T3W10 - P3 Art

This week marked the last week of lessons for term 3! It was also time for my P3s to reflect on their learning in their weekly ceramics lessons with the external vendor.

Lesson reflection was something new for me. I was excited to try out my ideas in facilitating students' reflection on their learning thus far but was also apprehensive about its' effectiveness since they hadn't been 'tried and tested'! My mentor had prepared and printed out the reflection worksheets that served to guide students in thinking about the ceramic-specific knowledge they've gained. It also helped me structure my lesson. I started off by introducing the agenda for our last class of Term 3 - reflecting on their past ceramics' lessons. Though they were initially disappointed that they won't be having a hands-on ceramic lesson, students were re-energized by the new focus that was tied back to their topic of interest.

I decided on a discussion format to facilitate their reflection. Students took some time to warm up but started participating as they grew excited to showcase what they'd learned. I linked the discussion questions back to the reflection worksheet as I had intended for the discussion to kick start and guide their thought-formulation on what they had achieved. Students were encouraged to share on the materials they'd used in creating ceramic pinch pots as well as the food they've made in their food tiles in the past few lessons. I decided to withhold giving out of the reflection worksheets until after the discussion to reduce distractions and retain their attention. This proved to be a good strategy as students were more engaged and listened intently - evident from their disappointment when a fellow classmate shared a point they too wanted to share.

I decided to spell out key terms that students shared on the whiteboard as I foresaw spelling to be challenging for them, and was concerned that they might be discouraged when filling in the reflection worksheet later on. The discussion format was also chosen in hopes of empowering the students who viewed spelling as a barrier to share their thoughts more confidently. The self-reflection and filling in of the worksheet was done relatively efficiently, giving us time to complete filing too! I'm glad I gave myself a chance to try out my plan for the reflection lesson with the students.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PMI - TA reflection week 1

P Lessons are planned such that students really do engage with their prior knowledge and this recapping session was used to engage and excite students for the main activity/topic that week. (Shapes  à  matisse  à  collage) Scaffolding of lesson content such that students can follow easily. intentional recapping of artists and artworks gone through in previous lessons.  Use of positive reinforcement to guide students towards desired behaviors – helps reinforce a positive classroom culture as well!  Interesting and relevant videos planned and inserted to recap / tie in prior knowledge to current activity. knowing students well allow for more effective differentiation!  use of IPAD to conduct SLS lessons, allow students to explore for related content (ART) on the internet and use those to formulate their responses.  planning for closure  important to consolidate learning, can be used as a formative assessment to see if student...
Read more

T4W1

This week marked the start of the last school term this year! In preparation for the hand over of my classes to Mawar, I spent this week tying up the loose ends of Term 3 with my P1 and P2 classes. Reflections were completed and filing was done. I realized that the giving and receiving of instructions were key for the procedure to be done as smoothly as possible. It can be chaotic, as students audibly struggle to file in their artworks and repeatedly ask questions to which answers were already provided. The good thing about taking multiple classes at one level was that I got reinforcements as to which methods flowed better and which needed improving. With the P1s, instructions were best to be simple, straightforward and purposeful. Getting the P1 students to check the file for the presence of a contents page upon receiving their files was unwise as students processed that instruction as me asking them to take out their contents page. I had only wanted them to look for it and approach...
Read more

T3W8 - P4 Art

I was feeling anxious about this week's lessons for my P4 classes as I had missed 2 weeks with them due to the National Day festivities and the PSLE oral examinations. I was worried that the P4s might not be able to complete their final art project (create their own cardboard sculpture), filing and reflection before the end of the term. This was amplified by the knowledge that Teacher's Day celebrations would take up week 10's lessons, leaving me with 2 lessons in the term. Against this backdrop of worries, a new task emerged - the P4s were to try their hand at designing their very own camp T-shirt for the upcoming P4 camp! My task was to introduce the details of the competition and collect the designs by the end of the lesson. The deadline set for the Camp T-shirt designs was tight, and there was still the Teacher's day drawing contest and 25th-anniversary feathers to complete. This was when I decided to seek advice from my mentor, and she reassured me of the order o...
Read more