Week 17

Residency- Field Community School- 3 Hours

Today was my final day at Field.  I finally got to see some of the final products of the clay projects the students had been working on for awhile (but put aside for the sake of my comics lesson.)  They clay titles looked really good!

Like last week, some students were much further ahead than other students.  I believe they have another couple of days to finish these.  A lot of them had gotten around to the coloring step.  I overheard one student say that she was scared to ink it because she didn't want to ruin it in something permanent.  I completely understand because I have that fear too.

Week 16

Residency- Field Community School- 5 Hours

The students continue to work on their comics.  Some students were much further along than others.  I especially liked it when I could tell the students had put a lot of effort into their comics, like when they had a lot of detail.  Or, the students were allowed to put their own spin on their comic if they wanted, and some of them really jumped at the chance to be creative.  Their comics were funny.  I tried to give suggestions to the students, such as, to add backgrounds to the comics (something I struggle with myself).  One problem I noticed was a lot of kids were writing the speech balloons so small that you couldn't read the text.  I'll have to remember this issue if i ever do a comics lesson again so I can try to prevent it.  

Residency- Barton Open School- 5 Hours

It was an especially cool day.  A local politician came to the school and had an assembly for the students.  Several of the students were prepared with questions they wanted to ask him.  Some questions were generic, such as, "What made you decide to go into politics?" while other questions were specific such as, "Why were you against the Help Local Business bill?"  The politician did a good job at answering their questions in an approachable and respectful manner.  He stayed confident but never talked down to them.

During Film Studies, the students are preparing to make their own films.  They are doing this in groups.  They had a lot of time to collaborate with their group members about the project.  After that was done, they started watching a classic movie.

Week 15

Residency- Field Community School- 5 Hours 

The beginning class of 7th and 8th graders were working on an animation project.  They were making animations using and iPad app designed for stop-motion animation, and were drawing scenes onto a whiteboard and photographing it from above.  I think that's an innovative use of technology.  

Then, when the 5th and 6th grade classes started, it was time for me to teach my lesson on comic art.  I did this for two periods.  First I showed them my own work, and then I showed them Scott McCloud's way of describing panel transitions, similar to what I did for my lesson at Barton.  There were two main challenges with this: one was trying to get the kids to stay focused (the kids in the second class I taught got distracted especially easily); and steering the conversation in the direction I wanted to take it.  

After my presentation I let the kids get to work.  A lot of them were still in the process of choosing their story and articulating how they wanted it to look.  I walked around the room and listened to the students' ideas and sometimes gave my opinion but for the most part their ideas sounded fine so I let them roll with it.

Residency- Barton Open School- 5 Hours

At the beginning of the Language Arts classes, the teacher showed a clip from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  She showed it because it was relevant to the vocabulary word of the day.  Incorporating outside examples like this into the vocabulary is a good way to teach it because it puts it into context.  Also, it was a fun way to get the class started on a good beat, because who doesn't love Ferris Bueller?  

For all of Film Studies, the students finished watching a movie they'd started.  Since I didn't see the beginning of the movie, I didn't really know what was going on.  The students were quite invested in it, though, and kept audibly gasping at all the dramatic parts.  I think them doing this showed that they were engaged and invested into the class.   

Week 14

Residency- Barton Open School- 3 Hours 

The students had to present in small groups creative projects they made based on their outside reading material.  I remember them doing something this before.  Many students drew pictures based on their reading.  A couple of students made food based on their reading and shared the food with the class.  That was a lot of fun.  I always think it's beneficial when students have the chance to bring their own talents and interests into their assignments.  That way they can make something that's important to them and they're proud of.      

The students also prepared for a big class discussion based on The Pearl.  The question is whose "fault" it was the the Coyotitio, the baby, dies at the end of the book.  From what I could tell, the students were assigned which stance to take.  I'm on the fence over if I agree with this or not.  On one hand, I think that people should be allowed to express their true opinions.  On the other hand, sometimes taking a stance you don't agree with can be a good exercise in how to create an effective argument.  

Week 13

Residency- Field Community School- 3 Hours 

The students are finishing their clay projects they've been working on for awhile.  I enjoy seeing them finally completed, especially side-by-side with their partners (if they're working with a partner).  When the students were done, they had the chance to make another clay project.  It was a bowl, and there were handouts on how to do it.  It's good that the teacher left a "Plan B" project for the students who were done with their main project so they wouldn't have to sit around and waste time.  

After class I met with the teacher and we discussed the timeline for our upcoming lesson.  She is going to give the students a little bit of information about comics and do small activities with them to help prepare my bigger lesson.

(Thursday) Residency- Barton Open School- 3 Hours 

Today I taught my lesson for the three Language Arts class periods.  It went better as the day progressed, partly because the students needed time to warm up to me, but also because after time went on I gained a sense of what worked and what didn't work and could improve it from there.  My lesson centered on creating comics through studying panel transitions as explained in Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics.  I taught the students about the panel transitions, and then had them apply it to an example comic that I drew. 

When my lecture was over I set them free to draw their own comics based on The Pearl.  I went around the room and checked in with them and answered any questions that they had.  It was flattering to have them ask me questions because that shows that they trust that I know what I'm talking about.  I also enjoyed answering their questions and having these conversations with them because I always enjoy talking about comics.  Some of my favorite questions to answer were ones that I did not expect, but was able to find an answer to anyways.  Occasionally I would reference another comic artist they reminded me of and showed them examples using the Internet.   

(Friday) Residency- Barton Open School- 5 Hours 

After the word of the day and a vocabulary quiz, the students spent most of the day continuing the comics from yesterday.  So it was nice that I was there to continue helping.  Some students were further along than others, but nearly everyone had started their final draft.  Unlike yesterday, where the questions the students had for me were primarily about how they can best communicate their ideas, today a lot of the questions were "How do you draw a _______?"  This was a difficult question, of course, because I can't draw anything for them, but I helped them the best I could by explaining concepts such as that forms can be broken down into shapes, and that it helps a lot to be able to observe a subject if you can.

I stayed for the rest of the day, which is when Film Studies is taught.  Today was especially cool as there was a guest speaker talking about Alfred Hitchcock and the suspense genre.  He was clever in how he explained "suspense."  He turned off the lights and shushed everybody and peered out the window like something was out there, but didn't tell us what he was doing.  This made everybody go quiet, and he used that gimmick to explain that suspense means anticipation.  He then showed us scenes from a few different Hitchcock movies, including the shower scene from Psycho.  After each scene he asked the students if they noticed anything relevant to it.  He seemed well-versed in his knowledge of these films because he seemed to have an interesting response to everything the students said, and had a way of tying it all together in the end.  

Week 12

We had an interesting assignment for Experimental Comics.  We were to create a comic that is not a book or webpage.  So, I created a set of four die in which you roll them and whichever side they land on makes up the story in the end.  The biggest challenge was making sure the story made sense no matter what the outcome of the die was.  I needed to make sure the die were rolled in order, so I printed them on colored paper and assigned them to be rolled in "rainbow order" (the chronological sequence of colors from red to violet).  Since each panel effects the following one, I made it so they all had the same overarching theme, but the details were different, without referencing anything that happened before/after. 

The premise of the story went like this:       

1) A figure is going to create something on paper (a painting, a written letter, a song composition, etc.  These were six-sided die)

2) They explain what tools they are going to use to accomplish this (a crayon, stickers). Not all of it makes perfect sense, which is part of the comic's charm and humor.

3) A second figure steps in and looks at it.  The first figure responds somehow to them looking at it.

4) The second figure makes some sort of remark on the creation.  This panel had a unique amount of creative freedom because it was the last panel, therefore, didn't have to lead to another.

Comics are sometimes referred to as "sequential art" so this was an interesting exercise in how stories are broken down into sequences.

Week 11

In my class Painting: Water-Based Media, we've been working on the technical fundamentals of watercoloring all semester.  Most of this has been done through exercises and still life's.  Now, we finally have the chance to use our creativity and paint whatever subject matter we want.  I decided to work on a project I've had in my mind for a long time: I want to depict women acting out their daily morning rituals, such as grooming their hair.  My aim was for them to be quiet, intimate moments of everyday life.  

My project took a turn as I went on.  Originally, I intended for them to be of different women in different bathroom settings, but it ended up being the same woman.  Designing more than one person felt daunting, which is why I toned down my ambition, but ultimately, I like the way this turned out.  I think having one person doing different activities creates a narrative that's different from my original vision, but not in a bad way.  Showing her get out of the shower, then do her hair, then take her prescriptions, gives the feeling that time is passing.  It also shows one person's life deeply, rather than a few different people's lives shallowly.  The bathroom itself also turned out to be much vaguer than I originally imagined, so I decided to push that further and intentionally showed only the bare necessities of what's needed for the scene.  I think this leaves more to the imagination, and in turn, evokes a sense of uncertainty to the viewer.

In art making, not everything always goes as planned.  Although it's usually possible to reverse it by erasing or starting over, sometimes it's most interesting and fulfilling to go with the flow and see where it takes you.   

Week 10

Residency- Field Community School- 3 Hours

The students are continuing their projects on civil rights.  Like before, the students worked on their projects most of the day, so I went from table to table asking them to tell me about what they have so far.  A lot of the students were now working on their projects in teams, which was an aspect of the project I'd not been aware of until now.  Something I had trouble with was if the students were goofing off instead of working, it didn't give me a lot to talk to them about.

After my session there, I talked with the teacher about possibilities for an upcoming lesson.  We are thinking that I will teach a lesson in comics where the students will base their comics on folktales.  The teacher pulled out her calendar and walked me through what she had planned for the rest of the year, and what gets changed and pushed around due to unforeseen circumstances.  Being a teacher is a lot of planning. 

Residency- Barton Open School- 5 Hours

The students are a little more than halfway through reading The Pearl.  Like before, there were discussion questions regarding the book for them to answer within small groups.  Today, there wasn't much discussion as a whole class.  As much as I wanted to participate in their group discussions, I wasn't sure what to say because a lot of the questions were predictive questions and I've read the whole book. 

In order to acquire more hours, I asked the teacher if I could start staying for her film studies classes from here on out, and she agreed.  Right now they seem to be learning about film musicals.  During the duration of the class, she showed the students a small handful of different clips and would ask them to compare and contrast, but mostly compare.  Similar to how she teaches Language Arts, a lot of the learning seemed to be coming from the students answering questions, rather than her just lecturing and giving answers.      

Shadowing- Urban Arts Academy- 3 Hours 

When I walked in the first thing I saw was sheets of colored paper scattered around the floor.  As it turns out, this was part of the warm-up exercise.  The students were to play a real-world version of Candyland in which they are the pons moving across the board.  It was really cute.  

Today was Part 2 of the lesson from last week.  However, I was not able to make it last week as I was out of town.  While the students were working, I asked the teacher to give me context as to what the lesson was.  It was a painting lesson.  She said that last week the students had an assignment to create a still life using a palette knife as their only tool.  This week, the students had freedom in what they could paint and what they could use as supplies.  However, she encouraged the students to experiment and use the tools in ways they hadn't used them before.  I always think it's a good idea to set up lessons like this--where first you learn the basics of the craft, and then as time goes on you gain the freedom to be more creative.  As they say: You have to learn the rules before you can break them. 

For the entrepreneurship section, the artist gave advice on how to network your art through social media.  It was similar to what we've been talking about in my sophomore seminar class. One thing she said that I didn't know was that there are online tutorials on how to photograph your art well so it looks professional enough to post.  I will have to look at these tutorials as that is something I am trying to get better at.     

Week 9

Residency- Barton Open School- 3 Hours 

The students are now reading The Pearl.  They were given related discussion questions to ponder.  The first one the teacher asked, to the class as a whole, was what they would do if they suddenly had more money than they could imagine.  I noticed many of the students were saying the same types of things such as houses, cars, vacations, helping their families, charity; but there were also occasionally answers that were very different than all the rest, such as going to Mars.  I also noticed that the students seemed to be bouncing ideas off of each other.  Specifically, when one student had an idea that hadn't been said yet, the other students seemed to nod in agreement.

After reading a section as a class, the students were given more topic questions more specific to the content of the book.  These questions were discussed in small groups, and personal answers were written down in their notebooks. 

During the teacher's prep period, we planned the lesson I will be teaching.        

Week 8

Residency- Barton Open School- 3 Hours 

The highlight of today was the students, in groups, showed each other creative projects based on the books they chose to read.  It seemed to me like they were given a lot of artistic freedom in what their projects could be since all the projects were different from each other.  I could also tell which students put a lot of effort into their projects.  One student brought in a cake to share with the class because cake related to the book.  That stole the show.  However, I was most impressed with a student who made keys out of cardboard (because keys were relevant to the book) and had quotes from the book on the back.  I found that to be very creative and innovative. 

Once again, I joined the students in art class.  They were working on a watercolor project. This was perfect because I'm taking a watercolor class.  They were making paintings of galaxies, which is perfect for watercolor because all the colors flow into each other nicely.  I went around from table to table and asked the groups how they were doing.  Some seemed to be doing fine, but others not as much.  With those students, I would ask them leading questions such as what they were unhappy with, and how they were planning on changing it.  Usually, I had an idea in mind, but I would keep it to myself to see what they student would say.  Most of the time they had the same thought-process I did.

Week 7

Residency- Field Community School- 1 Hour

The 7th and 8th graders were on a field trip today, so I was only able to come for the hour of 5th and 6th graders.  

Last time I was here, the students during this hour looked at projects related to civil rights movements that happened in Minnesota.  During that, they took notes about what they learned.  Now, they are going to create art based upon it.  Their project is to create a picture that is complemented by a quote or a fact related to the subject matter. 

The teacher showed examples of what this may look like.  First, she showed a series of professional illustrations that had quotes near them.  She opened the class to talk about their interpretation of the quote and picture.  Some answers the students conjured were obvious, and others were less expected.  Asking for their opinions gives the students a chance to really think about and interpret the art.  It was interesting to hear their take on it.

Then, the teacher showed examples of student work from similar projects from the past.  This was done so the students could get a better feel for what was expected of them for this project.

After the presentation, they got to work coming up with ideas.  They're each required to come up with three ideas before truly starting their final product.  At MCAD, I have been called to do this, myself.  The first idea is not usually the best idea, and the teacher has told me in the past that she does this because kids that age usually go ahead and start with the first idea they have.  I don't think this is exclusive to kids that age because I know a lot of MCAD students who also benefit from coming up with several ideas before starting.

While the students were working, I went around to tables and asked the students about what ideas they had so far.  Most students had at least one idea started, some had two, but almost no one had three yet.  When communicating with the students, some students were more responsive than others.  One student in particular was quite eager to share his ideas with me.  He was even telling me things about civil rights that I didn't know.

After class, I talked with the teacher and asked her for some pointers on what to do with students who aren't being responsive.           

Residency- Barton Open School- 3 Hours

Today was a quieter day.  The students spent the majority of the day working on book reports they'd been writing.  I spent some of the time reading The Pearl,  which is a John Steinbeck book I'm going to later on base an arts-infused lesson on.

It was also history day, meaning the students displayed history projects that they'd worked for weeks on.  The teacher suggested that I go take a look at them.  Unlike the history projects at Field, which were strictly about civil rights, this was about all different times and events of history.  Some of which were about events that I never saw in history books growing up, such as Hugh Hefner being exposed for being immoral.

During the last period, I asked the teacher if I could help some of the students with their essays since that's what she was doing.  In retrospect, I should have asked sooner so I could get more practice in interacting with the students.  She paired me with a student to help.  When there was basic grammatical errors in his writing I would fix those and remind him of the rules of grammar.  Other times, though, his writing needed improvement regarding sentence structure and coherency.  When that occurred, instead of telling him how to fix it, I would tell him why the sentence was confusing and ask him if he could come up with a better alternative based on the feedback I gave.  I figured this was a good idea because it would challenge him to think more about his essay on his own terms, which would be more beneficial to his learning.     

Week 6

Residency-- Barton Open School-- 3 Hours 

Most of the day was spent reading and discussing the short story by Leo Tolstoy, How Much Land Does A Man Need?  The lesson was opened by having the students share their opinions on that question within small groups.  I was sitting with a group and listened to the students' opinions.  Occasionally, I tried to expand the conversation by asking them questions about what they were saying in order to get them to further elaborate.  However, they sometimes would respond by saying "I don't know" or otherwise trying to back out of their idea.  If this happens again in the future, I will try to revert them back to their thought process by taking part of what they were saying and using it in an encouraging way.  After having this discussion in small groups, we joined back together as a class and students told the entire class their opinion, while the teacher helped them elaborate.  Then, the story was read.  I think having a discussion around the theme of the story is helpful in students engaging with it.  First, they established their opinions.  Then, perhaps through the story, their opinions will change or evolve, but establishing their opinion first will make the shift in perception more apparent.

The teacher, who had talked with the school's art teacher, offered to let me sit in on an art class that day, which I accepted.  The students there were practicing observational drawing by drawing small mannequins.  I specifically helped one student because his dominant hand was broken and had to draw with his nondominant hand.  He seemed to get frustrated easily because he used his eraser a lot.  I told him not to get too frustrated with how it looked on account that he was using his nondominant hand, which is difficult.  I also suggested we tape the paper down to the table so it wouldn't slide around so much, which seemed to help.  However, I still had challenges trying to teach him.  He tended to try to draw large parts of the mannequin all at once, instead of breaking them down into smaller parts and drawing those individually, which resulted in it looking inaccurate.  This is a common mistake in novel artists.  I tried to explain to him the process of visually breaking down a piece, and regurgitated the art cliche, "Draw what you see, not what you know."  But, he was unresponsive to this.  So, I tried a new approach where I asked him to explain to me what he was seeing.  At first, he didn't seem to know what I meant, so I rephrased my questions to help him understand better.  He then seemed to grasp it and was describing the breakdowns and shapes of the mannequins quite well.  Once I felt like he understood what he was seeing, told him to start drawing again.  However, he still continued to draw like he had been in the beginning.  Later, the teacher came over and talked to him about the same concepts I had talked with him about, but he was not responsive to her, either.  If anything, this exchange helped me practice different ways I can phrase certain ideas to reach different people.  

Shadowing-- Urban Arts Academy-- 3 Hours 

The warm-up activity went like this: two people went back-to-back.  One person had an image in their hand and had to verbally describe the image to the other person, who could not see it.  The other person was to draw what was being described.  The goal was to get the drawing to look as close to the original image as possible.  I've done this exercise before in a writing class and think it's a good exercise in communication.  Not only do you have to describe something in words, but you have to do it in a way that someone else can understand.

The same hip-hop teacher from last week was here again this week.  After doing stretches, he taught by demonstrating first and having the students imitate him.  This week the dance moves seemed slightly more advanced than last week, which makes sense because that's how one grows as a learner and maintains interest in the subject.  Something really important the instructor did was talk about safety.  He showed the students how to do a maneuver slowly enough that they could see, and talked about common mistakes within it that can be harmful.  It's good that he kept their safety in mind and reminded them to be smart about what they're doing and not to get too caught up in trying to learn immediately or looking flashy. 

Week 5

Residency- Field Community School- 3 Hours

The 7th and 8th graders continued to work on their pincushion projects.  I noticed how much progress the students have made.  The last time I was in, most of the students were cutting out the preliminary shapes.  Today, most of the pincushions looked like the animals they are supposed to depict, with just some final finishing touches to go.  Nonetheless, some students were further ahead than others.  I went around and asked some of the students to tell me about their projects.  One person was making a stingray and was almost finished, one person was making an elephant and showed me which pieces were going to be what.  One person was creating a pincushion based on a fictional kind of monster she and her brother made up.  

One way I helped was by taping rubrics to each table so the students would remember the parameters they needed to follow.  I think having a reminder close by is a good idea so they don't get deep into a project only to find that it's insufficient once it's too late.

These students have to give each other feedback on their projects.  To do this, they each have a sheet in which they have to find three peers and have their peers write down feedback and sign it.  The teacher encouraged me to help students with that, possibly being one of the people to give them feedback.  She warned me that middle schoolers tend to give vague feedback such as, "It looks cool" rather than something constructive.  I also watched her give feedback to one of the students.  At MCAD, when we give feedback during class, we usually display our art for our classmates and listen to what they have to say.  However, this interaction between the teacher and the student felt more like a conversation, with the teacher asking questions, listening to the student's answers, and commenting on specific features of the pincushion.      

The best part of the day was the third hour with the 5th and 6th graders.  Instead of a normal day, we left the classroom and looked at some arts-integrated history projects done by other students.  All the projects were related to civil rights in Minneapolis.  Civil rights movements are one of my favorite parts of history, so this was quite the treat for me.  I learned a lot, including that Field used to be an all-black school.  Normally when I hear of civil rights, I think of southern states, so this was an important reminder that this was not just a southern issue, it was a national one.  

Shadowing- Urban Arts Academy- 3 Hours 

The first warm-up activity today was to hold a card in front of our forehead, without looking at it.  Each card had a different number on it.  The object was to line ourselves up in numerical order without speaking to each other.  We were successful.  The second activity was to play "the floor is made of lava" but with the goal of grabbing a scrap of paper that was placed across the room in a challenging spot.  I think these were both good activities for warming up because they call for creative and logical thinking.  

Our guest artist of the day was a hip-hop dancer.  We went into the building's gym and he did some basic warm-ups and stretches with the students.  (I have some disabilities in my legs, so I knew I wouldn't be able to do this as easily as everybody else, so I observed the lesson without actively participating.)  The instructor spent the majority of the lesson demonstrating dance moves and have the students mimic what he was doing.  This combines learning by observation with learning by doing.  Eventually, the instructor brought out a mat and showed some more complex dance moves.  This time, though, he had every student do it one-by-one so he could give them feedback.  Individual feedback is important because everyone is different and therefore will have different issues that need to be addressed.  Finally, the session was concluded by playing music and giving the students a chance to dance however they want and show off what they know.  It's important to have fun and be proud of your talents.

Back in the classroom, there was a discussion on different career paths students can go into with a dance background.  Some seemed obvious, like dance teacher or choreographer.  Others, I had never heard of or never thought about.  For example, a dancer would also make for a good costume designer because they understand how the body moves and contorts.  There's also such thing as dance therapy.  I'd heard of different forms of therapy such as art therapy and music therapy, but never dance therapy.  What I think is most interesting about it is it can be either a form of physical therapy or mental/emotional therapy.          

Week 4

Residency- Barton Open School- 1 Hour

It was primarily a work day for the students.  They are finishing up creative projects based on a text they read.  I remember that when I was in school, creative projects were my favorite part of the day.  Since I am a creative person, it gave me the opportunity to exercise my talents and interests.  Plus, I believe it's a good teaching method as it gives the students the voice to express their classwork as they see fit.  There was a wide range of different projects going on.  Some students were drawing and painting, some were writing, some were on the computer.  Since creative projects are so beneficial, giving students a lot of creative freedom is important.

I noticed how good the teacher was at classroom management.  Since the students were so engrossed with their projects, it would be hard for them to keep an eye on the clock the whole time.  (And their attention should be on their projects anyways)  So the teacher made sure to give the students a fair warning of how much time was left in class so they would know when to start cleaning up.  She seemed to do this according to the mediums the students were using.  For example, she warned the kids who were painting a little bit before the kids using computers, because painting takes longer to clean up.  She also reminded the students of what all their clean-up tasks would entail so they wouldn't forget all they had to do.

After class I talked with my teacher more about a possible lesson plan for me to conduct.  We're thinking I will show the students how to make comics that are adaptations of a John Steinbeck book they are going to read soon.  In order to prepare for the lesson, I must now read the book myself. 

Week 3

Residency- Field Community School- 3 Hours

It was my first day of residency in a visual arts classroom.  I stayed for three periods: two classes for 7th & 8th graders, and one class for 5th and 6th.  

At the start of each of class, the teacher introduced me to the students.  She told them who I was, why I was there, and that I'm studying Comic Art.  She also told them that they're free to ask me any questions about what it's like to study art, particularly comics.  One student took this opportunity and asked me a few questions about the type of comics I do.  She then told me that she draws comics sometimes, too.  I was glad to be able to connect with this person over this.  It makes me wonder if someday she'll be an MCAD Comic Art student.

The 7th and 8th graders were in the midst of a sewing project that involves making pincushions that look like animals.  Sewing is not my specialty, but I was still available to help with other aspects of the project, such as preliminary drawings.  Most students used templates, but they didn't have to.  One student wanted to make hers of a stingray and therefore had to conceive her own design.  She showed it to me and the teacher, and we both agreed it looked good and functional.

The teacher reviewed some basic art principles with the students.  She did this by holding up an example pincushion and asking the students about its specific characteristics.  For example, one of its eyes was big, and there other was small, so that could be seen as an example of contrast. I think it's important that she was asking the students instead of just telling them.  By asking, it allows that students to think critically and turns the learning into an experience.  Sometimes, though, she would suggest the possibility that her pincushion didn't have the characteristic they were talking about.  I wouldn't have expected her to do that, but agree that it's important to learn when to keep looking versus when to stop looking.  It's also not useful to force students to try to find something that isn't there.

I also helped by cutting fabric into smaller pieces that would be more managable for the students.  

The 5th & 6th graders were doing a painting project.  It's a step-by-step project in which they will ultimately find a quote about kindness and decoratively place that quote over a color gradient.  Today they were making the gradient.  Right now I'm taking a watercoloring class at MCAD, and we just barely learned how to made gradients, so I was surprised to have the opportunity to help teach something I just barely learned.  I watched the students do this, but most of them caught on quickly and did not need a lot of extra help.  Regardless, the paintings ended up coming out looking different.  Some of them, the color shift was smooth, while others looked striped.  Each way to do it presents a pleasing quality that is unique to its creator, and will make the projects look more interesting and diverse once they are all finished.    

Week 2

Shadowing- Urban Arts Academy- 3 Hours

The day started by the students doing a warm-up activity in which they looked for hidden cards around the room.  The cards had "get-to-know-you" questions on them.  When all the cards were found, everyone gathered in a circle and answered the questions on the cards that they had found.  This was a simple way to break the ice as well as get their brains moving to prepare for the main event.

The teaching artist today specialized in spoken word.  His concentrate mainly seemed to be in poetry writing and reading, but he mentioned that spoken word applies to other art forms such as stand-up comedy and theater.  He showed a few examples of talented poets reading their work.  The examples contrasted each other--one poem was funny while another poem was serious.  Doing this demonstrated that there is not one "way" or "style" to approach this--there is a lot of creative freedom.  

Then the students were off to work.  Their activity was to make a poem by finding newspaper articles and blacking out certain words, leaving the unmarked words as the poem.  I think it was a good idea for the artist to give context and examples as an introduction to the lesson before they started.  

When the students were done, they had the chance to read their poems out loud.  I believe that art is a form of communication and expression, therefore the chance to share art is always important.  The visiting teacher and main instructor each did the activity utilizing the comics section, which was interesting to me as a comic artist and reminded me of something that I'm doing for one of my classes.  

The next activity the students did was an exercise in teamwork.  They split up into two teams, received notecards, and competed to build a tower that was taller than their opponent's.  There were a few rounds, and each round had added restrictions, such as, in the first round nobody was allowed to talk, in the next round one person was allowed to talk but only one person was allowed to use the tape, etc.  Having set restrictions like these can enhance creative thinking because it challenges one to work around obstacles and solve problems in less-obvious ways.

Week 1

Residency- Barton Open School- 1 Hour 

Today was my first day residing in a Language Arts classroom.  Since it's near the end of the term for the students, there was a vocabulary review game scheduled.

The class period started out with "Word of the day," meaning a new vocabulary word being taught to them.  The word was "cache."  After hearing the meaning of the word, (which means a collection of items that's usually hidden) the teacher asked the students what kinds of items they've ever collected.  Several students were eager to answer.  Asking the students this was beneficial to their learning of the word because it made the word seem more personal to them.  When a lesson becomes personal, it feels more relevant and important to know.  Coming up with different examples of the word in context also better ingrains the meaning of the word into their memories.  

After that, we went right into the review game.  It was Jeopardy-style, with different categories, and each "question" was the word's definition, and it was up to the students to figure out the matching vocabulary word.  The students were split up into teams, and the teacher allowed me to participate by joining a team.  I couldn't be of much help, though, since I don't know the exact words they'd been studying, but at one point I did happen to guess the correct word, "enigma," just because it came to mind as a possible match for the definition.

This exercise was a review, not a lesson.  Most of the students seemed to know their vocabulary adequately, but this exercise enabled them to have a bit of extra support when needed. While the end-goal is to know this vocabulary on their own, but during the review-stage of their learning, having a bit more help is still appropriate.  

After class, the teacher and I discussed possibilities for lessons I could do.  We had discussed before doing something that relates to social justice, so we talked about that once more.  We also got the idea for me to do a lesson that relates to the John Steinbeck book the students will be reading, such as instructing them on how to do a visual adapatation.   

Pre-Start

One of my two teaching placements will be in a language arts classroom for 7th and 8th graders at Barton Open School.  The class is going to be focusing on social justice topics, therefore my knowledge of art and design can be incorporated into a lesson on how to use visual imagery to spread ideas. 

My other placement is in a visual arts classroom at Field Community School, working with a similar age group.  The teacher is hoping I can lead a lesson on Comics, my field of study.

For my shadowing position, I will be observing a weekend program for high schoolers at Urban Arts Academy.  

I enjoy working with adolescents and look forward to what will come.