Capital City Upper School

Briefly......because my last experience was so different from my other experiences.

9th graders are a whole different experience. I was excited and totally out of my comfort zone in this class. The little kids are not always as verbal and are still developing their brains, but by the age of 11 or 12, the adolescent mind is fully formed. This made it exciting for me to think about art lessons that could take on bigger questions about self-identity, values, social issues....At the same time, adolescents are characteristically unenthusiastic and distant from adults. I was not cool and had no idea how to approach students or how a teacher would foster an authentic and influencial role in the students life. I would go back. Ingrid smartly pointed out that the students are teachers too. It would certainly be a learning experience for me and teenagers could benefit from smart and innovative opportunities. Maybe Roger will take care of that.

Final Project & Thanks

I thought everyones final projects were great!  I loved seeing everyones personalities shine in the little extras that they added to their project.  I really enjoyed working with Laurie and getting to know her better!  I found we collaborated very well for the project.  Thanks to the teachers and everyone for helping to coordinate everything and making this experience so fun! 

The Art League at Alexandria was a good choice I think for me to attend, very different from anywhere else I had been to just because of the age difference, this being an adult education program for people who were mostly taking classes for fun and leisure. 

Looking at all these different schools, classroom environments, and classroom populations, and student motivation for taking the class,  it made me realize about all the many MANY things that go into planning for teaching an art class. So many things effect it that I never really thought about. 

It was enjoyable, rewarding, and insightful experience. I am eager to see what happens this summer (as I am looking for a summer internship to do outside of school, not for credit, maybe if I am lucky for pay? lol) and with my student teaching next year. Through the last 9 months since entering the program the field experience class has thusfar had the most impact on turning around my thinking and outlook on this program and got me thinking more positively about my future after the program and more hopeful about the kinds of things I will be able to do. 

Hey, Jude

Sorry, couldn't help but make the cheesy posting title. Anyways, I've heard a lot about this site this semester and didn't quite know what to expect. I was pretty pleasantly surprised. Actually, I really loved this site. First things first. The classroom is cluttered, yes. But in one of those magical cluttered but you can find what you are looking for ways. There are really unending art materials in there. I probably can't go into more detail without talking about Jude. Mr. Jude seems to have this whole crazy space organized and filled with materials. I was pretty sure I was going to like this site in the first 5 minutes we were there. Here's what happened: student needs canvas, Jude pulls out a canvas of a student who is no longer in the program and says to recycle it, student scoffs, Jude proceeds to give mini-lecture on the fact that you should not come to expect a pristine canvas in art or in life- that's simply not how it works. Beautiful. It is apparent to me that Jude has a wealth of materials in his classroom not because he has an enormous budget or mystery donors, but because he is smart and resourceful with what materials he does have. He was smart with his students, encouraging them to follow their own projects and ideas, all of which blanketed under the unit theme of beauty (for the upcoming gallery presentation). He also went on a rather large rant about American Indians- which he laughed and said we'd call him an eccentric in our follow ups for this class- but in all fairness they are making murals about the American west and the native populations.
I liked the mix of students. They were excited about making art, and using their creativity to head in their own directions. I also liked their relationship with Jude, asking questions about materials or procedures and cracking jokes.
All in all, once again this semester it all comes back to- the teacher makes the classroom.

WVSA

WVSA turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Elana and I visited Jude's class and helped out for the day. Jude is a very laid back teacher who really knows his stuff and treats his students according to their age. This is something I have not seen in a while and it is very refreshing to see. I have a feeling that many in the education field might frown on some of his practices and mannerisms while teaching. He was a great example of how to teach art by my standards. His personality and teaching style was very successful in his context and is something that is usually not taken into account in the field of education. He gave demos and started students paintings and made very stern yet joking digs at students from time to time which were effective and acceptable due to the relationship he and his students have formed. Jude was not plagued with the level of fear or tenderness that can often be seen in many teachers or just education in general. He presented himself and interacted with his class in a comfortable and honest way. Because of this behavior he was able to build effective relationships with students that I have not seen much of in DC so far. His dry sense of humor and relaxed demeanor really allows him to interact with his students on a more productive level. He did not only focus on art and started educational discussions on other subjects such as history and culture. This really gave me hope since I hope to go beyond art in my classroom as well. Instead of getting caught up in many of the educational standards and rules he appeared to be having a good time and getting his students to have fun while pursuing the creation of quality art. The art was being produced for the real world (CVS) and was not catering to school system standards, curriculum, and grades. This reminded me of how my extremely successful underfunded high school art class was conducted. We all focused on getting projects done that were for shows, contests, public spaces, and commissions. There were no textbooks, DBAE, or VTS but just straight proactive creation of art with a purpose beyond ourselves. The fact that Jude had set something up with an outside source such as CVS caused me to remember such successful art education. The students came in and really practiced art instead of talking and doing little gimmick exercises like CR's at Wilson High. The students can clearly see CR's and other exercises for what they are and become offended and give up. However if there is someone who really knows their subject, practices it, pushes their students to create art without a lot of strings attached the students will respond. I see this in Jude just as I did in my high school teacher. Of course this is a lot of things to draw out of one visit but this class was very noticeably different form what I have been used to over the past two semesters. The students were amazingly well behaved and mature and this I feel is directly related to Jude's respect for them. While many of the students had disabilities he treated them with more respect and with more normalcy than many teachers observed so far with non disabled students. Overall the students and the teacher were exceptional and a breath of fresh air.

Peabody 2

I can't remember who described Peabody as a looking like a fairy house but there are certainly several fantastical elements to the room.  I really enjoy the environment the teacher has created!  All of the classrooms there have unique and fun environments.  The teacher is clearly comfortable with a lot of activity and background noise.  Most of the students are very independent and will take the given materials and project and experiment with it to push it to their own unique creations.  

She was very knowledgeable about teaching methods and dealing with different types of students learning styles.  She also told us a lot about the Reggio Emilia and how it wasn't a specific method like Montessori but a way of life an ongoing process. You don't get certified for Reggio Emilia it is an ongoing process.

Peabody

My first day at Peabody was not typical.  The teacher was preparing the children for a field trip at the American Visionary Art Museum.  She was explaining a pamphlet she had prepared for them to do there.  She was also reminding them about what to expect: bring a bag lunch, what they would be doing, what the museum looked like, where it was, what sort of things to expect to see.