3/1/2021- reflecting
Reflecting on my first eight week placement, I am celebrating what I learned and looking ahead to decide what I will carry with me and what I will need to improve on. This is especially true as I transition from elementary school to high school- very different worlds. As I left Columbian, I was reminded of the importance of relationships. The students were sad to see me go, which proves that I had a true relationship with them. Looking back this is what got the students so excited to learn with me. I am proud of the relationship building I invested in. I prepared art lessons for them that were personal, passionate, and diverse. They were well planned out, especially as the weeks went on. I got into the practice of being well prepared by anticipating misconceptions, deciding on time management, and choosing lessons that reflected students current skills and prior knowledge. All of these things are working well. In the future, I want to learn to translate these lessons to an older crowd as I move onto my next eight week placement at the high school.
As an individual, these experiences prove to myself that I am growing in my teaching abilities as well as my confidence in these abilities. These experiences also affirm that I am in the right field, as I feel thoroughly rewarded by the experiences that I went through. Even when times were tough and I experienced frustration or confusion, I wanted to keep going. The students smiles were enough to make every challenge worth it. The knowledge and confidence that I now possess will serve me well in my career.
As a future art teacher I want to remember the importance of relationship building and applying art theories to create lessons that engage my students. I think this all goes back to where you invest your time as a teacher, and these two things will be at the top of my priority list. Maybe that means spending a few more minutes talking to a student after class, or maybe it means making a point to read up on the latest art theories once a month. There are many ways to be intentional about incorporating these two priorities into my practice. They work together beautifully, at least at the elementary level. I am excited to try out what I have learned with a different age group and see how this transforms my perspective.
As an individual, these experiences prove to myself that I am growing in my teaching abilities as well as my confidence in these abilities. These experiences also affirm that I am in the right field, as I feel thoroughly rewarded by the experiences that I went through. Even when times were tough and I experienced frustration or confusion, I wanted to keep going. The students smiles were enough to make every challenge worth it. The knowledge and confidence that I now possess will serve me well in my career.
As a future art teacher I want to remember the importance of relationship building and applying art theories to create lessons that engage my students. I think this all goes back to where you invest your time as a teacher, and these two things will be at the top of my priority list. Maybe that means spending a few more minutes talking to a student after class, or maybe it means making a point to read up on the latest art theories once a month. There are many ways to be intentional about incorporating these two priorities into my practice. They work together beautifully, at least at the elementary level. I am excited to try out what I have learned with a different age group and see how this transforms my perspective.