WEEK #3 (1-5 August 2016)

Lückhoff

Lückhoff changed there timetable for the third time this term so instead of giving two lessons on Tuesday I gave just one. I only found out the Tuesday morning so on the one hand Monday evening did not necessarily HAVE to be as stressful and exhausting as it was, and on the other hand Tuesday was a bit more relaxed after that. I was exhausted the entire day, and nearly fell asleep observing at the art centre later on that day. At this point I feel I am really struggling with this because I can't seem to get everything I need to do done over the weekends and having Lückhoff in the mornings till early afternoon and then PJ Oliver in the afternoons till 5 then driving home in traffic every.day and getting home around just before - 6 P (depending on how kind the traffic was) and then needing to eat get my head on my shoulders and then prepare for the next day or week's lessons - where technically I am so tired I mostly just fall asleep unless I have a lesson the next day in which case I STILL fall asleep and then just keep trying to wake up every hour to try see if I can wake up and start preparing, so then at the end of the day waking up at 4 or 5 AM to complete lesson plans and assessments or whatever.... Like I said, third trimester, not the BEST time for student visits after all...  ANYWAY, where was I? 

I gave my first LO lesson! I gave two this week, Tuesday and Friday. It was REALLY difficult, in a sense that the learners are really really noisy and do not always listen. There are a few that try to disrupt you the whole time. One girl keeps putting her hand up or even coming to the front of the class and then asking something COMPLETELY irrelevant to the lesson, usually very personal to me. Can I touch your belly? No, not right now as I am in the middle of a sentence of the lesson. When our lessons are done will you show us a picture of your husband? To which I replied yes IF you work with me, cooperate and make this time easier for me, otherwise no. Is bribery wrong? ... Added to that I am lucky enough to get the most awkward subject matter probably in the whole Gr10 LO book. I am proud of how I am dealing with it, although it does add to the nerves before the class. One lesson was about bodily (and other) changes during adolescence. Oh that class actually went really well, there was a moment where I asked the class questions, asking have they ever felt like this, or this or this... and by the end the whole class was going in a chorus of YES, every question and I think at that point they realised they are not the only ones feeling like they do in this confusing time of adolescence, all of them are going through a confusing time of emotional, bodily and social changes and they are not actually as alone as they think they are. By the second lesson I did feel like maybe we are getting somewhere, in our relationship of class and student teacher (I will still have them for 4 more lessons).  

PJ OLIVIER

We observed the theory class and discussed what class we are going to give on the 16th and 23rd of August. I will be giving the English theory and the other student teacher the Afrikaans. One thing I am really enjoying is the opportunity for practicing my multilingual skills at PJ, since the drawing classes were multilingual, English and Afrikaans, and many times I give the English classes but also have opportunity to work with the Afrikaans in the painting classes. I also prepared a handout in both languages for the Drawing class the first week which I really enjoyed. This Friday I gave my first official painting lesson that me and the other art student teacher worked on together since she would be giving to the Afrikaans group and I would be giving to the English group. It went really well, or so it felt like to us. Again, it was natural to me (and her), it felt like it went WAY better than the drawing classes. The learners had to make a lot of experimental backgrounds that we are going to have them draw or paint a portrait in different styles from a live model, during the last two lessons we are with them. We had a few experimentation stations where they could make backgrounds. With previous feedback from the lecturer he said we should give demonstrations, but I found that when I tried to my group got bored as if I held them back with demonstrations they liked figuring things out themselves and if they needed guidance they asked me. So I didn't demonstrate every station like I thought I would. We will have to give the class again on the 16th for those who missed it so they can also have backgrounds. I'm not experiencing any real behavioural issues with my group of learners, I think it may be not just the cultural capital that differs from Lückhoff but also that they all chose to be there, they all want to take art and chose the painting specialty. I believe that makes a huge difference in their attitude towards the classes at PJ. 

WEEK #2 (25-29 July 2016)

LÜCKHOFF

This week at Lückhoff was a bit stressful. At last I was meant to be with my Life Orientation teacher, but she was absent due to illness. When she returned to school I found out she only barely had LO classes, I was stressing because I needed to finish my lessons ASAP, since I do not have long before my due date and I needed to get all my lessons in before going on a kind of "maternity leave" two weeks before baby is due. She was kind enough to give me all the LO lessons and said we can have them all theory and she will just take the learners out more after I finished. Our mentor at the school also said that if one of my teacher's LO classes have Geography with her I can even give a lesson in her period so I can just finish in time. She (our mentor) I feel has really been my guardian angel at the school and is really looking out for my well being. I really appreciate it, as not a lot of people understand how difficult it is to do PGCE whilst actually pregnant. I also joke and say third trimester is THE BEST time for student visits (it really is not very much no). But the amount of support I am receiving from the our department at the University and from my mentor at the school and from the staff at the art centre as well, is helping me pull through. It is not the ideal student visit time but I am learning SO much SO fast. 

During this week I observed some of my LO teacher's technology classes. I noticed that some classes are better behaved than others, but there is a lot of disrespect and noise in each class. My teacher said that it is a problem Lückhoff has with its students. But I do notice that there isn't a lot of managing of it. The detention thing Lückhoff is trying doesn't even phase the learners. They also have no shame. I am sitting right there, a stranger to them but if it was me I would have tried to behave around a stranger/ adult/ teacher I did not know. But even staring at the learners that are being chaotic and being loud and disruptive, they will stare right back look away and keep going at it. It is very puzzling to me. The teacher also seems to ignore them for the most part, she just speaks a bit and writes on the board, and every now and then will mention detention and say things like how this class was always her favourite and now she doesn't know what happened to them. I don't think classroom management is at its best, but I don't know yet how I would exactly be successful in managing it any better. 

I observed another teacher's LO lesson this week, since I will be giving all my teacher's LO lessons I need to get my observations in elsewhere. I was so hopeful after that class, because the teacher really seemed to have a good thing going with the students. Sometimes learners talked but she managed to get them quiet, since she was leading a class discussion and couldn't hear when others were talking. She was adamant that everyone be quiet when someone is speaking. The learners also participated so well, it was inspiring. I thought to myself maybe it won't be that bad? ...

PJ OLIVIER  

This week at the art centre I realised something. They don't teach art there for the same reason that I want to teach art. Maybe they did at first, but through time it became more about marks and the centre's status? 

We had a GREAT BIG life lesson on the Friday since I was suppoused to give the Drawing class the first lesson and the other student teacher the second lesson. The previous day the headmaster was stuck in traffic on the way back from Cape Town and they asked me to just sit in and supervise his class till his return. As my luck would have it, even leaving early enough I myself was stuck in dreadful freak timing traffic on the Friday and my phone had been in my bag thrown in the back so I couldn't answer or let them know (other than the message I sent to the other student teacher when I was on my way). What ended up happening was that she gave her lesson first and I gave mine second. So it was a bit backwards since mine was meant to warm them up. I felt horrible for being late, but it was completely out of my hands. I feel we learn through these experiences how to adapt and that things don't always work out as planned. Our painting teacher there, my inspiration every day, told me "sometimes things are better backwards!". I still don't completely understand how it is better, but I love her outlook on everything, on life on art on painting. I feel a connection with her way of doing things and looking at things. It is definitely different than the rest of the centre. The headmaster had a panic about what happened, although he says he is flexible, he is very much a perfectionist and couldn't wrap his mind around dealing with the backwardness of the lessons. I also ended up giving my last 10 minute drawing to the other student so she could just finish up one of her points. I felt it as I owed her for stressing her out being late and having her unexpectedly having to give her lesson first. We are both still young new teachers, nervous about giving class and unexpected changed do throw us off balance sometimes. 

I got really frustrated when I said at least the kids did seem to enjoy the lesson and some of them even said so and I got told that yes that is nice but basically that is not what giving art is about. To me, it is the most vital thing in art lessons, in a school curriculum or outside of one. If the learners do not enjoy it you WILL lose them. Even if something is difficult, but they are enjoying the challenge, that is good. As soon as you say that having fun in art is not important, as soon as it is just about outcome and marks and status. You have lost the meaning of art. I feel, what I personally took from that lesson is even though it was a bit of a fragmented two lessons, backwards and stuck together oddly, there were important aspects that the learners could take home and when they start with their long figure drawing with the teacher then the pieces will fall into place and it will make sense to them. If not at first, in time. Two hours is not enough to teach learners what to remember and focus on and how to do figure drawings. It was an introduction, and they will have to learn with repetition and practice and revision of what we gave the and told them. 

The Tuesday we also gave a lesson that was the teacher's lesson but to the kids that were absent from the previous lesson. We gave it together, and it was immensely fun. It came so naturally, and it reaffirmed that painting was my passion and teaching it was the best thing ever. Especially since this lesson was about them experimenting and getting more comfortable with going loosening up, with regards to painting. My forte. We actually took a lot of photos of the outcome of the lesson. We keep forgetting to take photos for the evidence file of our portfolio, and I'm sad about that, it is just that you are so focused on the lesson and in a certain head space that you completely forget about asking the teacher or even you yourself afterwards taking photos, I will have to do something about that!

WEEK #1 (18-22 July 2016)

Lückhoff 

It feels like I barely blinked the holiday and all of a sudden there it was, week one of student teacher practicals. As I was placed in Creative Arts for the first week (at Lückhoff High) and didn't need to give classes (I am giving all my visual arts classes at PJ Olivier Art Centre) I just observed with a hawk eye. I found one big troubling problem, the learners were incredibly disrespectful of the teachers desire and endeavours for them to work together and work in an orderly fashion, or just co-operate at all. I found myself trying to figure out how I would manage a classroom like this, would I even be able to? Well, I'll have to figure it out cause I feel passionate about being a teacher. I felt bad because the learners seemed to be taking advantage of the age of the teacher and did not seem to care at all how chaotic and loud and disrespectful they were being. Many times I felt like standing up and doing something, but I found it was not my place and I wouldn't even know where to start. At one point the teacher did leave the class in an attempt to take one really out of control learner to the headmaster and I was put in charge of making sure they stay seated and worked. Not a minute past and a bunch of boys were up from their seats discussing something and being loud at one table, I went to them and asked them to please return to their seats as their teacher requested they need to be working. They informed me they were busy with a very important discussion to which I replied that the only important thing right now is their work and they can continue the discussion after class. They returned to their seats but not a few moments after returning to my area behind the desk (but standing up in an attempt to make my watchful presence known) they were up and around again talking ever louder and being very rowdy. I decided to try something I saw the teacher did, take the black board eraser and hit it against the black board loudly, louder than them. They all looked at me with wide eyes. I said in a loud but friendly yet I am about to flip my switch on you if you do not cooperate tone of voice  that they must all PLEASE return to their seats and continue the work as their teacher asked so nicely. Everyone sat down, albeit not always in their seats (some did get detention later for being in the incorrect seats), BUT, I felt this was a big enough victory for that moment and I would in future keep trying to have them actually go on with their work, or sit on their correct chairs, for that matter. But for now, I was proud when the teacher stepped in and they were all at least seated.

Some troublesome things I witnessed which I really need to think about and ask, maybe others have some good tips, were boys teasing girls to such an end girls hit the boys and the boys then hit back. A boy teasing another learner with a lighter, putting the flame right by their face and kept going with this cause the teacher was on the other side of the classroom. A boy continuously yelling "Jo-HAN" out the window loudly and relentlessly with no respect at all for the teacher trying to conduct a class. Boys and girls out of their seats endlessly and not respecting the teacher asking them to cooperate. Learners doing what the teacher asked only until she turns her back or moves on then continuing with with their antics.

I was so emotionally drained from a few days of witnessing this. There was of course one or two classes that behaved themselves, apparently one was the strongest academic class of Gr 9 and the teacher told me that they place some learners whom previously failed in this class and have noticed many times significant improvement, which one assumes comes from the change of peers or group dynamic around them.

One thing I have thought about is that the teacher arranges the learners alphabetically and the class is organised in clusters (presumably so they have bigger tables to do art projects on and allowing group work to happen easier), this practice she advised makes handing out work and receiving it back easier and more efficient according to her. But I wonder if it is worth it, because sometimes (more often than not), somehow the alphabet chose a few very rowdy learners to have surnames right next to each other and it just causes chaos. I would just move them around, away from each other's bad influences so at least I could try get some order and quiet.

PJ Olivier

At PJ Olivier learners just received briefs for the next painting project and we discussed how we can incorporate parts of the journal work into our lessons (us two student teachers there). I was upset to find out that I won't be able to give a photography class as was the plan discussed with the headmaster (our lecturer) all through the first semester. All of a sudden it was as if it would not fit in with the teacher's scheduled lesson plans. I understand up to a certain point, but do feel that learning how to teach art at an art centre where even the learner have to specialise from the very beginning is a bit of a downside to our education, because in a regular school under normal circumstances you have to be able to teach everything in art, and therefore surely we have to be able to practice teaching art in the broad context. Not only 2 specialisations and theory. We are also only restricted (for some reason) to teach only Gr10, which makes scheduling and making sure everything fits in to the time you have there very tricky - also especially for me because my due date for my human is 12 September and 2 weeks before then I need to go on "maternity leave". 

I found a dramatic difference in the behaviour of the learners as opposed to that of Lückhoff. I think it may be partly due to the smaller groups, and also perhaps what we talked about in, well most of our subjects, like Diversity and Inclusivity and Philosophy of Education and L&L... their cultural capital is different. Also I am speculating, but their home lives I think are worlds apart, and the type of support and input they receive at home also may be vastly different. 

The Friday I gave my first lesson, in Drawing. I was very nervous, but enjoyed it immensely. I gave a lesson on gesture drawing. At first I felt like I was repeating myself a lot and also that I was getting tongue tied. But after the class the teacher let me know I was very comfortable around the learners, which was great to hear. I think being the first class I gave it went by in a blur with the nerves, and you aren't really sure afterwards how it went. But it helped a lot getting the feedback from the teacher, and also the learners, who I could see were enjoying themselves and also thanked me afterwards for the fun class and said that they enjoyed it a lot, which to me is vital in teaching art, more on that later. 

I gave the Drawing class the second hour of classes there, during the first I was substituting a teacher's Grade 9 class. The headmaster said it would not count because it is Grade 9. I still think I will add it to my portfolio as a substitute class. The teacher was away and I needed to tell the learners what they needed to do and make sure they do it and give guidance where necessary. There was one learner, a boy from Paul Roos, that kept distracting his friends and also playing PokemonGO... I had my day with him, but I think I managed it well. I didn't just ignore him, and I tried motivating him. He seemed annoyed at me, but also he seemed annoyed at life itself, if that makes sense? He didn't get as far as he could have gotten in that class. I think he is another type of case where he also has struggles at home, albeit different than the kids from Lückhoff. A kid from a private school can also have struggles at home.