Teacher Assisting Update

Hello again everyone!

I just wanted to give the world an update on how my teacher assisting is going so far.
I am currently placed in an amazing 8th grade mathematics classroom and the school could not be nicer. The students are extremely well behaved and so entertaining to observe. I knew there was a reason I wanted to teach middle school students.
I have not taught a lesson all on my own yet, but I am sure that will happen soon enough.

This placement seems really rewarding. I have already had several moments where things just seemed so right. I was able to make connections with kids and have some ah-ha and breakthrough moments. However, there are also some students that I have yet to figure out how to approach them. There is one in particular that I am seriously struggling with. I just don't know what to do at this point. Hopefully I can figure something out.

I probably won't post a whole lot, but I will try to keep thoughts and things up here when I can.

Teacher Assisting

I am very pleased to announce that my teacher assistant placement has worked out!

I will be teaching 8th grade Mathematics at Northern Hills Middle School. I am unbelievably excited to be spending time at this school. Everyone I have met so far is really nice and very willing to work with me. They have even extended various opportunities and options for me that I did not expect or think I would have.

I am glad things have finally worked out. Now I just get to be nervous about how well I can work with the kids and instruct them!

Also... finals....

Inspiration

Ken Robinson TED Talk

Ken Robinson Quotes

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

“I believe this passionately: that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it.”

“Many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not — because the thing they were good at at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.”

“You don’t think of Shakespeare being a child, do you? Shakespeare being seven? He was seven at some point. He was in somebody’s English class, wasn’t he? How annoying would that be?”

Artist Research - The Beehive Collective

Background – The Beehive Collective is a group of individuals (that is often changing) rooted in Eastern Maine. They are all volunteers, but the full-time individuals have paid room and board covered by the projects. They work mostly based on donations to do all their research and to create their posters. When they are done creating their posters, they travel to give lectures on what they have learned and what they have created.

Conceptual Framework – The Collective is all about getting information out there to the public. They start by selecting a topic that is important to them. These topics cover a wide range of issues, many of which relate to technology and nature.

Boundaries – The Collective is limited by the amount of information they can gain access to. They can only design a piece based on the information they are able to gather through their travels and inquiries. They are also limited by the fact that they are a group of people and not a single individual.

Art making Process – After selecting the topic of their next piece, the members of the Collective get as close as they can to the actual issue to research it in depth. They ask anyone and everyone related to the issue to give their side of the tale and any information they know. The final work is designed to represent all they have learned through research and experience. Every member is included in the initial design and layout of the piece. They also collaborate on what animals and other subjects will be used as symbolic representations of the people involved in the issue at hand. Then, every individual puts their own share of work into the actual drawing. The final image is entirely black and white with very graphic qualities. The last, most important step of their process is to give lectures on the topic and give away as many copies of their posters as they can for free.

Key Artworks – 

"The True Cost of Coal" - 2008

"Biodevastation" - 2000

Artist Research - Vik Muniz

Background - Vik Muniz was born into a working-class family in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1961. Through a series of unfortunate events, he was able to make his way to New York City. He has lived and worked since the late 1980s. He started working as a sculptor, but now focuses on the photographic representations of his works. He is most well-known for his works created with multiple objects or materials like chocolate and sugar.

Conceptual framework –Muniz is known for his recreations of famous artworks with materials other than paint. Sometimes these works make connections that draw attention to certain social issues in specific locations. He utilizes specific materials that are related to the issue to create almost photorealistic representations of the individuals involved in the issue.

Boundaries – Muniz is limited by the by his own decisions in the art making process. He is the one who selects the social issue and location to focus on. He is also the one to choose what material to work with.

Key Works –

 “Marat/Sebastiao–Pictures of Garbage”

 – Photograph; originally made with garbage, 2008

“The Gypsy Magna–Pictures of Garbage” 

– Photograph; originally made with garbage, 2008

“Double Mona Lisa, After Warhol”

– Photograph; originally peanutbutter and jelly, 1999

Artmaking Practices – Muniz draws his subject matter from famous artworks and personal experiences. He explores the way different mediums and materials have an impact on the way a work or topic is viewed. His technical strategies include the use of a single material or a single type of material. These materials are selected in a way to get the appropriate message to his viewers. Sometimes, he also utilizes the recreation of famous artworks to make people look harder at the final product. Finally, by photographing his creation instead of displaying the original materials forces viewers to really focus on what they are looking at instead of just glancing.

!!!

Things are about to get crazy.
We are coming up on our last leg of the semester. We only have about five more weeks left. This is crunch time.
I cannot explain how much work has to get done in the next five weeks. Honestly, I am a little bit in denial about all the things I have yet to do. Numerous projects, papers, exams, and homework are weaseling their way into my schedule. There is very little wiggle room or time to relax.
Additionally, I have to start preparing for the Teacher Assisting portion of my time at GVSU. I am both very excited and extremely nervous. I have no clue what to expect, which is terrible because I probably should have some sort of expectations.

I know in the end everything will turn out alright, probably even great, but the anticipation is really getting on my nerves.

MAEA Conference

So the conference went very well.

There were some complications. We were originally told we were going to present once on Friday and once on Saturday. Then we were notified that we had three total presentation times, so we canceled the one we were not originally aware of. However, they canceled the wrong session. So in the end, we had two sessions on Saturday.
This was not the end of our complications. One of the professors from Grand Valley was not able to attend the conference last minute. This meant our GVSU "vendor" table was not set up and we could not help much without the information to provide. There was also some confusion at the registration table. We heard that the people running the registration and information tables associated this professor with our organization and were telling people our sessions were canceled as well. However, they were not canceled, so it is possible that we could have had more people show up to our presentations than actually did.

Even though some things went poorly, so many things went well!
Most of us had the opportunity to meet one of the past Presidents of NAEA, who is also a past President of MAEA, and the current President of RAEA (Retired Art Education Association). He had so many enlightening things he shared with us, and I am sure we can use all of it to our advantage as an organization.
We were all able to see two very influential keynote speakers. These individuals were inspiring and thought provoking. Depending on our own schedules, different individuals in our group were able to attend various workshops and sessions held by other individuals. Each one was well worth the time, and sometimes money, spent to go be educated ourselves.

When we were not attending workshops and sessions, we were walking around the vendor tables. We got to test a variety of art supplies, get free samples, and sign up to get catalogs and a chance to win some supplies. More importantly, we got to network. We were able to talk to people who could potentially help us in our future careers and we got to see who is out there to supply our classrooms with materials.

My favorite part about the trip, though, was that we were able to get to know each other more. I know it sounds super cheesy and lame. However, we need good connections among the members of our organization to be successful in all the activities we choose to do.