Sunday, April 6, 2014
3/18/14 Journal
Today I began matting a bunch of the work that has been completed by the students in the class I am interning with as well as the Foundations Class that Wertz has during another block. This is probably going to take up most of my week. Throughout today's class I was mostly matting and hanging work while Wertz taught and helped the kids. I ended up staying after class just to talk to Wertz about anything that came up. I really enjoy talking to him and I think part of the reason that I love interning for him is because I get another semester to be around him and pick his brain about different topics. Honestly, he's become a father figure for me in the past few years and the thought of not having him in class in a few months is a daunting one for me. So I am trying to be around him as much as possible and learn as much as I can from him in the short time that I have left, because he really is one of the most influential people that I have had as a teacher, and probably one of the most influential people in my life thus far.
3/19/14 Journal
3/19/14
More matting. Devon Abrams was in class today from Delaware, so she was helping me for the most part. She comes into class one or two times a week from Delaware - I'm not sure how that works, but I was glad that she was there today. Together we matted a ton of the work that needs to be done, and hung most of it in the art wing, but some of it in the other halls around the school as well. We decided that in comparison to the crazy decorated art hall, the rest of the school was pretty bare. I think that's a shame, personally, as you'd never see any of the student work if you didn't come to the upstairs 600 wing.
More matting. Devon Abrams was in class today from Delaware, so she was helping me for the most part. She comes into class one or two times a week from Delaware - I'm not sure how that works, but I was glad that she was there today. Together we matted a ton of the work that needs to be done, and hung most of it in the art wing, but some of it in the other halls around the school as well. We decided that in comparison to the crazy decorated art hall, the rest of the school was pretty bare. I think that's a shame, personally, as you'd never see any of the student work if you didn't come to the upstairs 600 wing.
3/20/14 Journal
3/20/14
More matting today. Instead of using the pre-cut mats that I had been using for the past few days, I had to cut my own mats to fit the work that had different dimensions than the rest. This was fine, considering I'm one of the only people in the school (apparently) who knows how to cut mats, but it was just time consuming. Nothing about mats is very exciting, and I would much rather be helping the kids, but it's part of the art teaching job I suppose. Mat cutting and hanging work in the halls consumed my class period today. I didn't even have Devon to help me.
More matting today. Instead of using the pre-cut mats that I had been using for the past few days, I had to cut my own mats to fit the work that had different dimensions than the rest. This was fine, considering I'm one of the only people in the school (apparently) who knows how to cut mats, but it was just time consuming. Nothing about mats is very exciting, and I would much rather be helping the kids, but it's part of the art teaching job I suppose. Mat cutting and hanging work in the halls consumed my class period today. I didn't even have Devon to help me.
3/21/14 Journal
3/21/14
Photoshop was again the focus of the class. I was in and out because similarly to last week, I was matting more of the students work. This gets monotonous, of course, but it is saving Mr. Wertz the hassle and it is also a proactive thing so that we don't have so much work to mat for the Art Show. While I wasn't matting work I was able to answer a few questions, help people use the scanner, things like that, but Wertz handled most of that today. I did finish the matting that I needed to, though. Finally.
Photoshop was again the focus of the class. I was in and out because similarly to last week, I was matting more of the students work. This gets monotonous, of course, but it is saving Mr. Wertz the hassle and it is also a proactive thing so that we don't have so much work to mat for the Art Show. While I wasn't matting work I was able to answer a few questions, help people use the scanner, things like that, but Wertz handled most of that today. I did finish the matting that I needed to, though. Finally.
3/24/14 Journal
3/24/14
Everyone continued to enhance their work via Photoshop today. I was around to help with any questions they had, as I normally am. I've noticed that there are some kids who wouldn't ask for help even if they needed it. I suppose I used to be that way, I wanted to try and figure things out for myself without asking anyone for help. But I have learned that a simple question can cause a lot of stress to go away and it can also make things a lot easier. So I have been trying to make sure that I ask certain people how they are doing and whether they need help so that if they do have the courage to ask that day it was after me asking them. I doubt that any of the kids that I am speaking about would approach me with a question, let alone Mr. Wertz, so hopefully the fact that I am a peer will make it easier on them.
Everyone continued to enhance their work via Photoshop today. I was around to help with any questions they had, as I normally am. I've noticed that there are some kids who wouldn't ask for help even if they needed it. I suppose I used to be that way, I wanted to try and figure things out for myself without asking anyone for help. But I have learned that a simple question can cause a lot of stress to go away and it can also make things a lot easier. So I have been trying to make sure that I ask certain people how they are doing and whether they need help so that if they do have the courage to ask that day it was after me asking them. I doubt that any of the kids that I am speaking about would approach me with a question, let alone Mr. Wertz, so hopefully the fact that I am a peer will make it easier on them.
3/25/14 Journal
3/25/14
Today was hopefully the last day of the kids using Photoshop to alter their work. It seems as though a lot of them are losing focus and aren't able to grasp the basics of the program. Granted, it is a little bit above their heads, and they have never had any formal Adobe training, but the techniques that they are using aren't necessarily that difficult. It is tough for me not to just do it for them when one of them has a question, so I have been trying to get myself to offer help to the students but at the same time make sure that they know how to accomplish what I already know how to accomplish. It is hard to discipline myself to do that, because a lot of high schoolers are just used to going to someone who knows how to get something done and having them do it for them. But with teaching, I really need to make sure that they can do it on their own without my assistance.
Today was hopefully the last day of the kids using Photoshop to alter their work. It seems as though a lot of them are losing focus and aren't able to grasp the basics of the program. Granted, it is a little bit above their heads, and they have never had any formal Adobe training, but the techniques that they are using aren't necessarily that difficult. It is tough for me not to just do it for them when one of them has a question, so I have been trying to get myself to offer help to the students but at the same time make sure that they know how to accomplish what I already know how to accomplish. It is hard to discipline myself to do that, because a lot of high schoolers are just used to going to someone who knows how to get something done and having them do it for them. But with teaching, I really need to make sure that they can do it on their own without my assistance.
3/26/14 Journal
3/26/14
Not much was accomplished today. While Wertz had planned for there to be a demonstration of the next project, his computer was stuck updating for almost the entire class period. He was excited to show the kids the new project and begin a demo on it, but that didn't end up happening. Instead, while the kids were waiting for his computer to update, some of them were able to continue putting the final touches on their self portraits. Overall it was a lost day, but Wertz reminded me that things don't always go how you expected them to, and you have to be ready for bumps in the road and changes of plans.
Not much was accomplished today. While Wertz had planned for there to be a demonstration of the next project, his computer was stuck updating for almost the entire class period. He was excited to show the kids the new project and begin a demo on it, but that didn't end up happening. Instead, while the kids were waiting for his computer to update, some of them were able to continue putting the final touches on their self portraits. Overall it was a lost day, but Wertz reminded me that things don't always go how you expected them to, and you have to be ready for bumps in the road and changes of plans.
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