March 28th

Today, a new group of students were coming into the art room because of the new quarter. The teacher went over the syllabus and made it clear that each student needed to sign the syllabus as if it is a contract that they will agree to. This is a good strategy in holding them accountable for their actions. It is extra credit if the parents sign it as well. This is a good way to get parents involved and let them know what is going on in their child's life.

The teacher went over the basket and folder system of the classroom. She showed everyone where the folder was located with information about absences for each day. This system holds the students accountable for figuring out what they have missed on their own and taking the responsibility to make up for it.

A PowerPoint was given about the projects that they will be working on throughout the semester. The students got the choice to decide which projects they want to do in what order by voting. This made them feel like they were an important part of the class and that they had an opinion about what goes on. This, again, holds them even more accountable for their choices and actions. Origami, Ribbon Drawing, and Clay Containers were the projects that they had to choose from, which I have already experienced in the prior semester. The teacher offered a description of each with photos of example projects. I like the idea of letting students have an opinion on scheduling of projects. I would definitely use this in my own classroom.

Seating charts were then discussed, as well as the chat box. The students start out the semester sitting in their assigned seats. When they are well behaved, they can earn stars. If the class has two stars at once, they have free choice in seating. They can lose this privilege when they fill up the chat box (if they are loud or poorly behaved). Each time the chat box fills, they lose a star. I do like this as a strategy and would try it out in my own classroom, but I would rather have an expectation for my students to be mature without the need for a system like this. I would make a seating chart and use it every day. If the students start the class with good behaviors, I would let them move during work time if they would desire to. If the students started showing signs of bad behavior, I would give them a warning. If it became too much to deal with, I would tell them that they would need to remain in their assigned seats for the rest of the period. I don't see the need to make a game out of following directions.

This is a very large class and we actually ran out of chairs for all of the students. The classroom is very large, but there is not enough furniture to fill it. There are not enough tables for supplies and demonstrations either. It can get frustrating when there is nowhere to set things. There is a lot of shelving for projects, but very little work space. If I taught in this classroom, I would ask my principal how I can get more furniture, if possible. If there was no funding to get more furniture, I would likely make tables or buy some on my own, simply because it is just very difficult to teach art with little work space.

After the teacher went through the syllabus and classroom procedures, the students began a basic project. Each student would have a piece of paper with their name on it. The papers would be passed around the classroom and each student would draw a line on every piece of paper. The result was an abstract drawing when the original owner of the paper got it back. The teacher and myself walked around the classroom watching over the students as they drew and passed. The teacher noticed that a student had been drawing inappropriate things on the papers. She immediately told everyone to put their heads down for the rest of the period. The papers were collected and thrown in the garbage. Many students had not understood why they were being punished. The teacher took the particular student aside who was drawing the inappropriate images and sent him to the office. After a few minutes, the teacher announced that inappropriate images should not be used in any project for school. She had the students keep their heads down for the remainder of the class. I would have handled this situation very differently, although I do understand why the teacher reacted so severely. What happened is completely unacceptable. I would have collected the inappropriate drawings and had the students start over. It would be announced to the entire class that inappropriate imagery is unacceptable. After discussing this, I would have the students start fresh, knowing the consequences of it being repeated. At this point, I would remove the student who was drawing inappropriately. I would sit down with the student and address the situation and punishment, as he is the culprit. I would not punish the rest of the class for something they did not do. It is a good learning experience for the rest of the class for it to be addressed as a whole, but the punishment should be dealt with privately. The principal would be my last resort in terms of dealing with the situation. Talking through the situation with the student would be my first attempt. By sending the student to the principal, he became quickly angered and ended up lashing out at the principal, which then resulted in suspension. By keeping the situation in the classroom and dealing with the behavior immediately when the student was calm, I think this could have been prevented. If the situation did not go as well as I had expected, I would then either escort the student to the principals office or have a staff member escort him.