Having two art rooms to work from is amazing. I was so excited to see the classrooms available to the students. Mr. R does a great job of keeping them clean and orderly as well as comfortable and decorated. Mr. R was very big into cleanliness and safety, something I am very fond of as well. He did a great job keeping the students aware of the safety precautions and hazards of each project. I was most impressed with the cleanliness of his art room and the willingness and cooperation from the students to do their required jobs during clean up time.I have pasted in my responses to some reflective questions below. Please read them to really get a sense of how Mr. R demonstrates the teacher standards.
Planning and Preparation
Elements
Although Mr. R doesn’t use
lesson plans, he does plan and prepare for his lessons. Each of the students
has a grading rubric for each lesson in their sketchbook or folder. They
receive these rubrics at the beginning of each semester. The semester is planned
out into roughly six-week increments to complete each project. The presentation
dates for the new lessons overlap with the previous projects to keep the
students thinking about what is next. In terms of preparation, Mr. R is at a
point in his career in which he has a lot of knowledge and experience in each
lesson plan. He has smart board note taking activities ready for the
presentations, and supplies and examples ready. Mr. R is a great teacher
because he understands and knows his content area so well. He has personal
experience and teaching experience with each of his projects, which shows in
his presentations to the class. He utilizes organization in his classroom by
presenting each due date and task on the board for each class to see. This allows
the students to check the board for any information they might need.
The Classroom Environment
The classroom environment Mr. R
creates is one of self-motivation. The students are required to stay on task in
class and always have something to work on. They are responsible for the
progress of their project as well as their sketchbook assignments Mr. R
utilizes a seating chart as well as weekly clean up tasks for the students.
Each week duties like putting away the supply cart or sweeping the floor,
wiping tables and so on is assigned and rotated. Each student is responsible
for his or her area of the classroom as well. Upon entering the classroom, the
students go right to their seats and start working. They can look at the board
for the due dates as well as what point of the project they should be working
on to stay on task. Although Mr. R does not greet the students when they walk
in the room, when he begins speaking about the project each day, they students
seem to quiet down and listen to what he has to say. As a man of few words,
they know that he will give them the information they need and want to know.
The morale of the room changes with each class period. Some classes are very
loud and have troubles staying on task, while other classes are more reserved
and at work. Mr. R deals with the differences between the classes by walking
around the room to observe or interact with each student every day. At the end
of each class period, students must put their stools onto the tables in order
to sweep the floors. This keeps the room very clean and orderly, which Mr. R
utilizes for both cleanliness and safety. The students are warned when there is
five minutes left of class time. During those five minutes they must stop what
they are doing and participate in any clean up duties. At the end of the
period, Mr. R doesn’t interact much with the students because he is getting
other things ready for the next class period, which is normally held in another
room. In each room, he utilizes the same classroom management, which seems to
work pretty well.
Instruction
Mr. R introduces new topics to
the students during the previous project. He likes to break up his
presentations into shorter lessons in order to allow work time as well. He will
introduce the sketchbook assignments early so they can have ample time to
sketch and compose ideas for the project. Each student already has the rubric
for the next project in his or her folder or sketchbook. This also includes a
list of all sketchbook assignments for the semester as well. Those who finish
early can ask Mr. R for advice or work ahead. When the presentation for the art
making process comes around, Mr. R will notify the class in advance so they
know what to expect. He often sits at a table with the student and uses student
examples and sketchbook examples to teach with. He does a great job of
incorporating each new lesson into the student’s daily lives. This is because
he always has a real world situation in which the characteristics of the
project fit. For example, when introducing the soapstone-carving project, he
told the students that they would need to find something that works with the
stone they choose. This is applicable in life because they need to be able to
work with the limitations of any given circumstance. He also encouraged them to
embrace their childlike sensibilities and play a game where they had to find
what the stone resembled, just as they looked at clouds in the sky when they
were children to find familiar shapes and animals. Mr. R does a great job of
asking students many questions as he is instructing or introducing new
concepts. He also likes to ask many questions in class in order to keep
students thinking. If a student would ask him a question, he often responds in
a question format in order to get his point across. This seems to be a
technique that he uses a lot. This also ties in with his classroom environment
being very self-motivated and self-taught. Mr. R is their teacher not to tell
them the answer, but to help them find it.
Professional Responsibilities/Personal
Characteristics
Mr. R is a very serious
teacher. He takes his job as an educator seriously, as well as his students and
their work. He is responsible for over 150 students a day. In order to stay
organized, he has many rules in place that have been followed by his students
for many years. He has a great relationship with the class and often cracks
jokes and has meaningful and sometimes silly conversations with his students
during and after class. As the head of the art department, and only art teacher
on staff this year, he works with PLCs as well as attends IEP meetings for his
students to ensure they have the best learning environment and learning
opportunities. He will stay after school to allow more work time for the art
students. He has such empathy for all of his students and where they come from.
He is an excellent educator because he gets to know each student in a personal
way. He considers the families and cultures of each student. By understanding
these things, he can better reach the students, and allow them to thrive within
the classroom. Mr. R doesn’t hand out compliments. When he does give positive
feedback the class knows that they are really doing a great job. Mr. R likes to
make his students think and work hard. By giving homework and things to do
outside of class, he makes sure that they take art as a serious subject and not
just an easy “A”.
Wisconsin Teacher
Standards
Teachers know the subjects they are teaching. Mr. R does a great job understanding his subject. He has a Masters
Degree in fine arts as well as his teaching degree. Because he knows his
content area so well, he has a lot of credibility with his students. He has
pictures of his kiln as well as his ceramic works hanging on his bulletin
board, and has a hand thrown lamp as well as other pieces of his work around
the room to show the students. It is very fun to hear him speak about his work
as an artist with the students because you can see how much they respect him
for his talents and teaching abilities. All of his years of teaching experience
allowed him to master all of the subject matter that he teaches, which also
gains him respect from his students.
Teachers know how to manage a classroom. Mr.
R does a great job of establishing rules and procedures in his classroom right
away. Because he is so consistent with his discipline as well as his routines
during each class period, the students work very well for him. He understands
and utilizes his ability to arrange seating charts as well as observing someone
from a close distance in order to get them back on task. He has great respect
for his students and keeps his discipline to a minimum and in private, or
separate from the general classroom. He has a lot of impact on his students in
the way he manages his classroom and keeps things organized.
Teachers are able to plan different kinds of
lessons. The way Mr. R integrates different lessons in his classes is very
unique. He often starts a whole new media or subject after one another in his
introductory classes. By doing this, he allows them time to get a sample of
different mediums and processes. This allows them a better understanding of
what art has to offer in the more advanced courses in which he builds on
previous knowledge from the beginning courses. Although he doesn’t use lesson
plans, the lessons he teaches are very organized and structured through grading
rubrics. By teaching to the rubric, the students have a higher chance of
success and understanding.
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