Journal Entries
JOURNAL ENTRY 1
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
The first class was filled with a multitude of unknowns and a personal goal of mine was to learn names and gain just some general notions of my students. We showed up to class half an hour early and a student was already waiting-Tyler. As students trickled in, we quickly discovered that everyone knew each other and that this is a highly anticipated and esteemed time of everyone’s day-it was exciting to have this positive and supportive energy. We started of with writing our names on name tags and on our gallery plates and everyone was given a small ball of clay to create something that would be added to our cumulative class mascot. With introductions, and clay pieces stuck into a Styrofoam cup to makeup our class mascot, we informed our students that class was going to be exploratory and free. There were 5 stations: 2 clay stations, a tinker toy/wire/aluminum foil station, a Styrofoam and pipe cleaner station, and a paper mache station. We emphasized that students had the freedom to stay at any station for however long they wanted and we explained that this could mean that they tried every station or that they stay at one for the entirety of the work time. This inherently worked as a style of differentiated instruction with all of the teachers circulating the room and constantly working with artists on a one on one basis. And we had students across the board. Kelsey and Tyler worked at the same station the entire time while Heidi and Ashley were drifters and explored all media. It was great to move around and sit with artists for a period and talk to them about what they were doing and why or what they had worked on earlier in class. Sometimes I wouldn’t say anything at all but rather just observe what they were doing and see how they responded to obstacles. The last ten minutes of class were spent “gallery walking” our projects and sharing out what we had discovered from the class. We asked questions like “how did you get that?”, “what did you do?”, and “why did you decide to do that?”
INTERPRETATION/ CONTENT MEANING:
Overall students were very engaged. We capitalized on our idea bubble brainstorming crutch and we were able to recall during the gallery walk some of the ideas that had come out of today and how artists pulled from and built on these ideas. The only true task we asked of our students was to partake and make and that they did.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
My biggest personal lesson gained from today was some generalities concerning my students i.e. I gained insight to Kelsey’s working tendencies and process and I learned she is highly productive and easily agitated if her productivity is interrupted by others. I also picked up on some nonverbal cues that my students would put off i.e. I noted Kelsey’s agitation via body language when Ashley would interrupt her-this allowed me to mitigate and diffuse the situation before it escalated. I think this kind of observation and resolution will be helpful in my own classroom one day and help in the productivity of the room as whole.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Freedom was successful in this situation but Allison also cautioned us that in more instructive lessons we will have to be certain to walk artist through process with very specific and informative steps. Moving forward, we are getting a little more narrow in our project and their are absolutely steps that everyone will be doing and we want to communicate those in the most effective and inclusive way possible. While I did gain insight to how some of our students like to work, I think it is important to not definitively adhere them to a specific process yet because I may be selling them short i.e. I know that Kelsey likes to work independently but if I take this information and move forward to enable her to work alone, am I robbing her of a growing experience in encouraging/forcing her to work in a collaborative setting? I think in this way I still want to leave a moderate amount of doors open moving forward.
JOURNAL ENTRY 2
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
This second class was definitely a building on the prior class. Some concepts we carried out was reintroducing our collaborative class mascot. We also reintroduced our idea bubble chart and encouraged artists to share ideations. Another aspect we chose to carry out from last week was stations: they had offered fluidity for artists that craved change but also allowed for students to carry on working on whatever was inspiring them for the time being. An overarching idea we introduced to artists was the idea of process and how artists sometimes work on multiple projects at one time. We challenged artists to complete three tasks in class: 1. Paper mache balloons (that would next week be turned into mock air balloons) 2. Work on a mobile-decorating it in anyway they wanted and 3. Vocalize their exploration on their mobile via a class gallery walk at the end of our time together. It was great to gain further understanding of our students and how they worked. Jared really thrived in paper macheing his balloon-Angela challenged him to really consider his placement of newspaper strips on the balloon and he showed a significant positive shift in his level of engagement from last class. Also, Julie was able to get him to partake in the gallery walk-another development since last week. Ashlee was the only artist who kind of struggled with a shift of working on two projects-she kind of got stuck on the paper mache side of the room and didn’t account for enough time to work on mobile-I try to encourage her with cues like, “we’re more than half way through class, let’s maybe consider moving to our mobile” but she would always respond with compromises like “right after this balloon; I just wanna finish this balloon.” Tyler really thrived in this class-he carried over ideation from last week and incorporated his crestation into his mobile exemplifying to the class the value of integrating personal interest into class projects. He also included words in his piece and elaborated on these verbally in gallery walk time. He also served as an example of the theme of “process” for the day. He illustrated the value in capitalizing on the continuation of projects and the rewards of investing in a piece.
INTERPRETATION/CONTENT MEANING:
Something gained from this experience was the value in knowing students and how they transition. A happy accident was placing the paper mache station at Kelsee’s table. I think had we had her work on her mobile first, she could have become committed to her process much like Ashlee did.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
It was great to see first-hand the benefits of expeditionary learning in the case of Tyler-we gave him the freedom to run with what he was passionate and not only did he go above and beyond, but it would have been so difficult and nearly impossible to acquire that same level of investment and engagement with a canned and restricting assignment. I’m eager to see how concepts of “process” and the value in this manner of working translate to next week.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Moving forward I would be more diligent and persistent with giving artists cues to time management. i.e. “we are halfway through class, what do you want to have done by the end of class and are you putting yourself in a position to make that goal?” Also, reminding students how much time until gallery walk so they can spend some time reflecting on comments they might want to make on pieces-both their own and their peers’.
JOURNAL ENTRY 3
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
In this class we proceeded with creating air balloons out of the balloons we had paper mached last week. The class was supplemented with smaller, individually chosen and driven projects inspired by things found in the sky/air. We prefaced class with introducing a new idea bubble chart. The central idea was sky/air and we asked artists to contribute a couple ideas of things found in the sky. We related this back to the mobiles made last week by displaying some images from last class. This was great because we were able to pay homage and take note of artist’s work which instilled pride as well as building on themes of movement and air that were brought up by the mobile project. We also talked about the continuations of project and how Tyler did this with his sea creature mobile and how now Heidi and Lee Anne were doing this with their transition from mobile to air balloon. We also talked about what an installation piece was and we incorporated our class mascot as an example of a collaborative piece tying together concepts of a collaborative installation, which we were working on this week. Lee Anne was the first to arrive to class, armed with tissue paper she had brought from home in preparation for the project of decorating our air balloons. Heidi continued her themes of roses from last week on her mobile and covered her balloon in pink paint. Jim decorated his balloon and explored some ideas of wind and it’s relevance to our air/sky theme for the day. That day had been windy too so it was great to see Jim tying in observations from “real life” into the classroom and the installation. Jim also contributed a sky diver to the installation. Chris worked on his balloon as well as some paper airplanes. But one of my personal biggest break-throughs was getting to work with Camden and his exploration of kites. It all started when Camden was playing with a spool of yarn. I would hold the spool and he would pull on the yarn running across the room and I told him it was a lot like a spool for when you fly a kite from here, he went to one of the stations to make a foam kite and attached a string. We started off by flying the kite around the room but proceeded to make our way outside and “fly” the kite around outside. A turning point was when I started singing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins. Camden would run holding the kite high above his head and when I stopped singing he would lose interest but the second I started back up he was instantly engaged again. When we were running around I would sometimes ask “what is the kite doing?”, “What is the string doing?”, and “How does it work?”. When we went back to the room I challenged Camden to add more things to his kite for the next time we went outside. We ended class by sitting around the collaborative installation and treating it like a gallery walk by asking each individual artist to comment on what they had contributed and what inspired them.
INTERPRETATION/ CONTENT MEANING:
Some overarching understanding I gained from the class was how Heidi and Lee Anne exhibited carry-over interest from class to class. I also learned that both Chris and Jim work quickly through class assignments and will generally due smaller/less time-consuming mini projects rather than a single larger one. But a huge realization was really capitalizing on Camden’s mobility and using that to further his exploration rather than labeling it as an issue or obstacle.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Getting to run around with Camden was a high point for me in this class so far. I would carry the string and he would carry the kite and singing at the top of my lungs and laughing-all while promoting thoughtfulness and exploration and utility and getting to see this translate to adjustments he made on the kite when we came back into class was a truly incredible moment. It really brought to light to me just how differently students need to be inspired and “led” in a sense. If I had stifled Camden’s movement around the room (as I have done in past classes) we never would have gone on that venture and would have missed out on some really productive class time.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Camden seems to exhibit more kinesthetic and auditory tendencies. I was amazed to see how something as simple as a melody completely changed his level of engagement. Moving forward I want to see how I can continue to use auditory supplements in lessons to engage him. On a broader scale, moving into my own future classroom, I want to be sure to engage other learning styles and other senses. I could maybe achieve this by playing music in the room and/or allowing students to listen to their music on their headphones. I would also encourage physical movement around the room for those students that need that-I could maybe incorporate this by encouraging them to go on “walk-abouts” and examine what their peers are working on.
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
The first class was filled with a multitude of unknowns and a personal goal of mine was to learn names and gain just some general notions of my students. We showed up to class half an hour early and a student was already waiting-Tyler. As students trickled in, we quickly discovered that everyone knew each other and that this is a highly anticipated and esteemed time of everyone’s day-it was exciting to have this positive and supportive energy. We started of with writing our names on name tags and on our gallery plates and everyone was given a small ball of clay to create something that would be added to our cumulative class mascot. With introductions, and clay pieces stuck into a Styrofoam cup to makeup our class mascot, we informed our students that class was going to be exploratory and free. There were 5 stations: 2 clay stations, a tinker toy/wire/aluminum foil station, a Styrofoam and pipe cleaner station, and a paper mache station. We emphasized that students had the freedom to stay at any station for however long they wanted and we explained that this could mean that they tried every station or that they stay at one for the entirety of the work time. This inherently worked as a style of differentiated instruction with all of the teachers circulating the room and constantly working with artists on a one on one basis. And we had students across the board. Kelsey and Tyler worked at the same station the entire time while Heidi and Ashley were drifters and explored all media. It was great to move around and sit with artists for a period and talk to them about what they were doing and why or what they had worked on earlier in class. Sometimes I wouldn’t say anything at all but rather just observe what they were doing and see how they responded to obstacles. The last ten minutes of class were spent “gallery walking” our projects and sharing out what we had discovered from the class. We asked questions like “how did you get that?”, “what did you do?”, and “why did you decide to do that?”
INTERPRETATION/ CONTENT MEANING:
Overall students were very engaged. We capitalized on our idea bubble brainstorming crutch and we were able to recall during the gallery walk some of the ideas that had come out of today and how artists pulled from and built on these ideas. The only true task we asked of our students was to partake and make and that they did.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
My biggest personal lesson gained from today was some generalities concerning my students i.e. I gained insight to Kelsey’s working tendencies and process and I learned she is highly productive and easily agitated if her productivity is interrupted by others. I also picked up on some nonverbal cues that my students would put off i.e. I noted Kelsey’s agitation via body language when Ashley would interrupt her-this allowed me to mitigate and diffuse the situation before it escalated. I think this kind of observation and resolution will be helpful in my own classroom one day and help in the productivity of the room as whole.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Freedom was successful in this situation but Allison also cautioned us that in more instructive lessons we will have to be certain to walk artist through process with very specific and informative steps. Moving forward, we are getting a little more narrow in our project and their are absolutely steps that everyone will be doing and we want to communicate those in the most effective and inclusive way possible. While I did gain insight to how some of our students like to work, I think it is important to not definitively adhere them to a specific process yet because I may be selling them short i.e. I know that Kelsey likes to work independently but if I take this information and move forward to enable her to work alone, am I robbing her of a growing experience in encouraging/forcing her to work in a collaborative setting? I think in this way I still want to leave a moderate amount of doors open moving forward.
JOURNAL ENTRY 2
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
This second class was definitely a building on the prior class. Some concepts we carried out was reintroducing our collaborative class mascot. We also reintroduced our idea bubble chart and encouraged artists to share ideations. Another aspect we chose to carry out from last week was stations: they had offered fluidity for artists that craved change but also allowed for students to carry on working on whatever was inspiring them for the time being. An overarching idea we introduced to artists was the idea of process and how artists sometimes work on multiple projects at one time. We challenged artists to complete three tasks in class: 1. Paper mache balloons (that would next week be turned into mock air balloons) 2. Work on a mobile-decorating it in anyway they wanted and 3. Vocalize their exploration on their mobile via a class gallery walk at the end of our time together. It was great to gain further understanding of our students and how they worked. Jared really thrived in paper macheing his balloon-Angela challenged him to really consider his placement of newspaper strips on the balloon and he showed a significant positive shift in his level of engagement from last class. Also, Julie was able to get him to partake in the gallery walk-another development since last week. Ashlee was the only artist who kind of struggled with a shift of working on two projects-she kind of got stuck on the paper mache side of the room and didn’t account for enough time to work on mobile-I try to encourage her with cues like, “we’re more than half way through class, let’s maybe consider moving to our mobile” but she would always respond with compromises like “right after this balloon; I just wanna finish this balloon.” Tyler really thrived in this class-he carried over ideation from last week and incorporated his crestation into his mobile exemplifying to the class the value of integrating personal interest into class projects. He also included words in his piece and elaborated on these verbally in gallery walk time. He also served as an example of the theme of “process” for the day. He illustrated the value in capitalizing on the continuation of projects and the rewards of investing in a piece.
INTERPRETATION/CONTENT MEANING:
Something gained from this experience was the value in knowing students and how they transition. A happy accident was placing the paper mache station at Kelsee’s table. I think had we had her work on her mobile first, she could have become committed to her process much like Ashlee did.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
It was great to see first-hand the benefits of expeditionary learning in the case of Tyler-we gave him the freedom to run with what he was passionate and not only did he go above and beyond, but it would have been so difficult and nearly impossible to acquire that same level of investment and engagement with a canned and restricting assignment. I’m eager to see how concepts of “process” and the value in this manner of working translate to next week.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Moving forward I would be more diligent and persistent with giving artists cues to time management. i.e. “we are halfway through class, what do you want to have done by the end of class and are you putting yourself in a position to make that goal?” Also, reminding students how much time until gallery walk so they can spend some time reflecting on comments they might want to make on pieces-both their own and their peers’.
JOURNAL ENTRY 3
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
In this class we proceeded with creating air balloons out of the balloons we had paper mached last week. The class was supplemented with smaller, individually chosen and driven projects inspired by things found in the sky/air. We prefaced class with introducing a new idea bubble chart. The central idea was sky/air and we asked artists to contribute a couple ideas of things found in the sky. We related this back to the mobiles made last week by displaying some images from last class. This was great because we were able to pay homage and take note of artist’s work which instilled pride as well as building on themes of movement and air that were brought up by the mobile project. We also talked about the continuations of project and how Tyler did this with his sea creature mobile and how now Heidi and Lee Anne were doing this with their transition from mobile to air balloon. We also talked about what an installation piece was and we incorporated our class mascot as an example of a collaborative piece tying together concepts of a collaborative installation, which we were working on this week. Lee Anne was the first to arrive to class, armed with tissue paper she had brought from home in preparation for the project of decorating our air balloons. Heidi continued her themes of roses from last week on her mobile and covered her balloon in pink paint. Jim decorated his balloon and explored some ideas of wind and it’s relevance to our air/sky theme for the day. That day had been windy too so it was great to see Jim tying in observations from “real life” into the classroom and the installation. Jim also contributed a sky diver to the installation. Chris worked on his balloon as well as some paper airplanes. But one of my personal biggest break-throughs was getting to work with Camden and his exploration of kites. It all started when Camden was playing with a spool of yarn. I would hold the spool and he would pull on the yarn running across the room and I told him it was a lot like a spool for when you fly a kite from here, he went to one of the stations to make a foam kite and attached a string. We started off by flying the kite around the room but proceeded to make our way outside and “fly” the kite around outside. A turning point was when I started singing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins. Camden would run holding the kite high above his head and when I stopped singing he would lose interest but the second I started back up he was instantly engaged again. When we were running around I would sometimes ask “what is the kite doing?”, “What is the string doing?”, and “How does it work?”. When we went back to the room I challenged Camden to add more things to his kite for the next time we went outside. We ended class by sitting around the collaborative installation and treating it like a gallery walk by asking each individual artist to comment on what they had contributed and what inspired them.
INTERPRETATION/ CONTENT MEANING:
Some overarching understanding I gained from the class was how Heidi and Lee Anne exhibited carry-over interest from class to class. I also learned that both Chris and Jim work quickly through class assignments and will generally due smaller/less time-consuming mini projects rather than a single larger one. But a huge realization was really capitalizing on Camden’s mobility and using that to further his exploration rather than labeling it as an issue or obstacle.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Getting to run around with Camden was a high point for me in this class so far. I would carry the string and he would carry the kite and singing at the top of my lungs and laughing-all while promoting thoughtfulness and exploration and utility and getting to see this translate to adjustments he made on the kite when we came back into class was a truly incredible moment. It really brought to light to me just how differently students need to be inspired and “led” in a sense. If I had stifled Camden’s movement around the room (as I have done in past classes) we never would have gone on that venture and would have missed out on some really productive class time.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Camden seems to exhibit more kinesthetic and auditory tendencies. I was amazed to see how something as simple as a melody completely changed his level of engagement. Moving forward I want to see how I can continue to use auditory supplements in lessons to engage him. On a broader scale, moving into my own future classroom, I want to be sure to engage other learning styles and other senses. I could maybe achieve this by playing music in the room and/or allowing students to listen to their music on their headphones. I would also encourage physical movement around the room for those students that need that-I could maybe incorporate this by encouraging them to go on “walk-abouts” and examine what their peers are working on.
JOURNAL ENTRY 4
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
We began class with another new idea bubble directed around our theme of treasure. We initiated suggestions to the idea bubble by prompting with “What items are valuable to you and why?” We tried to make ties to where you might keep valuable items or how where you complete them might mimic or indicate what’s inside like in the case of Joel’s gages box. This was shown with Julie’s tea container as well-with the added characteristic of utility-the container was air tight to keep tea fresh. From here we allowed students to choose one of two routes-they could either make items they would identify as valuable/ treasures of they could make containers that reflected an item they already found valuable/ treasurable. Students that wanted to make treasure were encouraged to get started while students who thought they would be interested in making containers were invited to a demo on pinch pots, coil building, and appropriate wall thickness. I spent the first part of class working with Jared on what later turned out to be a moon. We created a productive process where I would tear off pieces of clay and he would place them on a circular piece of clay. As he would place them, I would ask questions like “why did you put it there?”, “What is it?”, etc. He didn’t respond verbally but he would look up and smile so I knew he was listening. Eventually he got up to observe other parts of the room. I checked in on Heidi and Lee Anne and saw that they were making themed bowls, meanwhile Chris worked on making a boat for an object found outside. But one of the biggest take-aways from the day for me was working with Camden on a real-life treasure map where we made marks on the floor with masking tape leading from the front door to the treasure box. We ended with a successful gallery walk where everyone contributed commentary on pieces.
INTERPRETATION/ CONTENT MEANING:
This sparked a really worthwhile conversation of objects that have value and how we attribute that. One disconnect we made, was not making the bridge clear between objects considered treasures and the containers which hold them. However, we’re hoping to remedy this a little next week when we revisit this theme via exploration of habitats and the animals/characters that reside in them.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Every week I gain a little more insight into how I can communicate most effectively with my students. These communications range from verbal to nonverbal but it’s been incredible to see how familiarity and class community contribute to trust and benefit interactions with students.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Long-term I want to be sure to integrate all students. I know in my art class in high school, special needs students all sat at the same table. These classes were a semester long and I think every student in the room would have benefited from more interaction with students they were unfamiliar with; this can be enforced by a seating chart or intentional grouping. Both Jared and I benefited from this situation and I want to set up scenarios in my classroom where this can happen.
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
We began class with another new idea bubble directed around our theme of treasure. We initiated suggestions to the idea bubble by prompting with “What items are valuable to you and why?” We tried to make ties to where you might keep valuable items or how where you complete them might mimic or indicate what’s inside like in the case of Joel’s gages box. This was shown with Julie’s tea container as well-with the added characteristic of utility-the container was air tight to keep tea fresh. From here we allowed students to choose one of two routes-they could either make items they would identify as valuable/ treasures of they could make containers that reflected an item they already found valuable/ treasurable. Students that wanted to make treasure were encouraged to get started while students who thought they would be interested in making containers were invited to a demo on pinch pots, coil building, and appropriate wall thickness. I spent the first part of class working with Jared on what later turned out to be a moon. We created a productive process where I would tear off pieces of clay and he would place them on a circular piece of clay. As he would place them, I would ask questions like “why did you put it there?”, “What is it?”, etc. He didn’t respond verbally but he would look up and smile so I knew he was listening. Eventually he got up to observe other parts of the room. I checked in on Heidi and Lee Anne and saw that they were making themed bowls, meanwhile Chris worked on making a boat for an object found outside. But one of the biggest take-aways from the day for me was working with Camden on a real-life treasure map where we made marks on the floor with masking tape leading from the front door to the treasure box. We ended with a successful gallery walk where everyone contributed commentary on pieces.
INTERPRETATION/ CONTENT MEANING:
This sparked a really worthwhile conversation of objects that have value and how we attribute that. One disconnect we made, was not making the bridge clear between objects considered treasures and the containers which hold them. However, we’re hoping to remedy this a little next week when we revisit this theme via exploration of habitats and the animals/characters that reside in them.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Every week I gain a little more insight into how I can communicate most effectively with my students. These communications range from verbal to nonverbal but it’s been incredible to see how familiarity and class community contribute to trust and benefit interactions with students.
FUTURE ACTIONS:
Long-term I want to be sure to integrate all students. I know in my art class in high school, special needs students all sat at the same table. These classes were a semester long and I think every student in the room would have benefited from more interaction with students they were unfamiliar with; this can be enforced by a seating chart or intentional grouping. Both Jared and I benefited from this situation and I want to set up scenarios in my classroom where this can happen.
JOURNAL ENTRY 5
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
This last class, we gave students two options: 1. Students that made clay pieces, could continue those on with a clay/India ink covering that acts like a glaze or 2. Create a habitat for an animal or character. This was carry over a bit from our previous class in the sense that we tried to emphasize that you could make a vessel reflect an object similarly to how a home or habitat could reflect whom it housed. This was a great opportunity to further explain this and build on some points made last class. Students responded really well to the options and productivity was high overall. Lee Anne has been the first to arrive in class for the last few weeks and she always come bearing more tissue paper she’s brought from home-she is especially self-driven and we allow her to capitalize on this drive. It was really great to see her incorporate a wire structure she had found our FIRST class in this, our last. It demonstrated not only her incredible work ethic and capacity to stick with things but it also demonstrated innovation and ingenuity in finding ways to fit pieces together.
INTERPRETATION/CONTENT MEANING:
Lee Anne, I feel, is the poster child for motivation and dedication. This class showed me the value in introducing new project ideas and media to students specifically like Lee Anne who have all this potential and who can really get the most out of that with a little guidance.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
It could just be my EDUC 350 class talking, but I think this shows a great deal of differentiation and an easy way to apply it. In giving the students as many options as we have, it’s given us 1. The opportunity to scaffold students that need more restraints, guidance, motivation, and/or inspiration and 2. The opportunity for students that are more self-motivated and self-driven to explore what they want to
FUTURE ACTIONS:
I owe so much to this class and I learned so much but some of the most impacting take-aways will be 1. To allow choice and option in projects (regardless of age) 2. The importance of knowing your students and gaining their respect and trust 3. Creating environments and opportunities for students to gain respect and trust for each other. Mostly I’ve learned how to motivate students on a one-on-one basis and deduce what it is they need to move forward and get unstuck in an efficient way.
EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE:
This last class, we gave students two options: 1. Students that made clay pieces, could continue those on with a clay/India ink covering that acts like a glaze or 2. Create a habitat for an animal or character. This was carry over a bit from our previous class in the sense that we tried to emphasize that you could make a vessel reflect an object similarly to how a home or habitat could reflect whom it housed. This was a great opportunity to further explain this and build on some points made last class. Students responded really well to the options and productivity was high overall. Lee Anne has been the first to arrive in class for the last few weeks and she always come bearing more tissue paper she’s brought from home-she is especially self-driven and we allow her to capitalize on this drive. It was really great to see her incorporate a wire structure she had found our FIRST class in this, our last. It demonstrated not only her incredible work ethic and capacity to stick with things but it also demonstrated innovation and ingenuity in finding ways to fit pieces together.
INTERPRETATION/CONTENT MEANING:
Lee Anne, I feel, is the poster child for motivation and dedication. This class showed me the value in introducing new project ideas and media to students specifically like Lee Anne who have all this potential and who can really get the most out of that with a little guidance.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE:
It could just be my EDUC 350 class talking, but I think this shows a great deal of differentiation and an easy way to apply it. In giving the students as many options as we have, it’s given us 1. The opportunity to scaffold students that need more restraints, guidance, motivation, and/or inspiration and 2. The opportunity for students that are more self-motivated and self-driven to explore what they want to
FUTURE ACTIONS:
I owe so much to this class and I learned so much but some of the most impacting take-aways will be 1. To allow choice and option in projects (regardless of age) 2. The importance of knowing your students and gaining their respect and trust 3. Creating environments and opportunities for students to gain respect and trust for each other. Mostly I’ve learned how to motivate students on a one-on-one basis and deduce what it is they need to move forward and get unstuck in an efficient way.