My UAY experience was actually pretty good in hindsight. I really value the opportunity that was given to us and I think that if I do continue on the to be a teacher I will be much better prepared because of it.
The most important teaching aspect I believe that I learned was to be flexible and learn to adapt. Without these skills a teacher can really get themselves into some trouble. Our group was a perfect example of this on several occasions. For example, Amanda and I thought for certain that we would have everybody finished with their masks early. Well...we were wrong. Very wrong, and all it took was for lovely little Claire to miss the Jam session. That made our group go from ahead of task to all over the flippin' place. The boys were finishing their mosaics and working on new projects. In the instance of Daniel, several new projects. God he kept us on our toes with new things to do! Meanwhile, Claire was really close to not finishing her project on the last workday available. She barely had her mosaic painted before our cleanup had started. This one variable kinda threw us off schedule, as we had planned to start a journal for everyone. I had the impression that it would be more of a group demo than the individual assignment that it had turned into.
Another way that flexibility mattered with our group was with the wording of our assignment. The word "mask" seemed to be far more loaded than I had anticipated with Sam. Man, he just didn't understand that we weren't making masks to wear. I really bummed him out one day when it finally hit him. I could tell he still had dreams of wearing his warpaint waiter mask, he would hold it up to his face all the time like it was a wearable accessory.
Daniel gave us the need to adapt because he was a productive machine. He didn't want to make a mask, so we changed the lesson a bit to fit his desires, but he was still able to learn the intended assignment. After that he was constantly pushing us to find new things for him to do. If we didn't he would start walking around talking about all sorts of crazy stuff. He was a real pleasure to work with, god, I still laugh thinking about some of the stuff we did. We had fears because he was autistic, but he really did end up becoming the highlight of UAY to me.
I think you and Amanda really overcame a lot of obstacles during the UAY workshop. I almost wanted to come face to face with working alongside some of your students, just so I could get the experience and understanding. I can wholeheartedly agree that remaining flexible is SO key to being a successful teacher. Flexibility in the sense of adapting/adding onto your original lesson plan, but also in your own life. You're a full time student, father, better half, friend...you have plenty of outside stressors that can affect the quality of your teaching. I think you both really succeeded. You could tell that both Claire and Sam were really proud of their work.
ReplyDeleteBeing in the same room as you guys and can vouch for you and Amanda's ability to be flexible. You two practically bent over backwards to try to motivate those kids. You both should be very proud of what you guys accomplished with them. They may not have been the most beautiful masks, but I think that the time spent on them and actually finishing them was a great accomplishment in itself for Sam and Daniel. It was really inspiring to watch you and Amanda with them. You may not realize what a great impact you had on their lives, but you really did give them a positive role model and motivated them more than you know. You didn't see the way they lit up when you acknowledged something they did or how much they really appreciated you putting in the time to get to know them. Those boys absolutely loved you two in their own way, and you both will make great teachers some day. Dereck, you have no idea how great of a mentor you were and could be to many kids so just remember that when you're making your decision. ;) At the end of the day it's not always about the finished product, it's giving the students something to look forward to in their crazy lives and how proud they felt of themselves when their artwork was displayed and you acknowledging them.
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