Monday: Today was the big day. The second semester started, and I took charge of the first two periods, the periods I will be teaching, Drawing and Art 1. I made sure to leave for Lincoln a little early, so I could set up and prepared.
When I arrived in my classroom, the computer was gone, so I couldn’t get all ready. And the student Information Sheets were not to be seen, and Heather had said that she would get copies of them for today…..
About 10-15 minutes later Heather came in with the computer. It took awhile to get it all set up, but I was able to do it just before the students were all there and class started.
Apparently around half of my Drawing students are Special Ed. students. This should provide a lot of challenge for me. And my expectations might not be able to be as high as they are now.
I had prepared a PowerPoint presentation of what we were going to cover for the day (What the classes were about, who I am, classroom expectations, lab fee, how to succeed in the class, and what to do now). Going over all of that with the classes went more quickly than I had expected. So after having the students complete their information sheets, I improvised. I had been sent a fascinating You Tube video of a woman drawing in sand with her hands. So I introduced the connection of the video with the class (Drawing – you don’t need fancy drawing equipment to draw, and drawing can elicite powerful emotions) (Art 1 – What do you think of when you think of art? What media/materials do you think of?). I showed the video which was around 7-8 minutes long. Both classes watched with great attention, for the most part.
After the video I asked told the students that they were going to draw for me. I had both classes stand up, bend at the waist, and swing their arms in little circles to help them relax. Most students did this, but a few only got as far as the standing part before I think they felt stupid. Then I demonstrated blind contour drawing, a drawing warm-up, to both classes. I asked if any of the students would volunteer to model for me. A boy volunteered in the Drawing class, and a girl was chosen for the Art 1 class when no one volunteered. I talked them through the process as I demonstrated. Mine didn’t look great, and I emphasized the fact that this is ok. I was still getting a warm up. I released them to draw the person across from them.
There was some giggling, and I think it was good to break the ice this way. I walked around, commenting and observing. Some of the students did a great job, and I said so, saying that they should do really well in the class because they are already doing better than the teacher! This got a couple of smiles.
Then I had the classes draw what they think they are best at drawing. I had them turn this in at the end of the period.
One girl in the Art 1 class had her drawing face down. I flipped it over to see it, as she told me it wasn’t good. It was great! I told her that, and she said that it isn’t as good as her normal. She said that tomorrow she’ll bring in her sketchbook for me to see her artwork. I showed her some of my art, and she seemed to like it.
One boy was going to be in the Drawing class, and he seemed really nice and good at and interested in art. But he came back during the Art 1 class, saying that his schedule was changed. He won’t be in Drawing (I was disappointed.), but he wants to be a T.A. for the Art 1 class, second period. So I will at least get to interact with him some more.
I feel good about the first day. I need to remember to not be too friendly right off. I don’t want to lose the authority figure status.
Wednesday: Today I felt a little more in control of my classes. There are a couple of students that I definitely need to stay on top of (at this point), but I feel like I did a good job with that today. I told the two friends that they need to stay on task or I will be separating them, so they can get their work done. They did a decent job today staying focused.
A girl came in with a covering (scarf) on her head. Students are not supposed to have things on their heads. This girl is very quiet and morose-seeming. And I couldn’t tell if it was an Islamic head covering. I talked to Heather about it, and she said that it might be so. I don’t want to let a student break the school rule, but I also don’t want to offend someone. Heather is planning to talk to someone who would know the situation to find out.
Several new students showed up for the Art 1 class. Apparently students need to show up in the first 3 days, or they are dropped. A few of the students seemed pretty amiable. One girl was very curt and made no apologies about not wanting to be in the class. I reacted by asking if she wanted a passing grade. She said that she will get that if she does stuff in the class. After telling her what the other students were working on, I left her alone. I had tried talking to her, and that had no visible benefit. She has a huge chip on her shoulder.
One boy was just sitting. I asked him what he was doing, that he should be working. He replied that he was thinking. I said that it was good to think, but that he needs to act now. I told him that by the end of the period he needed to have some progress made on his folder design. I said that I would be back in 10 minutes to see his progress. I came back and there was a little bit of drawing on his folder. I will continue to attempt to keep him on task, but he needs to want it too to be successful in the long-term. We’ll see how he does. He is reminiscent of students that sat and didn’t do much last semester. But maybe he’ll surprise me.
At CHS the students in Art A are continuing to work collaboratively on their clay sculptures. Some students are very enthusiastic about the project, and others hate it. It’s really interesting to see the contrast. But clay isn’t everybody’s forte.
Thursday: Today I introduced the Drawing and Art 1 classes to the journal (opening activity) process. I had a mock image and information on the SMART Board, and we walked through the first questions together. In the Art 1 class I gave out the syllabus and cover letter because I won’t be there for the whole period tomorrow. Tomorrow I will give the syllabus to the Drawing class.
The classes seem to be shaping up well at this point. The girl that was terribly disrespectful in the Art 1 class was not here today. That was a relief. But if she had been here I would have recommended that she fill in a class switch form, as today was the last day to fill one of them in and to turn them in. I hope that I will still be able to do this with her at a later date.
There were a couple of students that were finished with their folders, so I told them to work on classwork for other classes. One boy had his head down, so I told him to come over and talk to me. I told him that I would find work for him to do since he wasn’t doing anything productive. Then he suggested that instead he could work on homework for other classes. I said that would be fine. I told him if he was unproductive again I would make a mess, so there would be something for him to do for me. He got to work (or at least appeared to).
I am attempting to get around to everyone and talk to them about some aspect of their lives or about their artwork. Some students have responded warmly and eager to talk, and others are very closed. One of the most closed students is the girl that wears a head covering. She sits by herself too. I don’t know if I will be able to break through or not. I’ll try.
Today I had to go to CHS to prepare for and attend the Spring Honor Society Induction Ceremony. Tuesday we had a meeting of the officers to talk about the rest of the school year and the preparation for the Induction Ceremony. Today 3 students were inducted into the group.
Friday: Today was pretty low-key at Lincoln. A lot of my students were absent! No new material was covered today; instead the students continued working on their folders. For the Drawing class it will probably be due at the end of Monday’s class period, and for the Art 1 class I think it will be due Tuesday after class.
One thing that made me sort of happy and possibly encouraged happened when I told the Art 1 class that I would be leaving around 15 minutes into the period, and Ms. Conklin would be in charge when I left. One or two of the students groaned or sounded sad. I don’t know if that’s a good sign or a bad one, but I was a little secretly pleased.
At Covenant it was a full day for both Art A and Art B. Sketchbooks were due at the beginning of class. Then the students completed their opening activity. Then we did a Freeze Frame (drawing what is paused on the t.v. screen). Then the students were released to work on their projects.
Good progress is being made on the sculptures. I haven’t given a solid due date because clay is hard to determine. I am thinking it will be due sometime next week. A couple of groups are closer to finishing than others, and I will find more for them to do if they finish before the due date arrives. I have told them this. I am thinking of having them draw large images of the continents where the sculptures are. This will be a nice detail for the art show in May.
Week: This week has been an encouragement to me. I had imagined nightmare classes full of disrespectful students. And there have been a few students that fit that description. But, overall, the new Lincoln classes have been decent. There are students that I need to monitor more to make sure they are doing what they should. And there are some students that need special attention and consideration, but this week has been a lot better and easier than I had imagined. I am attempting to make plans for each week the weekend before. This helps me feel prepared and organized.


























