Feb 1st Blog

Thinking back to influential classes I have taken, it was always the classes where it was more the teacher's connection with the students, rather than the teaching style, that made the class successful. Just the arrangement of expectations alone didn't have as big an impact on me overall but when the two went together, I was really impacted. I can think back to middle school and my English teacher Mr. Priest. He always had really interesting projects and would also set the expectations by showing lots of examples and spending a day just going over the projects themselves before we began. His enthusiasm in the projects and the time he put into explaining them made a big difference. It was also evident that he wanted you to succeed, so he did the most he could to make that happen by setting clear guidelines. He also had great relationships with the students and took an interest in them individually, always keeping a great sense of humor.

At my placement, a strong sense of community can be felt in the classroom and it is obvious my teacher really cares about the students. He takes interest in their personal lives and always has a good time with them in class. He holds his students to high expectations by taking time to know them individually and know what they are capable of. He can get the kids to work but also not be overbearing or demanding. In my own teaching, I have learned a few things about setting up clear guidelines. I noticed one student in our 7th period, which is late in the day, was having a hard time working. He did not seem to care too much about finishing his project but when I showed him the rubric and mentioned that time spent working was a big part of his grade, his work ethic improved tremendously. I just mentioned it to him as a fact, so he would be aware that his behavior would affect his grade, and now he works for most of the period. Some students need different incentives to get them motivated but I noticed that all of them need and appreciate, especially in art, clear guidelines with detailed instruction and examples of work. For my painting class, I always do a demo before each major step of the painting, like under-painting etc. and this helps them allot.