What I've Learned

The most important thing that I have learned through my experience at Saturday Art School was how to break down lessons and make them interesting and concrete for children. I had no idea what to expect when I first signed up to teach elementary students. I’ve always have wanted to work with high school students and so this was a new challenge for me.

My first lesson was collage masks. I did not realize that some of the students would not know how to cut with scissors or know how to poke through the paper to create an eye. I expected them to know more than they did and didn’t give enough direction or demonstration. Students constantly were asking me how to do things and it became chaotic.

The next time that I taught was much better. I had learned to break down the lesson step by step and how to apply the information to the life of a child. We made clay relief sculpture tiles. The students learned about ancient Egyptians relief sculpture and how to make their own in clay.

Breaking down a lesson into every step can become time consuming but in the end it is very beneficial. It will remind me what needs to be discussed next and it informs the students of every aspect of the lesson as well. Thank goodness I had this experience before going into student teaching.