Day 2: First Time Grading

Today was my second day Student Teaching at the high school level. It’s interesting how I already feel like I’ve been here for quite a while when it’s only my second day. I don’t quite know why that is.

This day was another success in my Student Teaching experience. It was pretty much smooth sailing as the classes continued to work on the same projects that they had been working on the previous day.

I found that today allowed me to learn more about my cooperating teacher as we opened up with each other in a deep, personal way. I was able to learn about her past experiences, where she has previously worked, and even personal stories. I, too, shared personal stories and talked about my fears and nervousness. It was calming to hear from someone who just met me yesterday that I seem to be a responsible, well-gathered person who seems to have everything under control. My cooperating teacher told me that I would have no issue finding a job and achieving success, although she did mention that I am mild-mannered and haven’t quite found my teacher voice yet. I hope that I can work on these observations, improving my self-confidence and finding my voice.

On this day, I was able to finish my design for the Painting IV example and even began painting on the white T-shirt I brought in. My cooperating teacher used my example to help explain the process to her students and many of them marveled at the quality of my design. I hope that it ends up a successful example.

Today I was faced with grading for the first time.

My cooperating teacher asked me to grade her Painting IV class’ latest projects involving circles. I was a bit nervous because she hadn’t explained her grading process to me at all and she didn’t have a rubric, but she gave me four points to look for in the projects and sent me out the door to the display case where they were exhibited. I did my best to take off what I thought was the appropriate amount of points for missing points that my teacher supplied me and returned to her with my final assessments. I was surprised to find that some pieces that were well-done and a pleasure to view didn’t score as well as others that looked completed by someone with less talent because of the criteria set. It really shows how art can be objectively graded when criteria is considered. My teacher read over a few and immediately expressed that I was right on par. She expressed that I gave the same grades that she would have given and mentioned that the students received the same kinds of grades that they usually earn. I was relieved and proud to have successfully graded the pieces and now have some tips to keep in mind. I want to have a rubric to grade off of and want my students to know exactly what they’ll be graded on, so I plan to create one for each of my own assignments. I will also try to create criteria that align with the objectives of the lesson and also aim at creating a successful and interesting work of art.

This day has allowed me to figure out how I would like to run things in my own classroom.

I have noticed that I would like to be more strict when it comes to managing the classroom, especially when it comes to phones. I would like my classroom to be much more organized than this one and would like to have procedures in place. I would also like to have clear lesson objectives, rubrics, and deadlines. These may be difficult goals to achieve, but I feel they would bring me success.