First day of Internship at Rondout Valley High School

Last Tuesday was my first day at my field placement at Rondout Valley High School. While looking around the classroom, I noticed a poster which listed the principals and elements of art. I also noticed a  poster explaining how to critique a work of art. This coincided with a reading that we had last semester in Curriculum and Instruction. The school operates on "block scheduling." This means that each period is a hour and twenty minutes long. This is great for the art department, especially since my teacher teaches ceramics. There is also a 30 minute period called "the skinny". During this time, my teacher has a 2D portfolio development class for students who are interested in pursuing art in college.

The students in the portfolio development class were working on portraits. The teacher explained that since these students have not had a consistent studio art teacher, they are behind in their development. Students in this class looked in a mirror and drew a contour self portrait. They used three sharpies of different thicknesses for line variations and then added watercolors. The students in this class were at all different levels of skill. One student chose to draw the back of her head, saying that she did not know how to draw a good face.

The students in the ceramics class were working on a project called "whimsical fish". To make the body of the fish, students scored two pinch pots together. Students then got to decorate the fish any way that they wanted to. Some students chose to give their fish a top hat and cane. One student made a mexican fish equipped with a mustache, sombrero, and a taco. The only requirement in this project was to add texture to the fish. Some students accomplished this by scratching into the body of the fish, while others added texture by attaching pieces of clay.

Overall, my first day of my internship at Rondout Valley High School was successful. My teacher was very organized and I enjoyed observing the lessons. I feel less intimidated about teaching at the high school level, and I am looking forward to teaching a lesson on portraits to the portfolio development class.