Classroom Management

I think that the two major issues in classroom management in the art room that I have encountered are disorganization and noise level. In every art room (except for my practicum last semester) organization on the teachers part has in my opinion prevented the students from producing the best work they are capable of. In most rooms there is no real organizational system for materials so students are wasting time searching and making accommodations for missing things. Along with this tables are usually dirty and other materials are not properly taken care of and can not be used to their best potential. This results in classroom management issues because students are roaming around and possibly arguing over materials. I think that things can get out of hand when you do not have a regulated system, however, art teachers seem to have the most problems in this department. This also wastes time when it comes to arrivals and clean-ups. This is especially challenging because it has been proven by Weinstein that smooth transitions is one of the three key factors in classroom management.
The other issue with classroom management in art rooms that I have seen is the noise level. Because of the independent working nature of art I think that it lends itself more to loud volumes than other subjects. This is added to by noisy materials like drills, sanding, etc but also by the music that the teachers usually agree to play. I think that playing music can be a really good thing and can also be used as a management strategybut it is often times abused. Then when the noise level gets to loud it is hard for the teacher to be hear and direct attention.

Motivation

I think that the most unmotivated I have ever been to finish an assignment was in fourth grade (haha! I know) when we had to read a couple chapters (I don't remember how many pages) in the book The Sign of the Beaver. I HATED that book and I remember kneeling on the couch, facing backwards to look out the window it backed up to with the book in my hand. I remember being so made at my mom for making me read it and thinking I was being tortured. I don't think I have ever been so frustrated with school and teachers in my life. I still remember it and that was 12 years ago! I honestly don't think I finished it and if I didn't absorb a single word. The things that did keep me working was my parents pressure and the fear of failing and that was not very motivating. I didn't want to do the assignment because I taught the book was so boring. It was about a boy who lived in the wilderness and taught a Native American to read and he taught him about nature. I remember thinking that it was such a "boy book" and I could not relate. I have always been a really slow reader so getting myself to do it was already challenging and when I didn't like the subject either it was all over. I do not remember getting any punishment for not finishing the assignment so I either faked it or have erased the memory of getting in trouble from my mind.

I think the most important way to motivate your students to do work is to make sure that the work load is not overbearing, and that what they are doing is in some way relevant to them. No student likes to do busy work!!! There is one student in my field experience that has the worst work ethic I have EVER seen in a student. However, I did get him to be productive for a few weeks when he began working on a mural that he had come up with. I think that because he had the authority and got to do what was interesting to him he actually felt some desire to work. However, once the project was finished he went back to not working on anything. This student has taught me the importance of student autonomy.

Indentity within the Field Experience

Our field experience with this class is at an alternative high school, and having this be so different from my public suburban high school experience I had no idea what to expect before we started. I am happy to report though it has been a very pleasant surprise that has taught me so much about adolescent identity, behavior, and artistic ability. I think however that the identity development part is the most interesting because the kids at this school's identities have developed differently then most high schoolers because they have been put into situations that have made them adapt a identity quickly and many have been put into situations that have made up large parts of their identity for them.

There are so many students at my field experience who are experiencing the qualities that are described in chapter 11 of Adolescents at School. I especially see a lot of students experiencing what Nick Greenberg experienced when Sadowski says "now I'm one thing, now I'm something else, but I'm all of me simultaneously." The students at the school are very diverse in race so that makes up on layer of their personality, they have an academic layer, a rebellious layer, and many others that they turn on and off and in the end make up there whole. There is one student in my class there that particularly stands out. For the blogs purpose I will call him Mike and is 15 years old. His parents are divorced and he lives with his Dad who is comfortable enough to send Mike to college but also attended this alternative high school when he was a kid. Mike got into some legal trouble for violence when he was younger and this is why he attends this high school now. Mike does better academically then most students but also has a rebellious side that is encouraged by the other students at the school. Mike has a lot of potential but is being told that no one from this high school goes straight to a university so he feels that even though he knows what he wants to do (be an art teacher!!!!) he has to go to community college first. Mike also happens to be a VERY talented artist.

This last part is particularly important because that is what I have seen flourish since I have been working at this school. In the past trimester his work has really caught other students attention because he is working on a murals that are being displayed in the school. Parents, teachers, and students alike have told him what talent he has and how he should pursuit it. Being known as this mural artist gives another layer to his identity that was not there before and makes him even more complex. He can still identify with all the other layers but this adds another dimension of his identity and because of the praise hopefully makes every aspect of his identity more confident and self assured.

I personally can relate to the artistic side of Mike because I was much more talented in art than other academic subject areas which made me different than most of my friends. However, I can not relate to him in reguards to his rebellious side. He is such a nice person it is even harder for me to believe that it exsits but the evidence is there. It is hard for me to keep him focused and working during the period because I can not understand this rebellious side that is keeping him from working. I also can not relate to his school related problems that keep his mind distracted. However, I know that he has amazing potential that should not be clouded by this other side of him and I need to learn to understand so I can channel this into his goals.