KATIE KUTZ
Artist/ Student/ Art Educator
EDUC 450
In the fall of 2021, I took the course EDUC 450. This class had a lecture and practicum component to it. This course covered themes such as class organization, planning, active learning, and classroom management. We looked at legal issues and community professional responsibilities as well. During the lecture portion of the class, we had the opportunity to hear directly from the staff members who worked at Rocky Mountain High School as well as some of the current student teachers. For the practicum portion of the class, I was placed in two different art classes. In the first quarter I was with Mr. Ibanez in his Introduction to Digital Design class. The second quarter I went and worked with Mr. Dukart in his AP Art class. This portion of the class allowed us to put into practice the skills and concepts learned from the lecture portion.
This class was extremely beneficial for me. I had the opportunity to teach a lesson to both classes that I worked in and reflect on what went wrong and what went well. This was the first time in my practicum experiences that I got to teach a lesson to a full class on my own. From this experience I have been able to improve upon my lesson planning and organization skills. I really enjoyed working with all the different students and it was interesting to see the difference between an introduction class and an AP class. During the lecture portion I was very grateful for all the staff that came to talk to us. I learned a lot about how to work with ELL students as well as who to talk to for support with IEP and 504 students. Throughout this class we looked at a lot of different strategies for teaching from the book Making Thinking Visible. From this I was able to add a lot of new strategies to my teaching toolbox. Overall, this class has taught me a lot about lesson planning, talking with students, classroom management, and mostly it served as a great check in for where I am at with my teaching skills and to be able to set goals for myself as I go into my student teaching.
Standard One: Demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in content.
This artifact is the interdisciplinary lesson that I worked on in the lecture portion of EDUC 450. This lesson aligns with element b of standard one. This lesson incorporates art, English, family and consumer science, and social studies. The different content areas all combine to form one summative assessment at the end of the unit that hits on each different content area addressed.
This was the second lesson that I taught to my class of AP art students at Rocky Mountain High School. This artifact aligns with element a of Standard one. This lesson hits many of the standards and was planned based on what was witnessed and talked about with students. I noticed that students started struggling trying to come up with ideas. After realizing that this was most of the class I talked to my mentor teacher about doing a quick lesson on ideation. After the lesson many of the students used the techniques we covered to come up with new ideas and get back on track to finishing their portfolios. I made sure to include multiple different ways to complete the ideation technique so learners could choose which way they best worked.
Standard Two: Establish a safe, inclusive and respectable learning environment for a diverse population of students
I chose my classroom management plan for this standard because it aligns with element a of standard two. My management plan sets up the expectations I have for the class and my students as well as what parents and students can expect out of me. This creates a predictable learning environment and students will have an understanding of acceptable behavior in the classroom. This is the start of building that student-teacher relationship.
I also chose my classroom narrative assignment from working at Rocky Mountain High because it aligns with element b of standard two. This narrative gave me an awareness of the PSD's community, Rocky's community, and the community in the class that I was working in. Part of this assignment was to talk to my mentor about the different needs of the students and what modifications or adaptations they may need. Having awareness of the diversity of my students aided in my overall commitment to my students.
Standard Three: Plans and delivers effective instruction and creates an environment that facilitates learning for students
For this standard I chose a mini lesson that I taught in the lecture section of EDUC 450. I taught the strategy "zoom in" where you focus on one section of information and analyze it and then slowly add more information. This allows for thoughts and ideas to change and become more informed over time. This aligns with element A of standard three because it involves considering where learning takes place and students varying levels. There are so many ways to use this strategy to accommodate for those varying levels. Additionally in my lesson I considered the different learning types of my classmates and in addition to proving information through powerpoint and lecture, I also added a handout that detailed more information for them as well. Many of my classmates expressed their appreciation for this.
I also chose my data analysis protocol that I completed for a photoshop lesson that I taught to the high school class I was participating in. This piece correlates to element B of standard three. This assignment was interesting to grade because every student was at a vastly different level in understanding. This tool helped me to see where my lesson started to fall apart and what I need to reteach and allowed me to reflect on why certain information that I taught did not reach the students.
Standard Four: Demonstrates professionalism through ethical conduct, reflection, and leadership.
This artifact is the observation form from my professor who observed me first lesson taught. This artifact aligns with element B of standard four. This being my first lesson taught to a full class of high school students, it was extremely helpful to have my professor taking note on how I was doing and what I need to work on. This has allowed me to reflect on my teaching and improve
This artifact also aligns with element B of standard four. It is my reflection from the photoshop lesson that I taught. I learned a lot from teaching this lesson and after reflecting on what could have been done better and what I would do in the future I feel one step closer to my goal of being able to effectively teach content.