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.