Site Reflection Excerpts:

My "Star Student" at Coconino High School

October 16, 2001

There was one student who had just recently enrolled in Ms. Emerick's Mixed Media class after he was kicked out of a P.E. class for getting into fights. Ms. Emerick asked me to work with him one-on-one to keep him on task, something I was very happy to do. His attitude reminded me of the kids I worked with back in the early '80s at the juvenile detention center. As long as I stayed with him, he did very well; if I left to focus any attention on other students, he became distracted. It will be very interesting for me to see how he progresses during my short stay there, to see whether or not his experience in the art classroom helps him with his self-concept.

October 23, 2001

Since art is a subject in which the teacher must continually adjust instruction to accommodate all levels of artistic experience and ability, Ms. Emerick told me that making adjustments for special needs students is not a big inconvenience for her. In fact, she said that the art classroom is an ideal environment for identifying students who need evaluation because one-on-one contact with each student on an every-day basis is common, enabling the art teacher to notice patterns of behavior or physical signs of disturbance. A student's artwork can also reveal much more than words can say about the student.

November 13, 2001

Some of the students in the Mixed Media class were not interested in completing the current project - especially the student Ms. Emerick had paired me with on my first day - so she decided to offer watercolor as an alternative. It was a little unnerving for me to be asked to demonstrate watercolor techniques to this group at the last minute, but it was good practice for my "real" presentation later in the day.

November 14, 2001

One student has a hard time allowing me to guide him in making the most of the media and seems to prefer to just play around with it. If he was making an effort to learn from his experimentation, I wouldn't mind...but he is only frustrating himself with it because he keeps ending up with "mud" instead of a work he is proud of. Another student, however, is very focused on this endeavor. Surprisingly, this student is the one with behavior disorders that Ms. Emerick had paired me with in the beginning! He has been asking me for step-by-step guidance in creating a "real" watercolor painting, from choosing subject matter to how to achieve the effects he wants.

November 15, 2001

My "star student" in the Mixed Media class (the boy with the behavior disorders) is doing incredibly well on his painting. He resists some of the suggestions I make and then blames me when the result is not what he thinks should happen, but the results ARE what make this a very good painting - which leads me to believe he is just trying my patience (something he strives for in every class with every teacher).

November 16, 2001

As I walked into the school today, I ran into my "star student" in the hall - he greeted me with a "hey Mrs. Ransom" - and when I got to the art room, Ms. Emerick showed me that he had decided to do a second, larger watercolor painting based on his first one. He had already sketched his design and masked the areas that he wanted to avoid washing the sky colors over and was well on his way to creating something very worthwhile. It made me proud to see that he is focused on watercolors now and finds some satisfaction in the media. Just a few days ago he had pulled a stool out from under another student causing him to fall, risking serious injury, because he was "bored"...