so apparently, art teachers in the Middle Tennessee area really want to keep their jobs, who knew? how has substitute teaching been going? it's a mix of awesome and super helpful with a bit of agony. on most days, it is great! as an art teacher, i'm not usually exposed to lunch counts, discipline, homework, parent letters, etc. it is very helpful to see what the kids (and the teachers) deal with all day when they're not in the art room.
in college, i lived in a happy "everyone loves art, best thing ever" bubble. substitute teachings is definitely giving me some much needed perspective on my actual role in a school. also, i love seeing how different teachers deal with organizing things and dealing with discipline problems, very inspirational. and on days when i am lucky enough to be in an art room, it is (usually) wonderful to see what things are in the room, how it is arranged, the rules, the art time lines, posters, and all that other great stuff!
so while i am usually working from 7:30 to 3 with evenings and weekends off, i have had way too much extra time...in which i have been making all kinds of things for my future classroom. here are some things!
Discipline Log
i really understand classroom management a lot more now that i've seen how other teachers do it and after being faced some really badly behaved students. i need to make a new rules and consequences poster, since my ideas on those have changed.
Consequences
- Verbal Warning
- Time Out Chair, Remove from Project
- Take Home Note
The take home note and discipline log are of my own design. i want a slightly steampunky industrial theme in my room, so the take home notes are like caution signs to be filled out and signed.
always keeping even the worst punishment positive, never losing hope! all of the take home notes are kept in the log folder. and yes, i had to make a play on the word "log", love the wood grain cover.
Lesson Plans
there has also been time to get serious about lesson plans. you can
check out the curriculum i have planned here for more details. but i did finally start a binder with typed lesson plans by grade, with standards, examples, games, worksheets, all that stuff! very proud of my progress so far.
eventually, i'll have one for middle and high school as well, but i thought i'd start with elementary since it's the most likely job i'd get and it seems to be the most difficult.
Collecting and making things....
things i've made: a super cute name tag for my desk. "Mrs. Moore" made from vintage wooden blocks painted white.
standards cards for kids. since they have to be displayed, i thought i'd try to make them less pointless and put them in a language that the kids can understand. so when they ask "why are we doing this?" one of many reasons i can give it that it's on the standards cards!
(trying so hard to stay away from rainbows. i know that once i start it's a slippery slope to the end of rainbow lane. but there are 6 of them, how could i resist?)
and onto collecting....my super sweet astro van (Vincent) has a dead battery. :( so rather than serve as a way of transportation, it is a storage building for all of my art stuffs (books, supplies, posters, furniture, etc...). i'm kind of really excited about getting a job if it only means that i can clear out my house! i have so much that i cannot throw away...such as...
and also recently, finding new and inspirational art blogs to follow. new favorite:
Cassie Stephens, a fellow Middle Tennessee art teacher. very inspiring, in every way, check her out!
