First Teaching Day! Ocean Animals and Habitats!

First Teaching Day!

I finally got to teach my first lesson to Ms. Butikofer's kids!  We did a two part watercolor project on Ocean Habitats complete with wax resist, wet on wet application, salt and alcohol texture, and observational drawing.   We were able to complete part one, which was creating the ocean background wash, and almost all of part two, which was drawing, painting, cutting and gluing their animals onto their ocean background.  When our time was up, all we had to save for next time was cutting and gluing.

The kids were great and were enthusiastic about the project.  When it came time for the kids to draw their own animals, they really took possession of their own project by delving into a stack of ocean animal books that Ms. Butikofer provided, and drawing them freehand.  They were respectful of each other and the books, and did their work without coercion.    

Ms. Butikofer was great, as well.  Since it was my first time, I hadn't thought through all the time consuming processes, and I made a couple of glitches for myself.    Ms. Butikofer knew how to remedy these, and because of her knowledge and skill, she was able to help me deliver as smooth of a lesson as possible.

I learned that every single little detail needs to be thought through and prepared for, like how to disseminate supplies that will probably be spilled, or  what early finishers should do.  I also learned that if I have any questions at all, I should email Ms. Butikofer beforehand, instead of the day before of day of.

Next time I'll try to think through as much of the process as possible to make the next lesson run more smoothly.