January 4, 2016
I arrived at the elementary school at 8:40am to meet the teacher I will be shadowing for the next two weeks at 8:45am. I had told her prior that I would find my way to the art room and come to her.
It was Ms. Isenberg’s Prep Day. She uses this day (Day 2 on the 8 day cycle) to prepare for this week’s classes. Though it is her day off from classes, Ms. Isenberg must still be there for the school day. This week she has every grade level, K-5. The Kindergarteners use cardboard stamps and ink to create a house structure. First graders create a self-portrait. Second grade, this week they make colorful pieces of paper they paint on that they will use for next week’s landscape collage. I didn’t help with third grade prep nor did I get to observe the third grade. And fifth graders are going to be assigned to do a collage that will go into the next week.
I helped prepare for the kindergarten, first grade, and second grade lessons. For kindergarten I cut out the rest of the cardboard stamps needed. First grade, I created head cutout samples for kids to trace from. And second grade, I prepared a significant amount of tan paint for students.
When I had told Ms. Isenberg that I needed to get home she had me meet with the principal, Mrs. Heilig. We had a 15min discussion on what class I will be teaching and at this time we were looking at the first group of forth graders that had art tomorrow or the fifth graders. At this point, it was a matter of figuring out teacher’s schedules and what students would work best with my practice, animation.