Reyn kiesel
Teaching Reflection
On November 26, 2024, I taught a middle school Art class at Legacy Junior High School. Paul McLean was the teacher who let me teach. The students were in 8th grade. The lesson that I put together for Paul was about an artist named Megan Coyle. I organized the lesson into three sections: the artist, the elements of art, and the art project. The art project was a collage that corresponded to Megan's work. Students were expected to choose a reference photo, collect magazine clippings, and create a collage to show their understanding of the elements of art.
When the students came into the classroom, they were all very kind to me. They asked me questions about why I was there and who I was. They respected me throughout the lesson and asked many questions. They were a little threatened into behaving because Paul told them he would take points off their grades if they didn't. Either way, they were all kind to me during the lesson and participated very well. During the project, some students did not want to participate, but I had to work to convince them. Most of the students who didn't want to participate eventually worked on it. I had two students who were somewhat against the project. To address this, I suggested they use a reference from their favorite album cover, which motivated them.
I didn't feel nervous about teaching the class; I was actually pretty excited to teach that age group because I had never taught middle school before. Throughout the lesson plan, the classroom was lively with questions, and they listened well. During the project, it was a bit chaotic because the class was quite large. I was a bit nervous at that stage, but it all worked out, and everyone stayed moderately calm for a large class.
The main lesson that I learned was that not every student is going to do their work, and you can't make them all do it. It made me a bit sad when some students didn't participate in the lesson; I tried hard to include them, but after all that work, they still didn't participate. I learned that I shouldn't worry too much about some students not doing their work.
The skill I would have liked to practice more in the classroom is time management. I realized that once we started the project, the students wouldn't be able to finish in one class period. I should have set up a shorter project so my lesson would fit within my timeframe. The lesson itself was done in good time; it was just the length of the project that took more time than I expected. Overall, the experience was great, and I learned quite a lot at Legacy Junior High.
