Reflection
What went well? What did you learn? During my time at Thompson Valley I felt that my one-on-one time with students went really well. I enjoyed the organization of class time by starting with a warm up and then students having studio time to work on their projects. Also during studio time they were put into groups and rotated through the darkroom so that everyone had a chance to work in the darkroom. I was then able to walk around and assist students when they needed help on a worksheet or while working on their projects. This time was really important for the students so they were able to receive feedback on their ideas and I was able to question them and challenge them to push their ideas to their full potential. This also gave me a chance to help those students who were struggling or behind because of missing class. Through this I was able to learn how to manage the class time wisely and give all the students a chance to work in the darkroom and I was also able to walk around and make sure that students were staying on task. I also learned that I was able to make connections with the students while talking about their artwork during one-on-one conversations. Being able to make connections with my students is very important to me so I was glad I was able to do that during my time at Thompson Valley.
What would you do differently? As I finished up my time at Thompson Valley I knew that I still needed to work on my classroom management. Something I would have done differently to work on my classroom management would have been to come up with a better system of getting the students attention. This could have been having an attention spot at the front of the class so that students understood that when I was in this spot that I need them to quiet down and give me their attention. I also would have like to involve the class in a discussion about the expectations of the classroom. We had gone through a syllabus but I think it would have been more effective to also involve students in giving examples about the expectations for the class. This would have given them a chance to be more accountable for themselves. I appreciate the time I had at Thompson Valley and I learned a lot that will impact my teaching in the future.
What would you do differently? As I finished up my time at Thompson Valley I knew that I still needed to work on my classroom management. Something I would have done differently to work on my classroom management would have been to come up with a better system of getting the students attention. This could have been having an attention spot at the front of the class so that students understood that when I was in this spot that I need them to quiet down and give me their attention. I also would have like to involve the class in a discussion about the expectations of the classroom. We had gone through a syllabus but I think it would have been more effective to also involve students in giving examples about the expectations for the class. This would have given them a chance to be more accountable for themselves. I appreciate the time I had at Thompson Valley and I learned a lot that will impact my teaching in the future.