On Tuesday my LCA class which is usually team teaching ended up being solo teaching as my host AT was absent. I was however used to this as learners had one on one meetings with host AT prior to their task interview to finalise everything. It wasn’t much different to team teaching as I lead each class, they’re my visual aids, support studies, lesson plans etc. the only difficulty is that this group of learners tend to need a lot of one on one attention as they can tend to give up if they can’t get something straight away. I need them to move on from the current stage and then I feel they will be more determined with their sculptures and accept the challenges they face. It can be difficult to engage every learner in this group when they’re at starkly different stages. One learner who was further along worked with one of the learners who have missed the last five lessons. This was really helpful as I could work with weak learners and another learner who have also missed the previous five lessons. It makes things very difficult when learners are absent frequently as it means progress is slow and staggered, however this applies to any group of learners at both junior and senior cycle.
One learner is working away and is really getting invested in the work which is great to see, they are referring to the whiteboard checklist and assesses their work as they progress through the tasks. They incorporated support lengths into their skeletal framework without having to be told and without be shown how to do this. This shows active engagement with the project and a thorough investigation into the material and how it can be used/ manipulated. I really want to push learners on moving their structures on as the longer they spend on this stage the more they will get unmotivated. They need to work hard to see the structure come together, then when this comes about they can build in detail into their wire forms through adding in elements of nature e.g. leaves/sticks/berries, buttons or coloured wire. I had planned to speak to my host AT before learners’ next lesson to discuss how we can accomplish this for Thursday’s lesson however they were absent again.
On Wednesday I had arranged with two of my host teachers to take my 1st years that I usually have once a week on Friday for their other double class today, in doing this it meant I had to forfeit my Art History class with my 5th years. I felt this was necessary as I missed classes with learners prior to Christmas. In regards to the 5th years I prepared everything for the class and my host teacher delivered it. I sent them the PowerPoint, prepared a worksheet for learners, prepared the handouts, printed out resource images, and set up the word bank with the relevant key words for that lesson and the previous lesson. I understand that I would not be able to do this when I’m graduated and working in a school however if I was fully qualified I would not have to get my units of learning completed in a short time frame and have to try fit everything in when you miss classes due to extracurricular events/ half days etc.
I feel it was of huge benefit to my 1st year group as they will be more focused in Friday’s class as it will be fresh in their head rather than having to recap from the previous week. Learners are also much more familiar to the procedure of building up masks and this has sped their progress up. Learners have really developed the form in their masks during this lesson. Learners used a combination of cotton wool, wire, and sponges in their mask. If I had learners for more lessons I would encourage them to create cardboard templates and really push them to consider their mask as a complex 3D form however with only a few lessons remaining I need to reduce my expectations and make it more achievable in the timeframe. This being said I am really pleased with the form the learners have created thus far.
I got two learners who were absent to complete worksheet of front and side profile to help them with their mask design. Prior to the lesson I looked at the design work learners have created and I came to the conclusion that the worksheets should only be used with learners who are anyway indecisive with their masks design and weaker learners.
One learner in the group whose design work is quite weak in terms of their drawing is working really well and is thoroughly enjoying the process. I feel that learners who are weaker are much braver when it comes to creating work in a 3D format.
Unfortunately there was a few learners absent and have missed a few lessons (i.e. only have shell done, no building up). Hopefully learners will be in on Friday and build in form. Still a bit of disruption in terms of learners messing, it has improved however I did have to give learners a warning. If learners continue in this manner in the next lesson I will have to separate them. I talked to learners at the end of the lesson and advised them that their behaviour could not continue like it was early on in the lesson. I had spoke to one of the learners about their behaviour before Christmas however their behaviour did improve but it is starting to slip back so I need to address this before this occurs.
Thursday morning was the last day learners were printing. I encouraged learners who had very few prints to get as many of them done as possible. Learners who had a large amount done over past few lessons were advised to take a chine collé print as they had already cut out material in previous lesson. I Advised learners to refer to checklist from previous lesson and see what else they had to get done. This worked really well as the checklists were personalised to them and not a general checklist. I made some notes upon reflection on the prints learners created in lesson 13, I got learners to come one at a time to discuss areas they need to address i.e. use more ink, be careful taking prints-need to ensure don’t have ink on their hands, move onto next stage etc. Learners reflected on the prints they created during lesson and on work created in previous lesson. They then had to select one of their prints for the class collective book of prints. They had to choose their best quality print. As part of the end evaluation learners spread their selected prints out on the table and we discussed the reasons why they were chosen. There was evidence of a variety of printing techniques selected and overall the work is very strong. I decided then to read out some of the learners written descriptions about their hybrid and learners had to guess which one and why and then discuss the art elements that were evident in the prints discussed. As learners have put in so much hard work I wanted to find a way I could reward learners for this. I want to reward learners with a variety of ability, not only the strong learners but the learners who have really put in so much work and built up their skill along the way. Also for learners who helped out in tidying the art room by volunteering or doing it without being asked.
I will give three learners merit cards under three categories:
-Excellent work (For learners who have created really strong work, were experimental, and engaged completely in the printing process).
-Best team player (For learners who helped with handing materials/resources out, clean up, engaging with questioning and evaluation discussions)
-Most improved (For weaker learners who have demonstrated enthusiasm, hard work and evidence of building up skill)
On Thursday evening as my Host AT was absent again I therefore got to work with the LCA’s on my own, I quite like when this happens as I get more solo teaching hours and therefore more experience in the process. This being said this group needs a lot of one on one attention which is difficult when I’m on my own. As learners were at such a variety of stages I got learners who were further along than others to help their peer.
I had a few interruptions from other teachers coming in to ask me questions and one 6th year student who had forgotten to set up a picture of their still life for their project and so needed to do it today. As my host teacher wasn’t in I had to work with this learner as they needed to take the image for their “Mock Art exam” (Not an exam, continuing on with booklet however all 6th years to focus on still lives). This took away from my time with learners so I didn’t get everything completed. Progress is very slow, only two learners have skeleton completed with their feet connected. I feel that learners are slow as they can’t see how it will all come together. I showed them the two birds that have been completed thus far however it was near the end so I will need to show learners this when they come back after midterm. I also might need to do some work on their birds in my spare time so learners can work more effectively and see how everything has come together.
On Friday there was a last-minute room relocation due to the mocks as the three art rooms were being used for 6th years to continue working on their booklet with a focus on Still Life. My host teacher had forgotten to advise me of this however all good teachers are prepared for any eventuality. The classroom I was assigned was a normal classroom that was completely unsuitable for mask making in terms of not having sinks and art equipment. I therefore needed to improvise in terms of reevaluating the tasks to be completed during the task. I brought over learners drawings, their art packs, and their dry masks to the reassigned classroom. As it was a normal classroom and based on the stage learners were at I had to work with dry materials. I got learners to sketch on patterns and design work onto their mask through referring back to their initial drawing studies. Learners sketched their design work using pencils and then markers. Then learners created colour studies in their notebooks, learners also were advised to annotate their designs and colour studies. Some learners need to go back in the next lesson to add in form and then start painting. It really wasn’t ideal that this lesson occurred outside the art room as it would have been more beneficial for learners to complete form and then when they return after midterm to launch straight into painting however these were the cards I was dealt and I enjoy the challenge of having to change last minute. I may need to schedule an additional class with learners to complete painting of masks however I will aim to split the next lesson into building up form and beginning blocking in areas of colour with paint. I used the opportunity of the new classroom to test out a new seating layout. I applied the technique of one of my host AT’s (not 1st yr group’s host AT) of strategically placing students around the room. I separated learners who tended to mess when they were near each other however I still placed learners beside one of their friends in the class. As such learners were happy enough with their new seats. This method of seating arrangement worked really well and I feel strongly about introducing this into the art room as the remaining two lessons need to be fast paced and focused on the task at hand.
Overall the outcome of the lesson worked well considering the constraints of the non art room setting.
Friday also marks the start of the midterm break, a well deserved rest to revive myself and come back ready to get straight back into working for my final two weeks of school placement.
-E. Moran
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