Clara Barton Open School, Allison Rubin Forrester, 7/8th grade, 8 hrs
Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Teaching Artist Jess Bergman Tank, 3.5 hrs
On Wednesday, I shadowed teaching artist Jess Bergman Tank again at Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC), while she taught her “Sculptural Metal Casting Fundamentals” class. Students brought in their wax sculptures that will eventually be cast into bronze, and prepared their flask molds (which consists of a wooden or cardboard box placed two inches around the piece, in order to pack sand in and around the piece for pouring). The work ranged from figurative to more abstract. Since students were working on their individual molds, Jess floated around the room and answered questions and assisted as needed. As usual, Jess maintained a friendly and neutral tone as she taught and gave gentle reminders to students.
I spent Monday and Wednesday at Clara Barton Open School with Allison and was more engaged in her Dance in Society class this week. The class was missing a few students and needed to have an even number, so Allison asked me if I would help practice with the students. Most students attend this class after their homerooms, and they were beginning to learn the waltz. I noticed immediately how several students became more open and willing to interact with their peers in this setting, since they do need to participate - it is a different participation than in gym; in this class you have to work with a partner in order to accomplish goals. It also is a different kind of community building; in one class you are sitting with a selected group and learning Algebra, where in another you are dancing with your peers and learning how to succeed as a partnership. I was also impressed by the students teaching me as I floated around the room, by their concise instructions, and willingness to help their partner. I have also noticed this in Ali’s homeroom; if a student has questions about a problem, a peer will immediately step in to assist and help the student figure out where they are lost instead of giving them the answer, or calling Ali over to help. All in all, I was impressed with the middle schoolers at Clara Barton and their willingness to help their peers.
I have decided to change the structure of my project and will now be creating a lesson plan for one of the Algebra classes, either homeroom or third period. I am incorporating equations, graphing and collage and am excited to meet with Lynda this week to discuss my ideas. The geometry class began working with tessellations on Wednesday and were given a simple starter lesson to see how tessellations work as a pattern. Since I have been visiting CBOS, I have noticed a previous MCAD teaching artist student’s final tessellation lesson displayed in class, and after contemplating wanted to create a different lesson and am more excited about this Algebra-based one.