so, two wednesdays ago, i started placements for my art education . this is the second time i’ve had an official placement, and it is the 3rd school (outside of the district i grew up in) that i have worked at. i have always wanted to teach high school, mainly due to the detail work that the students do. however, due to my k-12 certification, i still need to do placements across the board.
now, going into it i was very hesitant. it’s not that i don’t like kids, but i’ve always felt nervous because i really do not know how to treat them. i went in expecting a bunch of rambunctious kiddos running around with paint. stereotypical assumption? yes. i know that’s wrong, so i bit my lip and walked into an extremely colorful building full of winter-coat-and-hat-and-boot-bundled, excited, energetic, teeny versions of myself. but, i have to say, i freaking loved it. i’ve spent around 5 hours in the classroom so far on wednesdays at a school in brookfield, wisconsin. it is a public, suburban school setting (i have only worked in one private setting) in a semi-wealthy neighborhood. i’ve been working with fourth and fifth graders who are head-over-heels about art. a few weeks ago, they had a presenter come in who helped them all create several large mosaics to decorate the halls of the school. this sparked an idea for my cooperating teacher to help the students create mini-mosaics to sell at their student gallery night. i was in charge of helping the students create these mosaics, and here are some images of what they’ve done. i’ve had so much fun with these students, and it’s amazing what they’re doing–i cannot wait to start another project with them!
emilysparks 