Almost forgot to mention

One of my students in the classroom during the art lesson, who is also on an IEP was working at the paint station next to one of the young girls in my class. This little girl wears glasses and in about 10 seconds of addressing another studnets questions her glasses were just covered with black paint. The paint was water-based, thank heavens, and it washed off easily. The paint also got all over the students face, but it was cleaned with no further incidence. The event was a complete accident, as this student likes to talk by moving his arms around and simply caught those in his path of travel.

Many other studnets went home covered in paint as well that day. However, I did not worry because it was water based and could easily be washed away. Just remember, when it comes to painting with young children, use water-based, not acrylic!

Lots of Paint

I just had to say to all those who are thinking about having an art lesson involving paint and Grade 3's. No matter how hard I tried, I still had to stay for an extra hour after school trying to scrub all the desks clean. I didn't have to stay, but the custodian hardly every comes out to clean the portable I am in and the children's desks were just covered with paint and crayon. All of this somehow got on the desks, even though I covered them with newspaper to save myself the hassle of cleaning up after the activity.
The art work turned out great and in the end everyone was happy. I however will be more thoughful and considerate of my after school availability the next time I plan a lesson such as that one. The lesson was fun and everyone enjoyed themselves and got a lot out of it, but I was simply surprised with the amount of cleaning that was to follow. I will be ready next time and I just hope that all of those who are considering to do something new in their art class are considering the extra time that will go into preparing the lessons, material and the cleaning process afterwards.

First Days of Block

I just wanted to post a general update on how things are going so far. I am really enjoying my Block and I definitely feel that this is where we must all take advantage of our resources because this is the setting in which we will learn the most this year about becoming future educators. The theory behind the classroom environment may be an important ingredient to one's success, however, there is much going on in the classroom that you just tend to never learn about in class.

My students are great, but they still have good and bad days and on those bad days I must be ready to switch gears at any moment. I have learned to not be afraid to change my lesson on the fly to follow the interest of the students and I am definitely not afraid to scratch a lesson completely to do something more interactive and fun with my students. I was initially enjoying the fact that I was given my information well in advance to plan all my lessons and prepare myself for the class, but I am finding that I would rather wait until the last moment to plan lessons so that I can be sure of what they are currently interested in and to give me an idea of how much work they are capable of performing.

My first two lessons were well planned with lots of material available to be covered; however, I had to exclude many of my extension tasks because of the limited amount of time and the pace at which my students work. Other factors such as getting changed before and after recess, getting snack time and long transition times have all affected the length of my lessons as well as limiting my choices of activities for the students. These factors were taken to mind, but never fully considered while lesson planning, but I feel that I can now make more effective lesson plans that will accomodate for these minor disturbances, as well as creating better management techniques to ensure that we move quickly enough to not waste any time in our limited day.

I hope everyone is having a great time at their placements and I wish you all the luck in succeeding with your lesson planning and teaching.