On Tuesday I did a full day collograph printmaking program with grade 9 girls. I love printmaking. Collograph is a technique where the artist collages materials and texture together to make the plate that is used for printing. I haven't seen this program before so I didn't teach but I did make the teacher's example for her and I sat with a table of girls who were struggling to help boost their confidence and help them through the process. Their prints turned out wonderfully and I feel confident that I could teach this program.

On Wednesday Anne was away and I did the puppet program with Lili. I taught the program in the afternoon and Lili and I learned from each other's methods and styles of teaching the program.

On Thursday Anne and I had two special needs classes for the puppet program. The groups were small and it was very rewarding to help the children create puppets they were proud of. There was a confusion with the booking and the students thought they were making clay so they were a bit disappointed and not all of them have the ability to cope with change so we did our best to make the puppets extremely fun. Anne asked me if she fell off the face of the earth would I be able to teach puppets. I think I could definitely teach the program. I haven't practiced the intro and puppet show at the beginning but I've seen it enough times that I'm sure I could do it and make it my own.

On Friday I did accordion books with grade 12 in the morning. We used the same fancy paper that we had for Forest of Reading and we even had some donated suede for them to use. The group came all the way from Barrie and Anne wanted to give them a special day. This was my first experience with grade 12 and my first experience having a student flirt with me. Awkward! Since this age group needs less help Anne asked me to make a sample book. So I made a book and circulated helping students as needed.

Book nerds invade Harbourfront

On Monday we worked with a JK/SK class all day. In the morning we did painted faces and in the afternoon we did clay. This is my first time seeing both those programs so I shadowed and assisted where I could.

Forest of Reading is an amazing two-day festival that celebrates young people's authors. Over the course of the two days 8,000 young people invade Harbourfront to cheer on their favourite authors. I worked with the school visits team on Tuesday and Wednesday to run a drop in accordion bookmaking workshop. I hole punched so many holes to bind the books that my hand stopped working temporarily, but it was a really great day! Although these books are slightly different than the ones we do in our regular school visits program I've made enough of them to know what to do. I taught several of the sessions and co-taught others. I really love this program and its great to feel confident teaching it.

On Thursday I worked with Anne on two half day lino print programs with grade 7s. This is the first time that I've seen the program so I shadowed and assisted but didn't do any teaching.

On Friday we had two half day painted faces programs with JK/SK. I've seen this program before. I watched Anne in the morning and then taught it in the afternoon. Anne still did the intro, which is a history and background that I haven't trained on or memorized yet and I did the demonstrations. It was really fun.

Although I work primarily with Anne I have had many opportunities to work with other teachers. It's interesting to see how each teacher adds their own spin to things. The nice thing about school visits is that there is no lesson planning. The lessons are created and then teachers show up and teach them. No one is going home at night and planning lessons for the next day. The downside to that however is that you are teaching the same thing over and over and it is not authentically yours. I like seeing how different teachers interpret it and develop it in their own way.

"It's like being a grandmother"

Today one of the classroom teachers said to me: "teaching here is like being a grandmother, you get to do great things with them but then you send them away."

On Monday I observed the "Discover the Waterfront" program with a group of grade 2s and then we went back inside to make accordion books. I'm a pro now at making accordion books. The program ended early and I finished up the day thinking about the school program Mike and I will be designing.

On Tuesday I observed two sessions of "Altered Art" with grade 6 classes. This program looks at identity and I've seen how important having relevant and intriguing sources is for this age group. When they make collage they need sports and fashion magazines that they relate to in order to draw inspiration. The school visits program has lots of donated magazines but most of them are old and crafts focused. I'll be sending out a call to my friends not to throw their magazines away!

On Wednesday I worked on research for our school program related to an upcoming exhibit at The Power Plant.

On Thursday I did "Rod Puppets" all day. I watched Anne in the morning and taught part of the session in the afternoon. It was great to start teaching again.

On Friday I helped with prep for other programs, getting materials ready and organized.

For every program that I assist with I do the set up and the clean up. The community at Harbourfront is great and we all pitch in the get every ready to go and then clean up. Set up is about an hour and 15 minutes in the morning, depending on how complicated the class is. Many of the projects have a lot of components that need to be organized for both the morning and afternoon classes as there is not enough of a break to do a second set up and eat lunch between the classes.

Puppets, accordion books and clay oh my!

Before I started at OISE I worked in administration at Harbourfront Centre. I am thrilled to come back here for my internship and work with all the wonderful people in school visits. Most of my experience in education has been in museums or galleries or art schools and so it feels great to be back in my element.

This year has been an exercise in figuring out if I would rather be in a classroom or a museum. It's a question I've been thinking about this past week. I still miss the kids from my last practicum, and there really is something to be said for having your own class. But it's also really rewarding to give kids a positive, exciting, unique opportunity to make some fabulous works of art. In an hour and half there's no pressure to assess or discipline, rather I can help kids make puppets and truly enjoy themselves. As a school teacher you are teaching different lessons to the same kids, here its the same lessons to different kids. Every day is different and every day is less stressful and often more enjoyable than being in a school.

The atmosphere here is also very different from the schools I've been in. While the teachers here are very busy the environment is more relaxed than a school as people here aren't struggling with report cards, classroom management, discipline etc. People are friendly and happy. They are a joy to work with and to learn from.

Some things are similar. Lessons are established in a similar way to the 3-part lessons we worked with at OISE. Students are introduced to a concept and their prior knowledge is activated prior to the art making which is the body of the lesson. Often there is time for a debrief about the process which is a great way to validate the art that the students produced.

I've been pondering the question of school/non-school site this week but mostly I've been learning from my supervisor Anne and several of the other teachers here and just really enjoying being back in my element.

I work 8:30 to 3:30 with an informal, short lunch break.

Next Steps

The struggles, upheavals, changes and drama during the last four weeks have been trying and emotionally draining. This practicum has also been the best learning experience I could have about the realities of teaching and what the first week of school will feel like. After my AT moved to HSP his job was split in two. One half was given to a half-time teacher to make him full time, and the other half wasn't filled until after I left. Thus my last two weeks were my opportunity to help the students transition. I was the classroom teacher, especially for the classes where we had a new supply every day/period. I think that I helped provide continuity and stability for my students who were on the verge of distraught during my last week with the stress of saying goodbye and not knowing who would be teaching them next. Although I'm tired and happy to get some sleep again, I do miss them and its hard to let go.

My biggest challenge as a teacher going forward is to keep working on controlling instead of adapting to situations. I am very reactive to situations and I sometimes lose myself in what is happening. The trouble with having an introverted personality is that I observe and absorb before reacting and responding. Teaching requires me to take a step forward and react instantly, but more so I need to control instead of being controlled by my situation. I made great improvements last practicum in terms of separating Ms. Williams from Meghan. My challenge going forward is to be even more of an authority figure, to be less affected by what's happening in school and even more in charge of my classroom. Being "on" all the time goes counter to my innate personality and my needs as person. My challenge now is to balance what I need to do as a teacher and how I naturally react to situations.

I responded to Vera, Melissa, Sai and Vera.

Bullying

The last few days have been the hardest I've faced as a teacher. Despite my best efforts to create a safe space for my students, the bullying and harassment that has been present all year with 8B has surfaced with a vengeance. I was tuned in to potential issues, recognized a problem, attempted to stop it but the students ignored my instructions and went ahead as planned with a play presentation that was hurtful to another member of the class. I shouldn't have trusted they would make the right decision. I should have checked their scripts before they performed. I was tired, overwhelmed and I dropped the ball. I have done my best to repair the damage that happened on my watch. I have had a solid community circle with the perpetrators, apologies have been well thought out, plans of action put in place. Guidance is involved and stepping up efforts to deal with the seismic divides in the classroom. This week, caring was not enough. And yet the fact that I do care leaves me so broken hearted that I wasn't able to be the teacher that I want to be. And that is a really shitty way to wrap up what has been a successful practicum.

Are they even listening?

Last week all our students went to see The Neverending Story at Young People's Theatre. The play fits into our Pathway on Courage, which is all about reading comprehension and understanding texts. Prior to going to the theatre we worked on pulling out the main details from a text and we also reviewed what to pay attention to during the production. After the play we summarized the performance as a class and then we moved into their assignment: writing a play review. Students were given organizers that gave them the specific questions to answer in their play reviews. We went over the rubric, made an anchor chart, reviewed instructions during each lesson and worked one on one to complete the task. Despite it all they just weren't getting it. They decided within the first 5 minutes of the movie that they didn't like it, so they stopped paying attention. They decided that they hated the play and instead of backing up their opinions with supporting facts, as per the assignment instructions, the majority of one class wrote rants. They wrote opinion pieces and/or summaries of the play and ignored their organizers and assignment instructions almost entirely. I've spent this whole week working with them and the result is that they haven't been paying attention. Or they've opted not to listen.

Reading their play reviews was a very frustrating task for me. I had moments of thinking that I've failed as a teacher because the majority of the class bombed the assignment. But then I marked my other two classes and for the most part their reviews were great. The issue, and I've come to learn that many teachers have the same issue with this class, is that they have poor listening skills and don't follow directions well. They are outspoken and opinionated but can't follow through on assignments. Nevertheless, I know that I can improve my own practice. If I have a class like that again I would make sure that they hand their organizers in with their assignments, so that they are more accountable and on task. I will also follow their progress even more closely so I know that they are on task and can't nip problems in the bud. Ultimately though, there is only so many times I can repeat myself, or give clear instructions.

Next week my students in that class will be redoing their assignment in class. They will receive their assignment with a mark and assess where they went wrong. Then, in class, the students will fill in their organizer all over again. There will be no shortcuts, no "I'll do it a home" or "I know what I'm gonna write." They will redo it in detail and hand it in with their assignment. Then they will have one period to re-write the assignment by hand and submit it at the end of class. The new mark will be averaged with the old. In part I am being generous by providing them with the opportunity to get a better grade. However, I believe it is important to reign in their attitude and lack of listening skills and demonstrate that following instructions is important. Miss Williams is disappointed.

Goodbye Comfort Zone, Hello Glenview

During my last practicum I was learning new things, and teaching them to my students, on a daily basis. But it was all within my comfort zone. I'm not a drama expert, but I have a familiarity and a comfort with how to teach it. My main challenge as a rotary teacher was classroom management. At Glenview I'm teaching subjects that I've never taught before but I have the advantage of teaching three classes as opposed to twelve.

I absolutely adore being able to get to know my students. Last practicum it took me the better part of the month before students would turn to me instead of to my AT. These students have been coming to me since my step days. They've gotten to know me faster because I've been teaching a lot more than during my last practicum, and I have much more face time to interact, answer their questions and get to know them. Caring about them has been the most rewarding and straightforward part of my first week.

My challenge this week is to adjust to the environment at my new school and to working with my new AT. My last AT was extremely committed to me and to my success. He gave me extensive feedback, both detailed and general, to help me improve my practice. This time around the feedback is very minimal, which I suppose is okay for a second practicum. I am now comfortable in front a classroom, I can run and manage a lesson, I can get through to the students. I am a competent, caring teacher. Yet, there is still room for improvement. The feedback that would be useful at this point is how to fine-tune, tweak and adjust my practice in order to improve on what I'm doing. I can always be doing better. My AT isn't paying close attention to what I'm doing and I will have to get used to not getting the feedback that I want. I will learn to adjust on my own and through speaking to other teachers and teacher candidates. Nonetheless I'm logging great practice time in front of the class and gaining significant experience. This time around will certainly be different, which through me off at first, but it will definitely be a learning experience.