Lines and Strokes and Shapes and Fills
It is now the end of my first week as a teacher. Frankly, I need a weekend. I am tired, tired, tired.
I have to admit, though, that my voice and my body are doing a little bit better now than the first couple of days. I had really sore feet and sore legs the first couple of days, as well as a scratchy voice. These seem better today than they have before.
Today was school picture day, I predict my school picture looks terrible.
Today, I actually started teaching for the first time so far. I am doing a little Graphic Arts Project in each class using Macromedia Fireworks. This is sort of a Pre-Assessment. I taught them about Lines and Strokes (the colored patterns that can cover a drawn line) and Shapes and Fills (the colored patterns that can fill an empty space). The skills are, for the most part, unknown to the kids, but are fun to use. I am trying to see how well kids do with computers, my instruction, using simple menus and dropboxes, and so forth. This will help me tell how their instruction should proceed from here on out.
I have been mightily concerned with the fact that my presentation computer (the one which shows on the overhead projector) is stuck in the corner at the front of the room. If I am sitting at that computer to do overhead stuff, my head is in the corner and I can't see ANYTHING going on around me. On a whim, and because I didn't have any other choice today, I asked for volunteers to be my Demo Person for the class First Period. The most hyperactive kid raised his hand. I have already had to talk with him privately in the hallway for being too loud and talkative in class. "OK," I said, "I'll tell you what to do and you do it for me." It was awesome!
He stayed with me the entire class period, closely following all of my instructions and being a great demo person. And, because he was stuck with his nose in the corner, he didn't bother anyone else!
The cool thing about this is that it allowed me to walk about the classroom and help others. Also, I had to give good instructions to the Demo Person, or the rest of the class wouldn't get it. I have to admit, it worked like a charm.
I continued this trick the next two classes and it worked very well. I have rescinded my request for a change in the presentation machine, because I think that this is a great teaching tool.
It is interesting to see how the kids react to Graphic Art. Some of the kids love it, you can tell. They are off exploring the buttons and menus and trying new stuff. Every couple of minutes, they will say, "Wow, this is cool, come look at this!" Other kids, however, don't seem to like it much and told me that they find it boring. I think such kids are either not artistically or creatively inclined or need more structured practice work to complete.
Anyway, the first week is done. Thank goodness.
Time for a beverage!
I have to admit, though, that my voice and my body are doing a little bit better now than the first couple of days. I had really sore feet and sore legs the first couple of days, as well as a scratchy voice. These seem better today than they have before.
Today was school picture day, I predict my school picture looks terrible.
Today, I actually started teaching for the first time so far. I am doing a little Graphic Arts Project in each class using Macromedia Fireworks. This is sort of a Pre-Assessment. I taught them about Lines and Strokes (the colored patterns that can cover a drawn line) and Shapes and Fills (the colored patterns that can fill an empty space). The skills are, for the most part, unknown to the kids, but are fun to use. I am trying to see how well kids do with computers, my instruction, using simple menus and dropboxes, and so forth. This will help me tell how their instruction should proceed from here on out.I have been mightily concerned with the fact that my presentation computer (the one which shows on the overhead projector) is stuck in the corner at the front of the room. If I am sitting at that computer to do overhead stuff, my head is in the corner and I can't see ANYTHING going on around me. On a whim, and because I didn't have any other choice today, I asked for volunteers to be my Demo Person for the class First Period. The most hyperactive kid raised his hand. I have already had to talk with him privately in the hallway for being too loud and talkative in class. "OK," I said, "I'll tell you what to do and you do it for me." It was awesome!
He stayed with me the entire class period, closely following all of my instructions and being a great demo person. And, because he was stuck with his nose in the corner, he didn't bother anyone else!
The cool thing about this is that it allowed me to walk about the classroom and help others. Also, I had to give good instructions to the Demo Person, or the rest of the class wouldn't get it. I have to admit, it worked like a charm.
I continued this trick the next two classes and it worked very well. I have rescinded my request for a change in the presentation machine, because I think that this is a great teaching tool.
It is interesting to see how the kids react to Graphic Art. Some of the kids love it, you can tell. They are off exploring the buttons and menus and trying new stuff. Every couple of minutes, they will say, "Wow, this is cool, come look at this!" Other kids, however, don't seem to like it much and told me that they find it boring. I think such kids are either not artistically or creatively inclined or need more structured practice work to complete.
Anyway, the first week is done. Thank goodness.
Time for a beverage!
posted by silverpenny at 3:54 PM
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