M.A.T.’s Blog

The Substitute Diaries

Posted on October 5th, 2009 by mat.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Have you ever considered being a substitute teacher for a day? Did the thought of walking into an unknown classroom terrify you? Well fear no more! Today we are featuring the blog of an M.A.T. graduate Ms. Shannon Bickels titled “The Substitute Diaries.” You will get great insight into the day to day trials, tribulations, AND joys of navigating a career in teaching.

Also, take some time to look at her great artwork!

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Ms. Meg Yearout - Guest Blogger

Posted on September 1st, 2009 by mat.
Categories: First Year Teachers.

Ms. Meg Yearout and her "Silly Portraits"

We asked M.A.T. graduate Ms. Meg Yearout (Class of 2009) to give her personal advice for 1st year teachers. Here is her response to teaching at C.E. Williams School for the Scientific and Creative Arts in Charleston, South Carolina.

BEFORE STUDENTS:

Classroom View

This is a VERY hectic time for new teachers because you are being told many different things from administration, other teachers, Human Resources, and being pulled in many different directions so…

• I recommend that you get into your classroom ASAP so you can start organizing, decorating, organizing BEFORE all the meetings and professional development starts. Otherwise, you will never get a chance to spend quality time in your room.
• Get to know your janitor or custodians…they are AWESOME and are so helpful. They usually know the school and building the best out of anyone! (and can hook you up with great supplies…ALTERED BOOKS)
• BUY POSTERS OR VISUALS whenever you can…you can NEVER have too many posters. My walls still feel very bare after I made SEVERAL of my own visuals (took too long and don’t recommend it!)
• Buy sticky notes and manila folders, you can never have too many and will use them for everythhinggg (seating charts, organizers, planners, reminder notes, hall passes, etc)
• Make a list of your classroom rules, procedures, and expectations and stick with them!! Students NEED structure and a routine so the less prepared you are, the crazier the class behavior is.

WITH STUDENTS:

Classroom View

• Start off strict and confident. You can always get nicer, but if you let your guard down too soon, they will eat you alive (esp. middle school)
• Remind them of a few little things everyday (rules, procedures, expectations, daily routine) but don’t overwhelm them all the first day.
• Start teaching the first day of school…they are sooo bored from hearing the rules so keep them busy and have fun.
• Assign specific seating arrangements after the first week, that way you can see who can/cannot sit together and when their true personalities really come out!
• Assign TABLES for art class, not seats (and especially for block scheduling). That way they can move around, not get bored of same seat and scenery, and can work together in groups.

CLASSROOM TIPS:

• I have tables and each table is a different artist-4 tables, 4 artists (Van Gogh, da Vinci, Warhol, Murakami)- and I refer to that table as that artist (helps with dismissal, gathering supplies, cleanup)
• Pencil Sharpener- your head will be pounding by 10am if you allow students to sharpen whenever they want so here is my rule: You may sharpen pencils for first 5 min. and then I have a plastic bag that goes over it and says” I am sleeping.” once it goes to sleep, you may not use.
• Altered Books-My librarian gave me over 200 hardcover books that she was just going to throw away so my students now use them as their sketchbooks (plus, parents didn’t have to provide/buy a sketchbook) Every morning, the warm-up activity goes into the Altered Book. So far, my warm-ups have been warm/cool colors, types of lines, geometric/organic shapes and I have my students fill up the entire page with the exercise. Once many pages are messed up/distorted, we can draw over or use other techniques. This is a great way to introduce many techniques and also utilizing what the school can provide ya!
• Warm-up: Everyday the warm-up is on the board so students have something QUIET to work on as soon as they get into class, while I take attendance, and take care of certain issues
• BATHROOM- you will spend most of the day signing agenda’s and hall passes. There are 3 bathroom passes for my room. On my desk, I have a plastic index card filing box. Each students’ name is on a card in alphabetical order (get the alphabet tabs) so if they have to go, they don’t even have to ask me, they just go find their card, I will sign it, they put it back, and once they have 3 initials on the card, they have no more BR breaks. Be strict otherwise they will abuse!
• MUSIC cures everything. It calms students down, makes them focus, and keeps them motivated while working. USE IT (I recommend Beyonce! ha)
• Always have the standards, objective, and focus question written on the board everyday. You NEVER know who will come visit your room, especially for new teachers.)
• LETTER- since I am new to my school and to the students, I wrote them a letter starting with “dear students” and ending with “sincerely Ms. Yearout” and told them about me, what I like to do, what I am passionate about, my hobbies, what I did this summer, and how I define art. Then, I had my students write me a letter back, in the same format starting with “Dear Ms. Yearout”…and I keep these letters in a discipline file. This helps you remember students faster, it is a file to refer to if you are not connecting with that student, and it allows the student to open up to you. They are more inclined to writing personal info down than sharing it verbally with the entire class. I found these letters to be very helpful. Also are handy for parent conferences.

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First Day of School Tips

Posted on August 19th, 2009 by mat.
Categories: Uncategorized.

• Be a team player. Many schools are designed using a team approach and you will have to be flexible.
• Get to know the secretarial staff. They will be invaluable as sources of information.
• Get to know the media staff. They control the multimedia of the school and can make your life much easier.
• Ask questions of those around you. They were once new, too.
• Have an agenda on the board before the students arrive. An agenda gives you a plan and creates an atmosphere that things are going to happen in your class.
• Have an icebreaker activity for the first day. This will allow your students to get to know each other and enable you to learn some valuable information about them.
• Fill out your gradebook as soon as possible. If your records are not kept up from the beginning, you could very well be overwhelmed the entire year.
• Create and post a grading system consistent with school policies.
• Create a restroom pass system that follows school policies while making your life easier.
• Have high expectations. Students will achieve more if you expect their best.
• Be at your door to welcome students. If you act like you don’t want to be there, how can you expect them to want to be there.
• Learn their names as quickly as you can. It is much easier to control a class if you can ask ‘John’ to stop talking, rather that ‘You with the black shirt!’ One strategy is to learn just a few names the first day, and use them the next. This will get the students attention.
• Try to keep a positive attitude. There will be many ups and downs but you are in a truly noble profession.

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Congrats SCAD M.A.T. alum! NEW jobs!

Posted on August 3rd, 2009 by mat.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Congrats to our Class of 2009 and their recent employment. Here are some of the jobs our SCAD M.A.T. alum have signed contracts for:

• Lauri Jones, Midway Middle School in Midway, GA
• Beverly Wulforst: Ridgeland Middle School in Ridgeland, SC
• Dana Richardson: Bluffton High School in Bluffton, SC
• Meghan Yearout: C.E. Williams Middle School for the Creative and Scientific Arts in Charleston, SC.
• Alexa Martin: Hoosac Valley High School in Cheshire/Adams, MA.

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Great Tried and True Elementary School Lessons

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by mat.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Are you looking for some great approaches to working with elementary students or have great ideas that you would like to share? Post links to ideas that you have related to primary aged students.

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Cohort 2007 - 2009 -Let’s Chat about Our New Careers

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by mat.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Welcome to our M.AT. blog.  A place to promote a caring and supportive learning environment.  Post your successes and post your challenges.  It takes a community!!

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MAT Cohort Class of 2009

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by mat.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Congratulations to the MAT Class of 2009. They were only the second group to graduate from SCAD's brand new Master of Arts in Teaching program offered in the Professional Education Department. We wish them many successes in the future!

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