Week 9: April 5th

It’s been very odd trying to adjust to the pandemic and stay home order. I started my residency at Clara Barton Open School the week before spring break, which was also when the pandemic got more urgent in Minnesota. It was amazing working with Allison while I got to, I loved her energy and engagement with each student. I’m going to miss that opportunity for face to face teaching and observing, however I recognize the importance of all of the state ordinances in protecting people from the possibility of getting sick.

Allison and I are currently in the works of generating a way to move forward with teaching. The plan for the final lesson that I will be leading so far is that I will be creating a lesson on video and sharing it to the class. I am trying to think of something related to either dance or math, both subjects Allison teaches, however I am leaning towards dance. I don’t have much experience in the subject but the time spent in her dance classes were so great that I’ve been inspired. I’ve also been learning TikTok dances as of recent as a way to pass the time during quarantine, and I’m wondering if there is a way to integrate art and dance in this format? Perhaps teaching the students about collaboration, video editing, and dance.

As an aside, I am a bit worried about how accessible online learning will be for the students. I am wondering if they have a good enough WiFi connection or stability and security at home. I am also worried about students who are experiencing homelessness. I personally have been unable to find much motivation in the online learning sphere, and I’m sure other students and my peers are dealing with the same lack of focus. It is especially concerning for students who have not graduated high school yet as much of their learning during their development this semester will be remote, and they could be susceptible to falling behind. I am looking forward to how this can be ameliorated in the future once the pandemic is over. As for now, I’m going to work on developing a lesson that is engaging and brings levity to the students during this collectively traumatic time.

Week 7: March 8th

Residency, 7 Hours, Whittier Elementary, Alex Lange

Two weeks after my lesson, I’ve done some reflecting on how it went and over all I feel generally good about it!

I asked the students to think about myths, mythical characters, problems in the world, and how a mythical character could solve these problems. I started with a presentation on all these subjects and had the students participate and answer questions. The students were pretty responsive and loved participating, and stayed engaged during this portion of the lesson. I then chose a volunteer to help me pass out papers that asked students to write down a certain problem they wanted to tackle, a mythical creature that could fix this problem, and how their powers would influence their appearance.

After they had written all of this down, I showed them the example of my creature that I had shaped out of model magic, gave my explanation, then I passed out three packets of colored clay to each student, as well as some tools, feathers, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners. They spent the next 30-45 minutes working on their creature and then we had a gallery walk. I chose a few students to name a creature they saw (that belonged to someone else), then I asked the person who they chose to explain their creature.

Looking back at it, the students seemed very involved in the lesson and were proud of what they made. Mr. Alex had them clean up the space while I was talking with Lynda outside. There were some times where students were confused about what they should do and what we were doing that day, so I wish I reordered the lesson so it was easier to understand. I also should have emphasized that students should leave their figurines in the class room so that they may fully dry over the weekend.

The students made absolutely gorgeous pieces, and they considered very big and heavy topics. I honestly was on the verge of tears hearing what the students were worried about. I think it’s easy to forget that children are aware of what is going on in the world, especially with the news being so accessible and pertinent to much of their daily lives. The classroom included many students who came from diverse backgrounds and unfortunately, many demographics are immediately affected by so much, and I know that each student was concerned with global climate change on top of whatever else they were anxious about. I just hope that this project gave them even the slightest sense of hope, and showed that there could be solutions to major problems, even if a little imagination is required.

Week 6: February 27th

Shadowing, 2 hours, Passage Community, Melodee Strong

This was my first week of shadowing at Passage Community! Melodee had planned a printmaking workshop with the students. We set out styrofoam plates, mats to roll ink on, brayers, barens, sticks to carve with, as well as spray bottles. This was the second day that Melodee had done this lesson with the students so much of the trouble shooting had been done. She had discovered that the ink would dry up on the mat so she brought spray bottles for the students to revive the ink with. The ink was water-soluble, very important when working with students who could get some ink on their clothes.

Melodee did a short demo where she carved a drawing of a tree into the styrofoam plate, then put two colors (red and blue) on the mat, rolled them, and showed the students how mixing the colors could create a gradient in the middle. The day prior, they had worked with a prompt- spring and summer- however, today was more open ended. Melodee rolled the ink onto the plate and put a piece of paper on top, then pressed into it with the baren. She peeled it off, showed the group, the informed the students to grab two colors of their choosing and make 4 prints, one of which would be chosen to be put in a show.

The students were aided by tutors, but I noticed that many of the students were mostly self driven. Students that were nervous about what to draw were encouraged to simply make a patterns and play more with the colors and thinking about different ink and paper combinations. The multiplicity of the work made the stakes lower, and students found themselves really playing with the ink and paper choices. There was also a sense of magic that came with peeling off the paper and finding the mirrored image. In addition, they used Speedball materials, which I have seen professionals use. Having high grade materials and ink made things feel so much more important and exciting.

There were only issues in regards to students using too much ink and the clean up process. I think it would have been helpful if it were increasingly emphasized to use a very small amount of ink and then to build from that, but this wasn’t such a problem that it inhibited anyone from creating a wonderful print. Clean up was also difficult as the ink was hard to clean off, however we were still able to clean up in around 30 minutes. The students were very proud of what they had created, and I loved how simple yet effective this lesson was! I am definitely going to be thinking about using a similar set up in future lessons.

Photo credits to Melodee!

Week 5: February 19th

Residency, Whittier Elementary School - Alex Lange, 7 hours

I went to Whittier Elementary twice this week as it was my last week there and I taught my lesson on Friday. They were two important days so I feel like they’re deserving of separate posts.

On Wednesday, Mr. Alex was out sick so we had a rotation of other teachers come in during their planning time to watch over the students. Each teacher stayed for about 1 hour and would leave and another teacher would come in. Most of the day the students did independent reading as they had just finished a major lesson for their social sciences class (the aforementioned book project.)

I went over algebra with the students during math time. Another teacher and I organized it so that the different groups of students (orange, blue, and purple group) would rotate and get to work on computer math, independent math book time, or come to the kitten table to get help from me and go over problems together. Specialist was different that day so instead of choir as usual, they went to media. It was also too cold for outdoor recess so we stayed inside.

With Mr. Alex gone iIt was difficult, and I left the day very exhausted. But I’m so glad that I went.

For one thing, I was a consistency. I knew what normally happened on Wednesday by then so I helped the substitutes get even a gist of what was supposed to be going on. I also figured out one way to command the room, and have been working on making sure it works. i would have the students do the “if you can hear my voice clap once” thing, and it would grab the attention of a few students, but I would end with “if you can hear my voice shout ‘YeeeHaw!’” or some other fun thing to say. Every student, every time, would do that part. Students just want to make fun noises sometimes and they took the opportunity. The harder part was keeping their attention. This moment I had to remind myself not to talk over the other students. It’s really hard for me, but I’m realizing if theres a fight for loudest voice, 33 students win ever time. I would say “I can wait” and I would just stay quiet until everyone stopped talking and paid attention. I’m going to keep working on this. With so many students in a classroom, I have to exercise patience and not add to that kind of chaos. I also learned that substitutes need much more support.

Week 4: February 12th

Residency, Whittier Elementary School - Alex Lange, 7 hours

The students were quite chippy today! They did a lot of talking, of course, but the mood seemed to have improved greatly from last week. They’ve been working on a book for the past few weeks about the American Revolution. Mr. Alex and I went around and helped them finish up so that their books could be ready to print.

Watching their process has been fascinating. They wrote the first paragraph together as a class then the second chapter was on whatever subtopic they wanted to write about. They planned the chapter on an outline sheet, researched in books and online, organized their thoughts, then typed it all up. For the third chapter, the students made a more creative type of writing where they could make up primary source. Some students wrote in the perspective of a soldier, a nurse, a redcoat, a patriot, etc. The creation of this book was challenging for most of the students but certainly doable. From what I know, they will have their books printed into booklet form and they will be able to customize/ draw on it to their liking.

There are many components to this project that I find to be important. Spending so much time working on a single piece gives the students a sense of satisfaction and pride in their work when they are finally done. It also teaches the students commitment and follow through which is a valuable trait. Also, calling their creations “books” adds a sense of importance and sophistication that I think many elementary school children are not granted quite often. Doing the first chapter together guides the students in the right direction, having them do a researched based second chapter helps them with the more structured and self guided learning aspect, and the third chapter being creative writing let's them have more fun and expression. Additionally, printing out the books for the students gives a final hoorah in which they can see their hard work pay off in a material way. Also, who wouldn’t want a published book?

I love how much the students are being pushed. The challenges are not only within many of their means, but Mr. Alex is very helpful and doesn’t shame students for getting things wrong or asking questions. Many of the students are learning algebra right now and quite a few of them are struggling. They’ll give up and say “I can’t do this” and Mr. Alex encourages them and tells them that they can. It’s usually that the students will stop trying if they figure out they can’t find the answer immediately. Mr. Alex and I guide the students through the problems and it turns out with some guidance and pushing, they can do 7th grade level algebra!

I don’t believe that the students are being challenged in a way that makes them uncomfortable, but more in a way that they can practice it, get the hang of it, and feel accomplished when they find the right answer. It makes me so happy when they get that “I got it!” light in their eyes.

Week 3: February 5th

Residency, Whittier Elementary School - Alex Lange, 7 hours

I wasn’t a kid growing up during these grueling Minnesota winters, so I can’t possibly understand how it feels to be 10 years old and cooped up for hours only to be outside and face a tundra, but I know as an adult it’s awful. This week has been focused on a lot of conflict resolution in the classroom. I think with the time of the semester, unreleased energies foster discontent.

During morning circle, we had a talk about targeting. Mr. Alex emphasized that bullying was too light of a word and that we use it without much consideration. I agree. He had the students go around and think about what being targeted could make someone feel like. I also remembered that for me personally, the targeting got more difficult in middle school.

These behaviors need to be addressed early on. I don’t know if going around the circle and saying how the other person would feel is enough to combat the actions of targeting. I’ve seen these issues go on into middle school, college, even the work place. How do we teach children at an early age that these behaviors are harmful? How do we teach empathy to those who have never encountered it?

Mr. Alex mentioned that the class would be doing roleplaying scenarios so that they could understand the issue at a deeper level. He then followed up with a role playing situation between students. I am curious about the impression this exercise = has on the students and if it will change behaviors?

Next week I will be doing my lesson, and hopefully, working with clay will release some other their pent up energy and help them with healthy self expression.

Week 2: January 29th

Residency, Whittier Elementary School - Alex Lange, 7 hours

I’m very much getting the hang of things at this point while also trying to scout for the student’s interests. A lot of the students are interested in drawing and also seem to distract themselves by doodling or reading comics during class. I was the same way as a 10 year old so I’m not surprised. I was thinking of showing the students how to make their own zine while also finding a way to make that more engaging and challenging for students who are close to moving on towards middle school. What do 5th graders need to release energy and have creative expression?

4 of the students in the class were chosen to be in the school wide spelling bee and seemed pretty ecstatic about it! I was going to give them a shout out during out closing circle meeting however the students had apparently been very antsy all week and continued to talk. Mr. Alex waits for the students to collect themselves and for every extra minute they take to stop talking or finish cleaning, he adds a minute to how long they miss recess. So far they’re staying inside 5 minutes for the half hour recess period this upcoming Friday. In closing circle, Mr. Alex asked the students what would be the best course of action. One student suggested that they get assigned seating next time so that they won’t be tempted to talk to their friends. Some agreed with the proposition and I believe they decided to try this the next day..

I do like the method of asking students to solve their own problems together. To come to a consensus on how to better the group. I noticed that a lot of the work they did throughout the day was collaborative, but with the issue of talking and distraction, I ask: how do you get students to collaborate without distracting each other and getting off topic?

Week 1: January 22nd

Residency, Whittier Elementary School - Alex Lange, 7 hours

It’s been approximately ten years since I’ve stepped foot in a 5th grade classroom but I must say, most things have stayed quite similar aside from the way students are taught subtraction (I’m still deciding whether the new way is easier or not from how I was was taught). We went through the typical school day, had morning meetings, practiced math, went to the specialist (the art area that students attend - that day we did square dancing and singing), had recess, ate lunch, practiced Spanish, did independent reading, and lastly had closing circles.

Off the bat, the students were wonderful. They’re all so charismatic and funny, and more over, just brilliant. Yes, I most definitely was reminded by a student to carry the one, and now I’m wondering if the standard method of subtraction holds true.

I was also really happy to be referred to by my pronouns. Mr. Alex, as he is called by everyone, including the students, talked to all of the students in a respectful but firm manner and accommodated for their needs. During opening circle we played a game to warm up and release some energy. The game included half the class sitting, and the other half standing behind those that were seated. One student stated that she didn’t want to stand and that she very much wanted to sit because her feet hurt, however, the game was basically a form of musical chairs wherein the point of the game lied in who got to sit and who got to stand. Instead of making the student stand, Mr. Alex offered that the student sit down to the side and watch until the game was over. The student said thank you and sat quietly. There was no back and forth, but instead the teacher listened and believed the student and what she said she needed.

Most of the disciplining methods I observed revolved around respect, patience, and sincerity. When a student had a negative attitude towards clean up, Mr. Alex told him something along the lines of “I know you’re a good and kind person and you respect yourself and the space you’re in when you act like how I know your are. If you want, you can sit down until you feel better and are ready to have respect and kindness,” and instead of arguing, the student sat down and cooled off.

I’m going to follow the disciplinary method that most closely resembles Mr. Alex’s for now as it seems to be most effective with his group. I’m excited to continue learning through mentorship and experience and a lesson plan is in the works!