Internship: Recap on Class Discussion

I didn't know if we were supposed to write anything up before we had met, so I did anyway.  Here is my writing in response to the questions we were asked.

So far I am glad to say that I have been having a great experience during my internship.  The teacher I am working with is great!  She has been very helpful in aiding my partner and I  in planning our lessons, and has made us very comfortable with approaching her with questions, which she always answers very thoroughly for us.

The high school I have been placed in seems to be a great environment so far.  The school just received money for updates, and all the classrooms have a smart board in them.  The art rooms I have been in I think are set up well, with many areas for storage of materials, student artwork, and visual displays.  The computer lab has all new Mac computers in them, and one of the art rooms even has a pugger for clay.  Lighting is great in all of the rooms, and for convenience they even have outlets on extension cords that pull out of the ceilings.  Everything is very well organized in different storage areas, so the room isn't cluttered and supplies are easily accessible.

My cooperating teacher is very pro active in guiding students to their own solutions.  She has great control over her students, but does so with what seems to be little effort.  She is very positive and tries to motivate her students to do the best they can, and find solutions in their artwork that not only meet assignment standards, but make students proud to have created whatever it may be.  Her energy keeps the class moving forward.  I can see myself picking up many of her positive practices for when I am in my own classroom.

The kind of teacher presence that Janet has works very well, as mentioned in the beginning about how she keeps students in focus.  The way she moves her way around the room during work time, checking on student progress is very important, and she does so in a way that allows for each student to get the attention they need.  Her "teacher voice" definitely helps, not yelling but projecting far into the back of the classroom.  Most of the lessons I have seen her give keep students interested, which is very important to me.  I could not give a lesson to a class if I myself found it boring or not at all a challenge.  So far in my experience I am yet to find an occurrence or situation that makes me question my mentor teachers approaches.  The only questions I have had for the most part pertain to classroom management and keeping students in line and focused on the project at hand all of which she has addressed with me.