Reflective Essay
I believe that overall this lesson went well. I could tell that many students were excited to begin working on this assignment. In the beginning of the lesson when we were discussing artistic style, not all students supplied an opinion but those who did shared excellent thoughts and statements to help everyone in the class understand. They all did well when we were distinguishing the styles of famous artists' work and also known photographers that we began to look at. While doing this introductory activity I was able to see that the majority of the students in the class would be able to successfully determine a common style used by the known photographer that they would choose to emulate for their assignment.
Through teaching this lesson I learned about my teaching style and all that goes into a lesson. I taught this lesson in a lecture style with a lot of student involvement and discussion. I feel as if this type of instruction is fitting when introducing an assignment and final project that the students will be working on the rest of the semester. I was pleased that my nervousness faded away as I began speaking in front of the students and continued to teach. Near the end of the lesson, I had the chance to discuss things more in depth individually with students who needed further instruction. I felt as if I had planned my lesson sufficiently and was prepared with clearly written handouts and information. I also had rehearsed my lesson in order to feel more prepared and I believe that helped me plan timing and be aware of what to say.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I think I would provide more of my own materials, including books of photographer’s work. I would also do things differently in order to get more of the students involved in the discussions, rather than the same students speaking often. I would use the strategy of giving time then calling on a student to share their opinion. I would also try to plan to introduce this project before the last day before a break to decrease missing students and mentality of the students present.
Lastly, teaching this lesson helped me know that teaching art, specifically photography, is still very appealing to me and something I enjoy. I know that I still need to work on setting up classroom management, as do all new teachers, but I feel that with these experiences I will continue to improve. My philosophy of teaching has evolved further as I have become recognized as the teacher in the room. I believe that all students can benefit from learning about and creating art and given tools by an art teacher students can begin to thrive with their creativity and individually grow as a student.
Through teaching this lesson I learned about my teaching style and all that goes into a lesson. I taught this lesson in a lecture style with a lot of student involvement and discussion. I feel as if this type of instruction is fitting when introducing an assignment and final project that the students will be working on the rest of the semester. I was pleased that my nervousness faded away as I began speaking in front of the students and continued to teach. Near the end of the lesson, I had the chance to discuss things more in depth individually with students who needed further instruction. I felt as if I had planned my lesson sufficiently and was prepared with clearly written handouts and information. I also had rehearsed my lesson in order to feel more prepared and I believe that helped me plan timing and be aware of what to say.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I think I would provide more of my own materials, including books of photographer’s work. I would also do things differently in order to get more of the students involved in the discussions, rather than the same students speaking often. I would use the strategy of giving time then calling on a student to share their opinion. I would also try to plan to introduce this project before the last day before a break to decrease missing students and mentality of the students present.
Lastly, teaching this lesson helped me know that teaching art, specifically photography, is still very appealing to me and something I enjoy. I know that I still need to work on setting up classroom management, as do all new teachers, but I feel that with these experiences I will continue to improve. My philosophy of teaching has evolved further as I have become recognized as the teacher in the room. I believe that all students can benefit from learning about and creating art and given tools by an art teacher students can begin to thrive with their creativity and individually grow as a student.