Elementary Placement Reflection

 

                  The first thing I learned, and panicked a little about, was building relationships with students when I only saw each class for forty minutes every fourth day. However, I found that working to be visible helps a great deal, I performed crosswalk duty twice a week with gave me a chance to see many of the students even if they didn’t have my class that day! When I knew classrooms were having a little party or any kind of event I would go visit, and I maintained classroom teacher communication about students. Working with the teachers and studying seating charts turned out to be a big help.

                  In my own classroom I made a point during work time to circulate around the room and individually speak to each students, this, and my enthusiastic energy allowed me to make great relationships with my students. I miss them already!

                  When I was first going into my elementary placement, another teacher friend had stressed to me the importance of having elementary students get out and clean up their own supplies. However, I quickly, before the first class period realized that when you only see the kids for 40 minutes that just isn’t feasible. I adopted and continued my cooperating teacher’s material and clean up system called “chaos control.”  Each table gets a chance to be chaos control, and chaos control is in charge of passing out and collecting materials (materials organized by the teacher before school starts.) The table that gets to be chaos control wears a badge and is so excited to have so much responsibility.

                  I also learned, similar to the middle school, classroom management looks a little different in each class. All students responded to structure in the classroom, but some classes also did really well and worked really hard in a less controlled environment.

                  I also learned that if you give students more choices in their art, they will really run with it!

                  During my secondary placement, I became obsessed with efficient systems in the art room, and I learned even more systems in my elementary classroom! The first, which I’ve already described, is chaos control, another, is along all the cabinets are painted cardboard boxes with classroom teachers names on them. Each class’ artwork is collected in these boxes until the end of the school year when students take home a portfolio of work.

 

Something I would like to do differently is have more units versus eclectic lessons units versus random lessons. I think this would allow me to incorporate ore reflections and planning activities, as well as have the lessons flow more organically.

I wish that I had brought my singing bowl for getting students attention from the middle school. Many of the systems I used for getting attention worked really well, however, I like my art environment to be a place where students can talk and music can play, so sometimes my voice would get tired from getting students’ attention. At the middle school we also used the singing bowl as an opportunity for students to calm down, take a breath, and prepare for a transition.

 

                  I had such an amazing time during my elementary placement, and can’t wait to have my own classroom and start working with students again.