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Danielle Hickman!
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09/27/2018!
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Kareer Middle School !
Principal - Brooke Menduni!
Co-op teacher - Patrick Schafer!
Date Observed - 9/06/2018!
Time - 7:55am - 3:00pm!
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Clinton Elementary School !
Principal - Patricia Price!
Co-op teacher - Sarah Rough!
Date Observed - 09/13/2018!
Time - 9:100 - 3:55pm!
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 Secondary Reflection!
1. The website address for Henry Karrer Middle school is: https://www.dublinschools.net/
Karrer_home.aspx . This website is well thought out and provides a lot of helpful information.
The things I found that would be most beneficial to me were two links that direct to two
different PDFs full of information. The first PDF I searched through was The Dublin School
Quality Profile. This sheet provides a generalized view of Kareer’s goals and principles. The
information is divided into a 4 section pamphlet covering topics such as charter education, a
message from leadership, community partnership, Dublin difference, graduate profile, future
plans, and college readiness. All of these topics are great to provide an overall view of
Dublin’s priorities as an institution. The other PDF I found on the website is the Student
Handbook. One important thing it covers is expectations and guidelines to student conduct.
To be able to uphold the standards of your school you need to review them to aid in
enforcement to provide consistent structure to your room that aligns with the school. Having
the handbook available will provide a resource you can quickly reference and utilize while
also giving you a bases to build your own classroom standards. Another thing the handbook
provides is a general view as to what the students will be learning in a subject divided apart
by grade. This could aid in curriculum development. For example 6th graders have Art for a
trimester of the year, during this time they are to further develop their skills in drawing,
painting, printmaking and ceramics by applying their understanding of the elements and
principles of design. They will also be exposed to artists who have worked within those
mediums. While this is still rather broad, it gives a bases of what they should already know
and a path for application through those disciplines. !
2. The educator I am working under seems to become familiarized with his students by
allowing identity and choice to come into projects. For example in a tessellation project they
do towards the beginning of the year they are to come up with ten topics that appeal to
them. After brainstorming those topics they are to pick two that interest them most and draw
ten images relating to it. They then are to pick their favorite between the two and continue
on with the project. Through the brainstorming process he can gather a good amount of
what interests them. This theme of student interests and offering a means to express it
seems to be reoccurring through other projects as well. He also encourages conversation
between himself and students as well as peer interaction. When students approach him no
comment seems to be too random or rudimentary for him to not thoughtfully respond to.
Permitting peer interaction allows him to pick up on social dynamics between one another
and personality quirks as well. The over all openness of project and work space seems to be
utilized to get to know his student body better. In extreme cases he will reach out to fellow
staff to obtain more information on particular students if there is curiosity and concern or he
will ask himself.!
3. Upon my first visit I did not see much in regards to culturally responsive teaching. The
projects I saw at this time were skill focused. He stated that skill development comes first
then their creativity can utilize the skills to express more of themselves and identity later on.
I feel the openness to the subject matter in projects is used to cover this matter. He also
introduces diverse artists prior to projects which gives some additional information to
culturally relevant teaching. One thing I felt he struggled with was differentiated instruction
for students with special needs. I noticed a feeling of hopeless/helplessness when it came to
reaching these particular individuals. Upon asking him he stated it is hard to reach them in
the time he is allotted especially considering the volume of student he has. He mentioned
five minutes doesn’t seem like a lot of time to give one student, but when you have twenty
five other students who also want that time, separate from instruction and classroom
management, it is hard to distribute the resources fairly. I would suggest more

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 implementation of universal design such as visuals and guides to be provided that can aid
all students.!
4. When I entered the building the teacher gave me a tour of the building since I arrived prior to
class beginning. During this time I was able to witness a strong sense of friendly coworker
dynamics between him and fellow staff. They all knew each other by name and often made
lighthearted playful comments toward one another during each introduction. If a joke wasn't
supplied there was a warm exchange of greetings and smiles. They all seemed well
connected and encouraging of each other. It was evident they were ready for the new day. I
asked how he kept open with parents and community. He told me they have a policy to
respond to parent inquiry within 24 hours and that overall you maintain a level of respect
during each interaction. The consistency and avid response time I feel speaks well to the
parents and helps develop confident connections. As far as rapport with the community,
Dublin schools encourages community outreach through projects and programs. The school
gives to the community and the community provides resources to the school forming a
reciprocating relationship. These trends aren’t unique to outside the classroom as all of
these come into play when engaging the students. The teacher encourages peer interaction
permitting them to work with each other and talk as long as it doesn’t get out of control. He
also has them assist him giving them a feeling of responsibility for their learning and
instruction quality. He carries the joking nature between staff into student interaction as well,
this makes questions and responses not feel so high stakes and opens a freeness to
comment what’s on their mind without humiliation or repercussion within reason. There was
a moment during an 8th grade class students were not being fair to one another, he didn’t let
it go unnoticed and addressed them when things were seeming to get harmful. However he
did not berate them, he just reminded them that it wasn’t an appropriate thing to do during
his class time and it was a time to build not destroy. He demonstrated he was able to
recognize its human tendency to gossip and become critical of one another however it
shouldn’t go unchecked. I feel works in his favor making the environment feel safe to those
inside and out of it. Overall his friendliness and caring nature spreads to the students and
they reciprocate it back to him and each other when working inside the art space making
academic and personal discussion comfortable to be apart of. The openness to
communicate and seemingly smooth flow of dialog is something I hope to emulate in my
future classroom as I feel this atmosphere is very conducive to learning.!
5. The teacher addresses issues regarding health and safety as they come up. At this point in
time students have a basic understanding of risks in the art room involving material usage. If
need be during instruction he will highlight and remind them of risks they may run into while
working to complete the project. He also has a list of rules placed on the wall. Though it is
longer than we’ve been advised to have and slightly hard to read due to size of words it is
there if needed to be referenced by students. The teacher works through the entire school
day at this building but is provided time for planning and a separate time for lunch. An
attachment of his schedule will be provided. When asked about extra duties he said he is
required to be on bus duty a few times a year. During that month he is cycled on duty with a
group of other teachers, they take turns during different days of the week. Due to his lunch
time he is not required to participate in other duties but if his schedule changes in the future
that could change. For tornado based emergencies they are to report to the copy room
where they will be away from windows and in a safe space students can crouch for cover in.
For fire based emergencies they leave the closest exit to the art room and report to an
agreed upon location outside for attendance. For lock downs their first priority is to escape
the building. If they can’t escape they are to lock the room they are in and block the door
with every physical object that would make a difference. Then if able they are to escape

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 from the windows and leave. No agreed upon location is formed nor will attendance be
taken. Overall I feel the teacher does a good job at classroom management. If he is falling
behind he will have the students help him to move things along quicker. If the students are
getting rambunctious he utilizes a switch back and forth between authoritative voice and
humor to get them to listen. !
6. This school is one of the more affluent buildings I’ve encountered. They have a large work
space, two art rooms that are connected through the kiln room, and a plethora of supplies.
Due to organization and the amount of space they had it wasn’t reasonable to go through
every shelf and cupboard to account for supplies. He also stated that he was about to go on
a shopping spree at Dick Blicks to replenish a lot of the materials. Even if I went through his
classroom I wouldn't have the full list because him and the other art teacher share supplies,
so I would also have to assess her room as well. For future lesson planning I intend to reach
out to him before hand to confirm the material will be available. Considering the space and
the material I did see I am confident whatever comes to mind often will be available. There
was enough that I did see to be able to carry out the first unit I have in mind which will
require pencils, paper, glue, straws, and coloring material. All of which I confirmed were
available for use. Things that were notable was that the students had personal computers
provided by the school and there was also a mac located at the back of the room. He had a
printer, scanner, projector, whiteboard, and cart as well. There were four sinks all equipped
with paper towel dispensers and soap. The students were not crowded in their work space
and there were stools available to everyone. If needed we are permitted to pull an extra
table or two from a room across the hall used for meetings. The ceilings were high and the
space felt very open even when full of students. The back wall had high windows which
provided a lot of natural light to the room. This area experiences little difficulty with restricted
working space even with two art sculptures, the amount of material, and the students who
enter.!
7. Upon inquiry about budget the teacher said knowing where other schools are he really can’t
complain about whats available. Each year he does run out of money but there is a good
connection with the community to obtain more material for example with Sears and Sherman
Williams. There is a projector and computer available for use and each student has a
personal laptop provided by the school. An interesting topic that came up is Dublin is trying
to go “paperless”. This is a difficult shift for the art department as we depend a lot of prints
and paper for projects. He said soon there will only be one copier available for teacher use
and the ones located in the labs will be phased out. He is unsure what will happen with the
printer located in his room. Their library was standard and included literature for art. Upon
asking about his own utilization of the resource he stated he used the internet more because
it is more readily available and applicable for the information he needs to pass along to
students. I believe their connections to their community and technology availability will be
the most helpful resource while I’m here.

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8. The teacher at this site mostly focuses on skill and discipline when it comes to teaching art.
He covers different cultures and artists through presentation prior to projects and allows
them to share their own identity through subject matter choice. I feel there is a good
connection to cognitive development in the lessons carried out however there could be a
more inclusive and culturally diverse content. Upon inquiry he shared that he focuses mostly
on skill and allows autonomy to come out in the projects later as they become more
developed artist. He admitted that he could be more culturally expanse and inclusive of
special needs individuals and is interested in exploring those subjects more in the near
future.!

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9. Me and the teacher share similar views in teaching philosophy. He is discipline based and
focuses on skills however he opens it up through choice options in production such as
subject matter and material. As the students progress through the grades and obtain more
skills their options become more open. This aligns closely to what I believe in teaching art.
Once the students have a foundation to work with they can be trusted with more choice and
the projects can become more flexible and open. I believe we vary because I have a heavy
implementation of universal design and incorporate more exposure to different cultures
through a display of different artists around the world instead of just the western greats.!
10. Upon discussion the teacher expressed he looks to stay up to date through contemporary
readings and literature. Dublin schools also offer professional development workshops to aid
in keeping practices up to date. He does also reach out to colleagues and does team
teaching experiences with them. When needed he will discuss with them the needs of
different students and how to better reach them though there has been struggles with
individuals identified with special needs. The teacher kept a professional rapport with staff
and students alike. He accredited this to having a value system of his own as well as being
familiar with the teacher handbook and schools expectations. He does not appear to
struggle with ethics as his dress and personality align with state and school standards. His
behavior inside the professional environment carries out into his participation and life in the
community as well. He stated it is important to be aware of the public eye at all times and be
respectful of yourself and those around you. By being self aware of your choices in and out
of school you avoid a lot of potential headache in the future because people care and they
are always watching, especially when you are involved in the education of children. In short,
don’t act questionably and you won’t be questioned. Be familiar with school standards and
carry yourself accordingly to what is expected from you as a professional in this field.!
11. After discussion with my cooperating teacher he decided to give me free reign of my first
unit. He felt that for me to present well I should teach something that I feel is relevant and
care about instead of him guiding me. He felt it would give a more authentic experience to
teaching. He saw no issues with putting his teaching on pause, but requested whatever I
start I finish. With the time and openness given, I decided for my unit to teach students
about thaumatropes and have them create one of their own. I want them to consider modern
day entertainment such as visual stimulants, like television, to sensory entertainment, like
fidget spinners, in contrast to what was offered in history for similar pleasure and sensation.
There will be an aspect of choice as well brought into the project as they will be choosing
the images that converge. Even if it is based off something they simply enjoy and would like
to see, choice always depicts an aspect of an individuals character. I would like them to be
able to elaborate further than “I like it”, and what about the combining of the two images
appealed to them. Both of these concepts are relative to the grade I will be teaching, 8th, as
it has them think critically about their consumption of entertainment and compares it to that
of other humans in history, as well as offers them personal choice in their own work as they
will choose the subject matter. There is also a focus on craftsmanship and functionality as
well, they have to align the designs and be able to have forethought on how it will meld
together touching with critical thinking. Through this unit I hope to build in their historical
knowledge of art, have them compare and contrast entertainment and stimulation from then
to now, have confidence to make choice, and the tenacity to implement it into a functioning
design. Looking forward to working with this teacher, I know we will be making large scale
inflatable sculptures for a portion of my time working along side him. Following that I may
continue the trend of 3D works continuing to move from the 2D medium, I may also consider
instilling choice projects to open up more character and identity exploring opportunities to
open up his skill focused projects.!

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Extra:!

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! ! Elementary Students!
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1. The website for Clinton Elementary school is: https://www.ccsoh.us/ClintonES . I found this
website to be beneficial to the school community; parents, students, and staff alike. Though
not as detailed as my secondary location it still offers enough to guide visitors in the right
direction to get answers for questions. The sections of the website I found to be most helpful
to me were the pages school information overview and the newsletter page. On the school
information page it displays hours of operation, contact information and link to a directory, as
well as K-12 academic pathways which include general school values and how students are
placed through out the district. The school places emphasis on the student as a whole
considering what they need emotionally, physically, and academically and how that
translates in providing opportunities that best fit their growth down to which building they end
up enrolling at. The second resource I found helpful was having access to the schools
newsletter. To access it you need special login information, however I found other means to
gain access. Being frequently updated by information the school releases can aid in aligning
your classroom with the schools current focus and events. Knowing this information is
important as you should find ways to grow with the building instead of functioning as a
separate entity. !
2. The teacher I am with works to become familiar with students through the projects she has
them do. Art has the unique quality of being able to display characteristics of the individual
creating it due to its capability to be open to self expression. An example of her emphasizing
this quality would be how when she first meets her students she has them fill an “about me”
sheet. They use this sheet to reference throughout the semester for inspiration for projects.
She also leaves her projects open for choice allowing more of themselves and interests
related to medium and process become present in their work. Students also have the
chance to speak with her directly as they are working, those small interactions also aid in
building a relationship with the students she's teaching.!
3. It appears that this teacher attempts to integrate concepts of intersectionality through
exposure of artists and processes as well as having an openness to students presenting
their identity inside of the classroom and in projects. Upon asking her how she goes beyond
that she admitted she’s working on incorporating it more. She stated it being her first year at
this school she is trying to get a better grasp of the students and how they react to different
technical aspects of art as well as teaching approaches. Once she has a better
understanding of the classroom and their capabilities she feels she will be able to more
solidly implement these topics more directly into her lessons. At this time I did not see
evidence of differentiated instruction. She is however working to make her classroom into a
choice based room and has evidence of universal design techniques. What would benefit
one student is seen as something that could benefit the rest, a really good example of this
would be her posters that remind students of processes and procedures instead of forcing
them to rely on their memories.!
4. The teacher maintains healthy rapport by working to be respectful and stay connected to
students, staff, and the community around her. To be respectful of students she maintains a
healthy classroom atmosphere. The room is organized, the students are permitted to speak
freely to her and one another, she emphasizes the value of their autonomy through choice,
and she shows evident effort to have good classroom and time management. Balancing

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 these things creates a healthy space for a community of young artists to grow. To stay
connected with the staff she opens dialog with them about what is happening inside of their
classes and attempts to integrate their topics when she can. She also keeps them
connected with what is happening in her classroom by sharing newsletters she creates
giving them the same opportunity. There is also just keeping in friendly but professional
contact with them throughout the day. She works to stay connected through the community
by utilizing an app called Classroom Dojo. Through this app parents can receive live
updates of art their students are creating or what the classroom is doing in general and
respond similarly to how social media functions via comments, likes, and sharing. Overall, I
feel she dedicates a good portion of her time to maintain this important rapport with the
community around her.!
5. In regards to safety and hazards the teacher will cover them as they become pertinent to
lesson or classroom functioning. She also hangs visual displays instructing students of
proper use of material within the room to avoid messes and health risks. If a fire were to
occur students would exit the room and leave the building through the nearest exit which is
down one flight of steps and located on the right. Attendance would be gathered and handed
to proper officials to account for students. If there were to be a tornado the students would
need to proceed down two flights of steps and sit on the floor in between the copy room and
office. If a lock down were to happen the teacher would refer to the sheet located on her clip
board or wall to reference the level of lock down and act accordingly. In the most high risk
scenario the teacher is to block the entrance and place the students a far away from
openings and windows as possible and shut off the light. In terms of schedule this teacher
does have bus duty twice a week on Wednesday and Friday in the morning from
830-900am. The rest of her schedule will be attached in a later page. !
6. The layout of this room accommodates the volume of students and material well. The
ceilings are high and even with the signs barring instruction on how to do things in the class
it doesn't feel over stimulating. I believe she attempts to align herself with least restricted
learning space putting students needs and organization first to maintain a well functioning
class. If something isn’t working she will not hesitate to make changes or request aid from
external sources to receive better storage and room options. She openly showed me the
supplies in the room and storage area, it appears there is a plethora of things and as long as
I work closely with her I don’t have concerns of not being able to have material available for
the projects I have planned. The main items missing were fabric, ceramics, and some color
variations of tempera paint. Things that were beneficial that not all classrooms have was a
chalk board, white board, smart board, one sink, and a good amount of storage space.!
7. Upon asking about funds of the school she stated that they certainly are tight. She said
fortunately, thanks to the community, the arts receive a lot of assistance and donations from
the PTA. She also has over the years bought a lot of supplies for the class. Since she is able
to maintain respect from her students it carries over to the supplies she purchases helping in
conservation of her funds. It seems she has made a lot of sacrifices to be able to bring some
art processes she found valuable into her class for her students to experience. The students
do have internet access but this space focuses more on physical art processes instead of
utilizing technology because of limitations. There is a library with an art section but currently
the teacher utilizes power points and encourages students to bring their own references as
well as offering her own books for them to use. I believe if I utilize a similar approach of
utilizing the white board and smart board I’ll be able to carry out well received lessons. !
8. The art curriculum she attempts to develop is using art to aid in empowering students in
making thoughtful choices as well as building a foundation of solid studio habits a artist
should have. She described herself as an artist teacher instead of art teacher, she believes

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 her students should feel as though they are artists and not just students doing art. As the
lessons progress the students gain more access to material in the room until they can
become self regulating and decision making artist. She utilizes scaffolding as they learn the
process and then eventually they have complete choice in whats happening in their piece
aside from relating it to something measurable for assessment!
9. Me and this educator align in terms of philosophy with choice and using it to empower
students. We focus on creating artists instead of just teaching students about art. By giving
equipping them with tools considering a careful organized process it leads into meaningful
experiences and create things that are relevant to them which facilities learning. The access
to art is used as incentive though the process is ladened with tasks of doing, however when
applied to something that holds personal relevance to them they internalize the lessons
more and are able to access them later down the road due to the established significant
connection.!
10. To stay current in their practices this teacher continues to read books about contemporary
teaching practices. They hope to eventually obtain a doctorate in art education so they
continue their research as though they are already in the process by referencing books,
articles, and online material. They also attend conferences and professional development
events to continue to hone their skill. She then will stay in communication with other fellow
educators to share ideas on how to continue to improve their work. As stated before this
teacher also considers integration and overlap between classes to be valuable in cementing
learning. She will go out of her way to learn about what is happening in other classrooms as
well as send out newsletters regarding what is occurring in her own keeping them up to date
as well. She currently is still working to expand on meeting the diverse needs of learners but
she does implement universal design through out her planning and heavily in the visuals of
her classroom. Other teachers are welcome into her space to see and discuss approaches
she is taking. She exhibits professional behavior through her dress and attitude. She sticks
to a code of ethics outlines in best teaching practices as well as attempting to align her self
with the individual school standards. She responds to the students within this code by
keeping a calm demeanor and offering respect and understanding. When tension rises she
utilizes humor but will get firm if need be, never did it feel out of line or abrasive. She
maintains this with the school and community by keeping in mind this code even outside of
building walls. The community eye is always watching, being mindful of your power and
profession after hours also contributes to maintaining that level of appreciation, trust, and
respect.!
11. After discussion with this teacher we decided I will be building into her curriculum with my
lesson plan. Currently she is trying to establish a choice space for the classroom so
students can exercise personal choice and critical thinking when addressing their projects. I
will be opening up and establishing paint as a medium and option in the class through my
unit. My unit will focus on color and pulling inspiration from other artist to be able to
experiment with paint as a medium. I choose three different diverse artist from relatively
recent history for them to pull inspiration from and apply it to their content and work. They
will have open choice to subject matter and colors they use, for measurable assessment
there will be focus on exploration and application. They will need to experiment with mixing
and emulating aspects of others style in their work and being able to communicate how they
did so through reflection. My purpose in this is to get students to consider the difference
between wet and dry mediums and how they can utilize it to communicate different feelings
in their art. This perspective will aid them later on in the year as they gain more choices in
the classroom to be able to hone in on what medium they would like to focus on as an artist
to communicate their ideas and interests. Borrowing from renown artists techniques will help

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 them consider things they may not think to try as young painters. It also provides some
context in which to work. By first focusing on skill building processes they will be able to
expand themselves later more confidently and independently. Currently I anticipate my
continuing sequencing to be a continuation of opening up other areas in the classroom for
them to work and potentially ending with a free choice project where I present and they
create and it’s more about the concept than the task. Being that this is her first year at this
location, for all grades, she has only opened up collage. I will be able to continue the trend
using elements and principles of art to continue the trend of making the space more
accessible to this group of students.!
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Extra: (for this room I decided to take photos of all areas instead of drawing a blue print, it
seemed to be more beneficial. These are the few that give a
general view though there are many more of supplies and
storage spaces.)

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