The professional development experiences I have had so far in my student teaching have been both art and non-art related events and practices. These experiences have helped me understand further all of the things teachers do beyond teaching in the classroom. At Cache la Poudre Elementary, I participated in all of the staff meetings, as well as Leadership Team meetings because my mentor teacher is a member of this focused teacher group. In general, the staff and leadership meetings allowed me to observe how teachers manage the behind-the-scenes work such as scheduling, extracurricular events, performance assessments, and new-hire logistics.
The most valuable professional development experiences in these staff meetings were two meetings led by the Trauma Informed Schools Staff. This is a group of school counselors and psychologists who work with special cases and emotionally distressed students within the district. Their approach to running these meetings was to give teachers practices and resources for how to meet the learning needs of all students, especially students with trauma. Their trainings helped me reframe how I interacted with students with trauma and helped me gain insight into new ways of approaching teaching and one-on-one interactions. As a result, I began implementing routines that were meant to help students transition from one class to the next, as well as feel comfortable making decisions while art making. I started playing a few minutes of music at the beginning of each class as a way to calm and refocus the students. For transitioning out of the art room, I began using a timer at 10 and 5 minutes before the end of class so that students would know what to expect and how much time they had left to work. This example helped me see how teachers can continue to learn and adjust their ways of thinking. No matter how established a classroom feels, teachers can bring new and innovative methods and practices to continue to better their teaching style.
Professional development is extremely important for both becoming and being an educator. Developing one’s skill and knowledge in their profession through further education and professional development experiences will help one continue to grow as a teacher and as a professional overall. As a reflection of this #lifelonglearning, I created a small black and white weaving.
The decision to depict two contrasting color fields coming together towards the middle of the weaving is meant to represent the experiences of student and teacher. This experiences are sometimes contrasting, but are often more comparative than one might think. At first they can seem like separate responsibilities, even totally opposite. However, throughout my PSD practicums and student teaching experience it has become clearer how connected the role of student and teacher are. The roles are not singular and do not operate separately. As I teach, I am also continually reflecting and learning from my practice and my students simultaneously. The blend of being a student and teacher should maintain a balance, which is what the fields of black and white are trying to do in the weaving.