessellation art. She is using this project for them to learn about transformations in math and connecting art to math and history. It connects to math because it is using shapes and transformations to create their pieces and it connects to history because it links to Ancient Rome and Islamic art. Other than creating examples of tessellation art, I created a title banner for my lesson that I taught the students, I hung up all their work in the hall under the banner I made.

Week 6 02/17

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

This week I taught my first lesson, which went really well in my opinion. Before I taught my lesson though, I observed Judi and her class. Something interesting that I got to observe and learn about was this book about cultures and how to teach in response to the different cultures. The book is called “Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain” by Zaretta Hammond. I sat in on their lunch meeting to hear their discussion on Ch 4 of the book. The teachers had the chance to meet the author and her about her book a few years ago and they recently started reading the book in order to work on how they teach and respond to all the different cultures. I think this would be a very beneficial book for any teacher to read in order to learn more about cultures and how it affects our teaching. I will definitely be thinking about getting this book for myself. I thought it was cool to see the 4th grade teachers learning new teaching strategies and adjusting with these times and our changing world. Setting up for my lesson, I was definitely nervous and thinking I’m forgetting something in my set up but once I started I felt way more prepared and confident. Judi was super supportive and helpful during my lesson. When I would get stuck or didn’t explain something the way the kids would understand she helped reiterate it for them. I also had trouble quieting the kids down when I needed to get their attention to show them the next step. Judi taught me a couple of techniques to use next time. Overall, I thought it went really well and Judi agreed, she just told me that some things will come with years of teaching such as learning how to be assertive and how to keep them quiet. I am happy I taught my first lesson and can’t wait to teach my next.

All of their banners after they had finished them.

Week 5 02/11

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

This week I couldn't go in for a whole day like normally on Wednesdays because I wasn't feeling the best on Wednesday. But I did get to go in on Thursday after my morning class. For today I talked to Judi about my first lesson plan, the catchphrases art lesson. She helped me figure it out more by connecting it to a literacy standard. The kids will end up writing a paragraph about a time they remember using the catchphrase during distance learning. She is having me teach the lesson next week on Wednesday. I’m nervous but also excited to teach them this fun project. Today, though, I did get to do a pre-lesson project with them in preparation for the upcoming project. I showed them what we will be making and then showed them how to practice spacing out their words prior to putting the words onto the fabric. I have started gathering supplies and working on my lesson plan. Judi said she will definitely help me with the standards and perfecting the lesson plan. She did say I did a great job at teaching them how to prepare for the project and she helped me through when I got stuck. After teaching the pre-lesson I definitely felt way more confident and felt that I would have plenty of time to get the rest of my lesson in next week. I engaged the students by sharing the examples I made and making it fun to draft the designs they want on their banners. Also the students seemed super excited to do my lesson next week after I taught the pre-lesson which made me happy to see that.

Week 4 02/03

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

Today was my first day at the school in-person. I was very nervous leading up to this but Judi is a comforting person and definitely calmed my nerves. She showed me all around the school and told me what she does prior to the students walking into the classroom for the day. She sets out bellwork for the kids and gets the classroom all prepared and her materials ready for the day. After the kids finished their bellwork, we did a fun exercise to get them motivated and awake for the school day. The kids played freeze dance to educational songs. For in person learning the school day is a little different. They start with math, then science, gym/music at 11:30, social studies, lunch at 1, then reading at 2:30, and anything they didn’t get to earlier to end the day at 4. Today for science class the students got to do Virtual Reality which is a headset that you put on and you can be in other places while still being in the classroom. They went on a field trip into a brain to learn about it more and see it in depth. It was cool to see the use of new technology like this in school especially during covid times when they can’t go out on trips.

Judi is constantly walking around when she isn't in the front teaching to check on the students and to see how they are doing in the lesson. This is beneficial for her teaching so she can see what they know and can lead them in the right direction with her teaching if she needs to change anything in the lesson. Covid is requiring students to do more things on their own and listen more carefully because teachers can't touch or be there to help if online. The students overall seem to be working with this change nicely, they are learning to be more independent and it definitely shows. Judi does encourage students on what they are doing well but I think we could change a little by instead of saying good job, tell them what they did right and what they can improve on. Don't praise one student, it makes others feel like they aren't good enough. Judi did mention to me while the students were at lunch that when you start with a new class you should start stricter and as you go through the year get looser on the rules. She told me this cause some of the kids were getting in trouble at recess or were blurting out stupid answers in class. After recess the kids were still a tad crazy and wound up so Judi decided to change course after class in order to calm them down. We were going to be doing a geography website but she switched to reading a book instead to relax them a bit. At the end of the day we made clay brains to go with what they are working on in science right now. It was a fun way to end the day for the kids. Judi and I discussed the catchphrase project and decided that this week we are going to plan it out together and make it happen soon.

Week 3 01/27

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

Today on google meet with Judi and her 4th grade class, we started the day with a fun warm up. The warm up was to draw an image on a paper but put the paper on top of a book and place it on your head to draw the image. Judi always seems to keep the kids engaged and the class fun but keeping the kids on task and learning. She makes sure to utilize different ways of learning to keep them engaged and on task such as using her document camera to see what she is writing. She will split them into breakout rooms to work together on assignments and checks in on them. Judi and I started to think of a few ideas for art projects to do with the kids such as “create a superhero” project and a “google meet catchphrase” project such as making t-shirts. We have been collaborating on art lessons so far and will use them to correspond to what they are learning at the time. The kids learned about themes in the morning before their music class. After music class, they continued their assignment on themes. After lunch we continued studying the brain by learning about the sense of sight and how the eye sends messages to the brain. To finish the day we work on math. My computer crashed right during math and wouldn’t come back on so I couldn’t finish the day with them. I think doing online learning definitely has its challenges and sometimes there are not easy fixes. I found that out today. I had to contact Apple support and they had to walk me through ways to fix my laptop. My laptop crashing has become a recurring thing for me, so hopefully Apple finally figured it out. Next week when I join Judi’s class it will be in-person and I’ll actually be able to see the students, Judi, and Weaver Lake in person.

Week 2 01/19

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

Today was my first day with Judi and her 4th grade class. I sat in through their whole virtual school day. I got to see what they are working on and how their days run. The class starts with reading/english class, then a group of kids will leave the class around 10 for TAG until 10:30. TAG stands for Talented and Gifted. Then around 11 the students have special which is music class, at 11:30 they all come back to Judi’s classroom and we finish up anything we didn’t get done in English class or they start science class. At 12:30 they head off to lunch and recess for an hour, at 1:30 we meet back in Judi’s classroom for science class, then at 2:30 they end the day with math til 3:30. Judi has a wonderful personality. She will definitely be a perfect mentor for me to learn from this semester. I learned that Judi sometimes goes by the flow instead of always sticking concretely to her daily plan. She decides to change things up when she notices the kids are loosing engagement. Today, she could tell that everybody was tired by math class and she decided at 3:15 to stop teaching math from the day and read a book with the kids. I feel that I did learn a lot about how Judi’s class works and about their school. Judi always asks if I have questions on our breaks to make sure I can learn what I need to or want to and she makes sure to go over why she did what she did in her lessons. I think Judi and Weaver Lake will be a wonderful person/place to learn from this semester, teach me a ton of things I didn’t know, and show me how I can teach in the future.

Week 1 01/15

Residency - Weaver Lake Elementary

Hi, my name is Alyssa Herrera, I am a painter/drawer, baker, and small business owner. I have always dreamed of being an art teacher to kids K-12. I started teaching kids art when I was in high school. I volunteered to teach the Sunday School kids at my church art projects. It was so fun seeing how excited they got when they would come into the room seeing all the art supplies on the tables. My love of teaching grew when I became a junior in high school. I had this awesome art teacher, Ms. Buchholz. She taught her students by being less authoritative and more as a mentor, she kept her class fun and comforting. You could go to her and she would be there to help you if you needed it. Ms. Buchholz is always learning from her students and adjusting her lessons to accommodate to students and she even learned Spanish to help her non-english speaking students learn better. The way Ms. Buchholz teaches is what I hope to be like someday. I am extremely excited to start working with Judi Andersson because she will be a huge help to getting me to where I’d like to be as a teacher.

I am excited yet nervous to start my residency with Weaver Lake. Today, I started communicating with Judi Andersson. We talked over email to figure out what days would work for my schedule to meet and be apart of her 4th grade class, they are going to start in-person learning in February. Weaver Lake is a STEM based school and so they don’t have art classes. It will be fun to teach them about art and see how excited and happy they get from making art. I taught one lesson at Weaver Lake in the Fall 2020 with my classmates. I am excited to go back to Weaver Lake and learn about their school and to of course teach art and learn from Judi. Next Wednesday, I get to join their class on google meet and meet all of Judi’s 4th grade students for the first time.