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This visual note is an example of a blind contour I did for my lesson plan. After I completed it I realized how much I missed drawing and creating my own work. While the students had a difficult time drawing, they were laughing a giggling at their silly drawing. I realized how much they also loved drawing, when it’s not meant to be realistic.

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This visual note highlights the nature id see walking to and from my internship. Regardless of how tired I was, the garden would help me ground myself. I really appreciated south phillys commitment to growing greens like trees and flowers.

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my visual reflection is an exemplar from my “drawing from life” lesson. I wanted to teach students how to bring out lighting and shading from still life objects. Realism was not my main concern, i wanted to train students eyes.

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Gesture drawings of park walkers

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A drawing I made to represent how I felt this week

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A ceramic tile that broke that I thought looked cool

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I decided to destress by painting on glitter paper!

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This is a repeat pattern I started

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A collage I made to represent how I felt this week.

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For the final note, I made it while reflecting a bit on the semester. I am definitely feeling burnt out, but I love seeing all the work the students are doing every week and feeling like they enjoyed and were engaged in the projects we were working on. As the weeks went on, I was editing, revising, and changing my teaching methods and lesson plans to try and better reflect the students skill levels and interests as I got to know them all better.

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For this week's note, I was making it after finishing my latest graphic design lesson plan. It has been a challenge trying to make assignments and projects that focus on aspects of design and using Adobe because I am not as familiar with it as I want to be. Having to teach and come up with lesson plans for it has definitely forced me to brush up on Adobe and get more comfortable with the softwares and overall ideas of graphic design and marketing.

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This week, I have been talking to one student in particular about procrastination. We both struggle with procrastinating, both in school and outside of it. Specifically, she has been procrastinating her college applications, so I've been checking in with her every day and she's been trying to set smaller goals for herself each week to get done. So far it's been helping her a lot. She told me she's been starting to use it for her art practice too because she has struggled in the past with art outside of class because she feels like she doesn't have time for it. Now, she has been trying to do a quick drawing a day.

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This week, I have been talking to a lot of the seniors who are thinking about what they want to do after graduation. Most of them are feeling incredibly stressed right now because they are starting to get either acceptance or rejection letters from colleges. A lot of them still are unsure of what they want to even go into or study, or if they even want to go the college route. All of this pressure is on top of their schoolwork, sports, activities, jobs, and everything else going on.

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I haven't uploaded anything in a few weeks, but I've been creating my visual notes and making notes about them in my planner. Week 6 was a bit chaotic so I chose to do painted papers for emotional release while also being productive and making something that can be used again in the future. This specific one was my favorite because of the layers of color that can be seen.

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This week I made this collage while thinking about how different art has become, especially for older students. Specifically the use of AI and how it can be both helpful and harmful to the creative process. Some students are really good at using it to further brainstorm their ideas or generate reference images if they cannot find one they like, but with the graphic design classes, there are also a few students who are using it word for word or generating an image for their final. I can tell most of the time, but it makes me wonder about the future when it becomes even harder to tell.

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Although the words wilting away are what I was feeling this week, I like to remember that I own plants that drop their leaves as they "die," but these leaves sometimes create an entirely new plant of their own. Maybe I'm just pruning and coming back stronger next time. I'd like to think I'd be a jellybean succulent haha

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This week's theme is tiredness. I feel like I've been running on fumes, and I am loving my experience, but I also can't wait to be done. I feel almost ungrateful saying that, but it is tiring to be a student teacher and work outside of that. I realize now that adults weren't exaggerating when they'd say "if it's not one thing, it's another." This is a small painting using acrylic artist markers

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I had a student get upset at me and say that I look like a lunch lady. I knew that they meant my build, and instead of internalizing any of that, I decided to let it fuel my visual note for the week.

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Week 9 is when we got to use a ton of adaptive tools that can be used in the art room and truly any classroom. I had the most fun with the paint rollers as they got texture I struggle to get with painting with a standard technique with a paintbrush. Tons of fun, and I hope it will be fun for students that need these tools as well.

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Week 8 made me want to escape to my happy place, which is the beach. As an artist, I have the privilege of escaping into my sketchbook.

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I drew this luna moth inspired by a middle school student I have the honor of working with who has been having a hard time recently. He reminds me a lot of my younger self because he compulsively apologizes and thanks people for “dealing with him” which I had a hard time with at his age. I always tell him “save your sorrys”. In class earlier in the week him and I were talking about our favorite bugs which are both Luna moths. I don’t remember why, but I told him “sorry” about something and he got to use my “save your sorry” line on me!

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This is the view from my window that I drew as a brain break after lesson planning for like 3 hours straight. I was feeling very numb and disconnected from my body, so I used this drawing as an opportunity to feel more mindful.

I have been practicing mindfulness with the third graders I work with, so I wanted to find some time to work a bit of mindfulness into my schedule again. It was very cathartic to draw because I feel like I have not been appreciating the beauty around me like I normally do, so drawing my setting was a way for me to ”check back in”

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My visual note was a depiction of tangled threads and stippling, which I did after teaching movement and stippling in class. I relate to tangled threads because I often feel haphazardly held together, or messy. I always like drawing interwoven string because they capture movement and can be dramatic, kind of like the art noveau “whiplash”. I drew this because last year in Science and Art of Teaching we had to create a hanging sculpture that represented ourselves, and mine was a mass of threads because I feel scattered and disorganized. Recently I have been feeling the same way with everything I have and sometimes fail to keep track of, so I thought about that while I drew.

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These past couple weeks have felt like a blur and have gone by quite quick but also simultaneously slow. For this weeks visual note I decided to sit at a coffee shop and do quick gesture drawings on the people and or things I see going by, reflecting how I have felt the last several weeks with the moment to draw going by quickly but the drawing lasting a while.

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For this weeks visual note I decided to take the time to once again flush out a lesson plan. For this students were given a random page from the dictionary and had to pick a word to bring to life. For mine I chose seahorse and sea kelp and combined the two . I used oil pastel for mine and gave the students the option of using multiple different materials. Although this was a short assignment, both myself, and the students, had quite a bit of freedom to explore with this project. I, and them, had more fun than I thought and this is an insight into how to form future lessons.

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With spring finally here I decided to do a little craft with coffee filters and a "blooming" technique with watercolor. I have been extremely stressed with deadlines and workload so having the time to just sit and make mindless crafts was extremely relaxing and restorative.

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I took the time for my visual note to practice a potential lesson for my students in which we practice optical illusions without hard line work with artist Kussama who works primarily with shapes. I constructed this piece with construction paper, glue, and sharpies.

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This drawing was after I had a slow day of teaching and decided to go to a bar for happy hour where I had my sketchbook in my bag. I noticed all the beautiful architecture around me and decided to draw. I hadn't sat in a public setting and drew in a while so it took me a minute to adjust to the stares from people around me. But it brought me back to why I enjoy drawing in the first place, and I haven't drawn for fun in a long time.

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For this weeks visual note I decided to draw chess pieces that a student was currently hyper fixated out. He claimed that the pieces calmed him down, both playing the actual game, and just playing with the pieces themselves individually. I wanted to see what the "hype" was about with them, so I decided to sit down and draw the pieces and soon the student joined in and we both were sitting in peace creating.

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For this weeks visual journal I decided to meditate before I began to "art". When I came out of my vegetation my roommates cat decided to join me and as I began petting him, the lull of him purring put me in a calm trance like state and all I could think of making was swirls. When I was done I realized I made a whirlpool of colors and further made the realization that the slow swirls and choice of colors represented my calm zen state.

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This weeks note is a picture of a fortune from a day when I had a fortune cookie at school - these words served as a helpful reminder during the stress of this semester.

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For this week I wanted to include a picture of the still life project we are working on because I did not have a chance to draw a note.

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This note wasn’t inspired by an activity where I took my students outside for a walk halfway through class to help reset all of our minds and get some fresh air.

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This week was filled with a lot of great opportunities for growth paired with a lot more responsibility which I am grateful for.

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This weeks visual note represents the ups and downs of this semester.

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In this small reflection, I started with a straight line and then made more lines from that with a brush that often make small mistakes. These mistakes were obvious as I kept making those lines. It really reminded me how students should feel comfortable making mistakes in the classroom and how I should allow for myself to make mistakes.

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There has been a lot of talk in my school on the best way to remember the two students who passed away. I couldn't bring myself to take their names off of my attendance list or mark them absent every class, so instead, I write a heart beside their name to remember them. It isn't a lot, but it makes those small moments with their class a little easier, so I made a small artwork with those hearts.

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This week’s visual note is about the love I’ve been feeling from my students. Some days are tough with behavioral issues, but there are a handful of students that I can count on to come in to art with a hug and a drawing for me.

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For my final visual note I decided to create a fun piece representing spring. I am starting to feel really good about my progress this semester and am beginning to finish up my final lessons, set up for the show, and work on final assignments for the semester. The bright colors are present my current emotions and feelings of positivity. I also just wanted to make something fun.

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This week I am thinking about the student who I am focusing on for my case study. We talked about positive and negative space this week in his class. The assignment was to cut a shape out of a piece of construction paper at one edge and flip it. Then glue the cut piece on one side of white paper and the background negative space piece on the other. He got really frustrated at one point and really wanted to throw his paper out. Instead of throwing it out and getting even more frustrated, he walked up to me and communicated that he was upset with it and wanted to throw it away. This was awesome progress! We took it back to his seat together, although he did not want to, and talked about how he could alter the work so that he could like it better and continue working with the same paper. He did not what to try, I affirmed this feeling, and then asked him to try one thing and if he still did not like it, I would get him a new paper. He tried! He got back into making! He did not fully grasp the assignment, but did make mirror images with the construction paper glued on half the white paper. To me this is also a success. Progress looks different for every student! My visual note is a doodle of him in the style of his finished artwork.

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Today we did an exercise where we spent 45 minutes trying to make a bowl as "perfect" as we could, explored what "perfect" means, what implications and limits that word puts on things, and then we broke our pieces as a part of an exercise of letting go. for my bowl, I purposefully made my piece a bit wonk, but refined. I had some time left over so I carefully added a subtle spiral on the interior. I feel like a lot could be talked about/thought of with the addition of a spiral and what that could mean for me. But instead of the obvious, I think for the first time when looking at the spiral, I thought about whether the edge going in or the center going out is the beginning/end. That's something I'm gonna think about a bit more.

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Week 7 was one where I was being super hard on myself about my technical abilities as an art educator so I decided to give myself a 10 minute timer to create a painted landscape. Once I had the timer going, a lot of the technical rules left my mind. This made the piece more intimate as it was just me and the paint at that point, no thoughts.

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Recently, I have been trying out different art practices that can be therapeutic. With this note, I was just playing with water and ink and not really caring about the results. It is cool how different loose artistic practices can really be used to improve mental health and minimize stress.

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This week felt really long for me - I'm ready for spring break! A lot of great things happened this week at school with students and projects and I got good practice in pivoting with schedule changes, picture day and students not being able to paint, etc. In second grade I tried "drawing around the room" and "painting around the room" - a lesson that's often used at the start of the school year in a TAB classroom. This was great to see enacted, students generally had a lot of fun, and they experimented with mark making.

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This week I’ve been trying to catch up on brainstorming and troubleshooting lesson plans for the last few weeks of school. This Thursday and Friday are half day for students so that gives us a lot of time to do what I need to in the classroom. I’ve been reaching out to students to help with things like the banner for the art show, and experimenting with mediums for upcoming projects. It’s so nice having this free time to clean and get the classroom back on track!

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For this weeks visual note I decided to trace out some animals/figures I saw in the splashes of color on my paper. I focused on wild animals because my 6th grade class is currently doing a project on endangered animals. I wanted to challenge myself to try and see beyond just color and think abstractly. Not only was this a really fun activity that could be turned into a mini lesson, but it was also relaxing and therapeutic.

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This week, I wanted to reflect on my feelings about my first observation. Initially, I always feel nervous at the thought of someone evaluating my teaching. However, once things are in motion, I quickly become comfortable. I can already see the progress I’ve made since my observation last semester.

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This is another leftover sheet that I had from our exercises last week that I didn't see through. I just had the painted parts and added the green today. When I finished this piece, I was thinking about the past three weeks and the next week my co-op and I have ahead of us. We have been doing split groups of up to 12 kids on the wheel and 12 doing a hand building project, with us attending to and teaching one group while the other teacher teaches the other. It can be a lot with a lot of bodies moving about the room, hands being raised, questions being asked, needs needing to be met, etc. But we seem to have a good groove. It made me think about this concept of order within chaos, the blue checkered areas being the order and the green being the chaos.

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IM SILLY THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED ON WEEK 8. OOPS DONT MIND ME.... I had blank paper in my notes/left over materials from last class and I think the statement "I need..." was oddly funny and ironic just because there are a lot of things I need. An overwhelming sense of things that I need. So I took a second to think about what I need and what would help me feel calmer and more at peace. I think we all feel so spread thin and could all use at least one thing from that list. It's a bit of a stream of consciousness but it did help in the end.

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This weeks visual note represents all my lesson plans and ideas piling up. There are overlaps within it all, and it is to show the layers of teaching art each week. It is tough juggling each class for every grade and keeping track of where each class is in each project. I’m learning ways of being organized from my co-op and I think that is the key to it all. If there isn’t organization of keeping track of it all then it is much harder on us as the teacher.

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This is just a piece that I did that really helped my own mental health. I wanted to try out different art techniques that were not directly related to what I was doing in school. This was made just by putting chalk dust into water and then dipping a paper into the water. It was a really meditative and relaxing process.

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This week I did a quick sketch of the mobiles we are making in 5th grade. Both classes are inclusion with students in a life skills section. It was really cool to see one of those students be sad but pivot quickly when I said we couldn't get glitter out that day (he loves it so much! and used it last class). I felt bad saying no because he gets so into it, but I was not feeling able to balance monitoring the glitter section that day on top of helping other students with their mobiles. It was good in the end for him too because he was able to focus on constructing his mobile and finishing it - keeping on track with much of the class, and it's likely he would have only stayed at the glitter station if it was set up. Another student in the life skills section did really well with manipulating the wire and attaching his pieces and experimenting/problem solving after a quick 1:1 demo and some praise. It was awesome to see him play and get into it after showing disinterest the previous art class.

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My visual note this week is a linocut printmaking lesson plan that I am currently doing with my majors class. We have only gotten to the planning part so far but I am getting super excited to see how these will come out. Exploring with teaching new materials was one of my big ideas I wanted to focus on this semester and so far it has been a lot of fun.

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This week in class we spent time testing different adaptive tools for the art classroom and talking about our experiences. Many people feel similar to me- low mood, exhaustion, and overwhelmed. Something that has been helping me recently is routine. I change my nail polish around 1-2 times a week and I found that I tend to wear certain colors when I’m feeling certain moods. I’ll wear red jewelry and accessories when I’m feeling happy, purple when I’m sad, etc. so I texted out the dot markers and made this guide. My friend took a picture of this when I met her in the park on Thursday, and I had turquoise jewlery and nails at the time.

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For this weeks visual note I decided to focus on motion and movement as a a way of calming myself for the final few weeks of the semester. I focused on calming colors and a swirl pattern which notes how life is like a loop/cycle. We're all preparing to come to the end of a cycle, the semester, and move on to the next!

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This is just the artwork we did in class. I used the dotters to make the dots, then used the markers in the milk gallon handles. It was really tricky to make the lines using these grips. It made me really think about how much supports I need to give these students.

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I combined a photo of a student using an adaptive tool with his 1:1 and the visual note I made during class Wed night with adaptive tools. His 1:1 is kind, attentive, and has a good balance of listening to him and his needs and making based off his instructions. It is great to see!

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For this visual journal, I decided to use one of my examples for their final collage project. They had the option to choose to make a collage in response to one of three prompts. The prompt that I did as my example is what I think the world might look like in 50 years if technology stopped working. The overall idea is that nature starts to thrive, but everyone is still stuck wanting to get technology back that they don’t even notice.

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It was fun to experiment with all of the different tools that can be used in the art classroom. It opened my eyes to a few possibilities. I see many students that can’t hold scissors very well or can’t write very well on their own, so seeing all the tools and modifications were helpful. The dots are kind of like ideas bubbling up, and the options that adaptive tools offer students.

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Visual note from class this week. It was fun to get the chance to experiment with accessible art materials.

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My visual note this week was from different time I spent sitting quietly. I have been REALLY needing quiet time throughout my day (mostly after my sixth grade class, they are so loud and overstimulating) and since there is so little time for me, I have to appreciate all the moments I can. Some of this was with a friend in a park, other moments on a subway, sitting in my dark room before the sun rose, etc.

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This week during class, we spent our time going to table to table trying out different adaptive tools. In this visual note, I focused on the adaptive scissors. I thought these were super cool and I have never seen them in any of my placements before.

The other week, I had students in particular that would have really benefitted by these. They were unable to use regular kid scissors so I had to precut everything for them. I wish we had some of these adaptive scissors to see how they would have liked to interact with them and be more involved in the cutting process.

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For this week, I wanted to show another one of my lesson plan examples. This is a monster pinch pot that I am currently making with my first grade classes. This isn't the only one I made, I found these super fun and relaxing to make. And my students are loving making their own.

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After running out of breakfast food at the end of last week I realized how much hunger can affect my mood and patience. However, since I’m in charge of multiple classrooms, I can’t let my growling stomach affect my teaching!

I also wondered about the students who don’t have a lot of food at home, and how they push through the day.

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This week during class, I used our time with the adaptive tools to think about what I wanted to make for this week's visual note. I feel like I haven't had a moment to just be and think, so I took class time as that time to just sit and create and experiment. A lot of us were talking to each other about burn out and our mental health just not being the best at this moment because we are so spread thin. This piece to me represents that. I created a swirl out of colder tones, to represent the sadder, overwhelming feelings we may be experiencing. The use of dots also just signifies the repetitiveness that the day to day of teaching can be and feel like. That alone can add to the sense of burn out. But I always just try to remind myself that this is temporary, that I am learning a lot and growth isn't always comfortable to happiness inducing, and that I will be better for it all in the end. That feeling is personified through the slight warm colors of orange and yellow swirled amongst the cooler colors.

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For this weeks visual not I am highlighting the first lesson plan I am teaching solo (that is my own). 6th graders are creating notans to think about positive and negative image in a design which is based on the Japanese idea of balance of light and dark in an image. Students are focusing specifically on symmetry in nature which I am loving talking about especially since the weather is so nice this week!

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For this week, I was really stressed out and tired from dealing with a lot of difficult behaviors from k-8. Because of that I was to make something that helped me let go of all these feelings so I can start fresh next week.

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This week’s visual note is representing all the different parts that go into being a teacher. I am experiencing a lot more aspects to teaching that I wasn’t exposed to before. All of the emotional support and work a teacher puts into the students, all of the logistical thinking that goes into running the classroom smoothly, how to handle conflicts between students, and so much more.

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I wanted to recreate the pinch pot animal a student from the autistic support group created on Thursday. It was from a very sweet kid who ask me to help write his name on the bottom. I was confused on what animal it was so I asked him to draw the eyes with a tool. And I realized that he created a bull, but the position of the horns threw me off. I couldn’t wait to see him glaze it so I imagined what it could look like!

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Between student teaching and working nights i have been feeling incredibly burnt out.

I have been taken recently with Goya’s work which this is partially inspired by.

Between the physical pain I am in and the exhaustion I created this piece as a way to visualize what I’m feeling at my lowest.

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I made this alien in a ufo in honor of a student in an autistic support class that I work with a few times a week. We had a lovely moment talking about rockets and UFOs this week. On half days I can bring art supplies to their classroom and this is a really fun time because it is just them not the full 2nd grade class that they often join in art class and I get to give them my full attention. It was wonderful to see students who do not often engage with art work on this project with me. We glued sequins to construction paper that I will cut into a sensory hanging artworks they can play with too. (This was my co-op's idea! She's so supportive.) I'm excited to also put these in the AoST before returning to them!

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Had a fun conversation about Greek Mythology with a student this week. They were telling me that they are learning about the beheading of Medusa in english class right now. It reminded me of the famous sculpture where Perseus is holding Medusa's head, so I showed them. I was able to get a student who doesn't seem to have much interest in art researching about sculptures because of a conversation completely unrelated to our class. This is a quick charcoal sketch I made of the sculpture in between classes.

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For this week, I wanted to do another demo that I have been working on with my kindergarten class. I wanted to do something quick with my students for "Read across America" week. Its hooks them in by reading a Dr. Seuss book then experimenting with watercolor resist, which it fun because it never fails to blow their minds.

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For this week's visual note I wanted to upload the progress photo of my acrylic landscape I am using as an exemplar in class for a lesson plan. I have really enjoyed channeling my inner Bob Ross for this project and am loving so far seeing how passionate and invested my students are in this project. Aside from the art, this lesson has helped me to work with students one on one and develop closer relationships. Seeing the students become more comfortable talking to me or asking me for help has been really fulfilling.

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For my visual response I wanted to show the art work I created with a students “messed up” aquatic scene. Yuhi, a Chinese-speaking student, started to cry after paint spilled all over his art work. Since no one spoke Chinese, I couldn’t tell yuhi that this project was experimental and not that important. I felt really upset that I couldn’t comfort him so I brought him a new piece of paper and wrote his name to show that he could start over. After my various demos, I cut out the gyotaku fish and pasted it onto the “messed up” paper. I might give this to him, I’m not sure yet.

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I have been really stressed recently about getting all my prep and homework done. This visual note was mostly just me being meditative and taking a moment to just make marks on a page. It was really what I needed.

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This week I'm thinking about all the bits and pieces that come together in the art classroom and all that needs to be considered constantly/continuously/consistently. I'm struggling to teach and redirect unwanted behaviors when young students are on the carpet at the beginning of class. This week, some boys were picking on a student with autism (My co-op does not think they are aware of this part of her identity) and I did not see it until she was very upset. I know that I am learning and I won't catch everything all the time, but at the same time the conflict could have been avoided if I had paid more attention and stopped the interaction before it got to where it did. I own that accountability and hope to carry the lesson forward. My co-op helped and it was good to see her model de-escalating a bigger situation - they were on the verge of a physical fight. I learned so much in a matter of moments! Every day feels like that in some way or another - I keep trying to be a sponge.

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My visual journal is about an activity I am going to have the students do next week because I am starting their color theory unit. I am going to have them do watercolor sample strips for monochromatic colors. This will teach them about monochromatic colors and also teach them how to build up value with watercolor since this will stem into the next project. It was nice to sit down and make this example because it was pretty satisfying to do since I don’t have much time to make artwork currently.

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This week I have been connecting more with my students. This is a little representation of those bonds I’m building and how they are interconnecting. I still have a lot to learn about my students but it’s a start

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This visual journal I made when the weather was getting nicer outside, and all of the students wanted to go out and spend time outside, but none of their classes allowed them. Some of them were able to go eat lunch outside, but many of them were distracted during classes. I can relate to this because I remember being in high school during a really nice day, especially after a long stretch of bad weather, and just wanting at least one class to take everyone outside. I think I am going to try to do some outside art activities with them when the weather is nice.

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I was having trouble thinking/reflecting on something that I could visually illustrate/paint/etc. so I resorted to one of my favorite forms of art-- collage. I have been having my students reflect a lot on Monday's and I read them over the week, and I always talk to my students in the mornings of my first classes and get to know about them a bit better/personally. A few of them had expressed how they were feeling burnt out and college is stressing them out. I tried to use some words of encouragement to let them know things don't always last forever, that better things and rest are in their future, and that ultimately, we should live life for ourselves and do what makes us happy, not what adults or systems tell us to do. Conversations and moments like these are what really push me in the direction of wanting to teach older students. This age can be really tough, and I want them to know that we as educators are there for them and can be a sounding board, and that we do really genuinely care for them and want to help.

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This visual journal is about my case study student. I have noticed that this student always has a water bottle on her desk and seems to play around with it when getting frustrated or wants a distraction from her art. She gets frustrated when she cannot get something the exact way she wants in her drawings and sometimes just crumples up her paper and starts over.

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This week I have been getting more and more excited about spring. I am looking forward to spending time in nature and sitting under a big tree to destress rather than spending all my time inside.

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I based my reflection image on a short moment I experienced during my lesson to the 1st graders. I typically ask all students to sit on the carpet to watch my presentation before demonstration. However, one of the autistic support students that doesn’t visit the art classroom very often was having a difficult time adjusting. I’m not sure why, but he would scream as hard, and as loud as he could right into the ears of the student sitting next to him. I was extremely surprised after he did it twice, and so I asked if his 1 on 1 could talk to him outside of the room. I really wasn’t sure what to do or think at the time.

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Somaira Ramirez Week 6

I decided to do another exemplar for my students because I’ve started to enjoy that process. I get excited about teaching a lesson once I’ve already experienced it myself

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Getting to know students has been a priority from the start of my placement, but I've been feeling the challenge of this with a large amount of students and many of whom I see only once a week. Building trust takes time and is earned. I believe this can happen through active listening and shared stories (among other things). The next project with K-1 we are telling visual stories of our favorite part of our daily activities/lives. I'm eager to see what they highlight and why!

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I have been thinking a lot about how to make accommodations for several of my lessons. I notice that aides often draw dotted lines for certain students, so I have been trying to do that for several students to work with. I am still experimenting with all of it, but I wanted to think more about it in my visual note.

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For this week, I took the loose paper that students submitted for our beginning of the week reflections. This week I had them think about and write 3 gratitudes and 2 manifestations. After reading them all, I was kinda sad but happy. So many of their manifestations were set on good grades, getting into colleges, and doing well on tests. All that stress, though, was quickly turned around in their gratitudes where they reflected on much more simple, happier things. The more I thought about it, I thought about how they and I are so alike. I stress so much about doing a good job educationally and occupationally. But it's the gratuities that balance out our worries. I'm glad that I can try to at least regroup them and their minds/lives as I try to do for myself... and that I get a bit of a peak into their lives as well.

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I did a doodle of a snail. This was nice to get my eyes off of the screen! I am testing out different designs for an example I am going to show on Monday and I messed up on this one so it turned into a doodle.

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For week 3 submission, I am sharing a drawing I made for a 5th grade student as incentive for them to complete their project. I told them if they stay on task and finish their project they were behind on, I would draw them whatever they wanted. They requested a fancy frog and we decided on this guy. I sat with them as they finished and we chatted. This is a student who often gets distracted and falls behind, so I did an old trick of offering a drawing done by me as incentive to finish, as well as me sitting in close proximity. This works well when I am a teachers aid, but when I am also managing an entire classroom of students I don’t think wagering my drawings will be manageable. If I offer drawing for one student, all others will want drawings as well. And how will I decide who gets one when? Do students only have to be easily distractible to get a drawing? What about the students who always remain on task? I love getting to sit with students and chit chat while creating (and giving away my doodles) but offering them their own custom drawings probably won’t work for much longer. Would love to hear thoughts!

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This week’s note is reflecting calm but still rushing. Each day this week was easy going and the kids had good behavior all around. The classes were calm and I have been feeling calm as well, but still feel a rush/urge to get things done.

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This week’s visual note is a quick sketch of one of the many coffees I consume throughout the day. I am already feeling very burnt out this semester so I am trying to find pleasure in the small things, coffee being one of them.

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This week for my visual note I wanted to it to be the demo I made for my 1st grade class. All of the grades are currently making artwork that is based off a black artist for black history month. First grade is doing Basquiat portraits which has been so fun to do so far. Then my majors are doing presentations to represent black artists in an assembly they call the Living Museum, which I am super excited to experience

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For this weeks visual note, I decided to create a visual note on my chosen student for my case study. From the textbook challenge from a few weeks ago, I decided to create an emoji that relates to my student. I used a smiley face to represent the energy this student brings into the classroom. Everyday, I've observed him smiling, being happy, and participating in friendly dialogue in class. I used elements from a recent project to include things this student enjoys/identifies with. I was drawn to this student when my co-op said he was very different in 6th grade, where he was quiet and isolated. I am excited to learn more about this student and interact as I begin to teach more of my own lessons.

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This week at my placement a student decided that they wanted to be a cat for the day. They were only speaking in meows and were trying to mimic the mannerism of a cat. The other students at their table found this strange and instead of trying to be welcoming they were making fun of the student. My coop teacher got everyone else to focus on their work and leave the student alone but I could tell they felt embarrassed afterwards. Later in the day another teacher stopped us in the hallway to say "I heard you had a stray cat in your room this morning" and poke fun at the situation. It really bothered me that a staff member was told about the situation by one of their students and thought it was okay to then make fun of them with another teacher. I can't help but imagine how isolated the student feels when even their teachers think it is acceptable to make fun of them.

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In lesson planning this week, I've been incorporating prompts and artists who break from the conventional norms of art-making and common concepts used in mainstream art/advertising. I have been excited to see how students respond to this and also hopeful to continually plant different transferable ideas.

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This week we covered morning meeting for the MDS classroom where a student on the spectrum conducted what I'm calling an experiment with his giraffe key chain. I watched as Benford bounced his giraffe key chain on every single surface in the classroom. He seemed to bounce over and over again on surfaces that interested him. This interaction made me think deeper about the ways different students learn. I'm going to keep this in mind for future lessons with this class, and see if i cant engage the class through an experiment style lesson.

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For this week, I made another pastel piece inspired by one of my students being "lost in the clouds." They were very easily distracted, and I decided to let that fuel whatever I made to deal with any frustrations I had over it.