Construction Meaningful Curriculum

                 Teaching high school for me is eye opening. I had never considered that high school students would not know how to use a ruler, until I saw many of my students struggling to create a grid of one-inch squares. The grid was supposed to help the painting students through the drawing portion of their Andy Warhol self-portrait project, however it proved to do more harm than help. Many of my students were frustrated and gave up. After encountering this struggle I thought about how the content and skills I teach will impact and influence my students when they graduate.

                  My aspiration is to set all my students up for success, because as our youth, they will grow to be the change for our future. When I realize this, I know that I need to be diligent when planning lessons. I want to construct my curriculum to cover skills that will benefit students throughout the rest of their lives.

                  “Why are we learning this? What does this have to do with me?” many teachers have heard similar questions and many students have spoken these words. Ultimately, these are the burning questions I ask myself when writing lesson plans. I want my students to connect with the projects and artists we study and ultimately better understand their relation in the world today. The artists I choose for my lessons are innovators, designers, and creative minds who focus on concepts that help create a global community. Candy Chang, Vik Muniz, and Ellen Lupton are a few of the artists whose ideas I cherish and hope to share with my future classes. As I develop my lesson plans for the next few weeks I want to focus on big ideas and skills that will help my students gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their communities. I want them to become aware of ways they can make a difference and create a positive impact on their proximal community as well as the global community.

Seeing Challanges as Opportunities

On the first day of my student teaching at Antietam Middle/Senior High School my cooperative teacher, Mr. Chad Shalaway, was absent due to bronchitis. Because I could not get more familiar with him, I spent as much time as possible getting to know my students. This was a fantastic opportunity because I feel like they have more respect for me now that I have shown interest in their lives. And it will help me to better understand the student body for which I will be planning lessons and activities, especially after my initial concern learning which classes I would be teaching.

            Chad teaches three sections of computer graphics, two sections of photography and two sections of painting, and when I learned of his schedule I was initially apprehensive, because I didn't feel qualified to teach the Computer Graphics course. I have some experience with Photoshop and iMovie from my digital media class at Kutztown University, however I felt like that was ages ago. So the first day I set my nerves aside and entered the classroom without any preconceived notions as to how it would pan out.

            I spent the first day of my student teaching talking with students about their artwork. I asked them what projects they had completed, which projects were their favorite, and which ones they disliked or found difficult. After seeing many of their previous projects I was eager to begin working with my students because they have shown a tremendous amount of progress, after only two marking periods. However when a question arose during the first period computer graphics class I felt somewhat helpless. I had never used Adobe Illustrator before and the student was unsure of how to complete the next step in their celebrity portrait project. After reading through Chad’s instructions for the substitute, Mrs. Moon, I found no guidance, and did what I saw best for the student. I opened the floor for any other students who understood the next step to help their peer. Unfortunately, none of the students had learned it yet, and the students had to wait until Chad returned the next day. This was a paralyzing moment for me; I struggled the first day because I felt as if my one purpose in the classroom was unfulfilled. However, as the week progressed I became more and more familiar with the program. By Thursday, I was able to guide all the students through transforming their Andy Warhol inspired self-portraits. And although I had initially doubted my abilities, I feel confident and positive about my first placement here at Antietam School District, and I look forward to my next challenge whatever it may be.