Describe your reflections on your internship project—what went well, what would you do differently, and what stands out to yo

  I did mini projects where i would teach lessons on to make pinch pots and pinch pot heads to small groups of elementary students. After the students clay pieces went in the kiln i took small groups out side to glaze them. Having about 6-7 students out at once was alot more efficient because i could get through the whole class or almost the whole class in one day. I would cut all of the clay cut and have all of the supplies out and ready before the students came so that i didnt have to waste class time to do so.I found that it was better to tell them what to do, show a little example and to ask students that looked like they were struggling if they needed help vs being a little bit over controlling. Also a couple students were just messing around and werent doing the assignment so i would try to get them back on track by giving them ideas of what they could do. That usually got them back on track. If that didnt get them back on track i would separate them from the group so that there was less distractions.

  If i could do anything different i would have had more students for the first two classes come out and start the project. I only had about 3 students come out at a time for the first two classes that i started the project with. That made it so less students got to start on theirs so it took about two class to get through all of the students. another thing that i would maybe do differently is to keep all of the clay pieces separated by class.






















 The big project that i did was i made a tree to auction off at the gala. every year the school has a gala to auction off work to raise money for the school. the Gala is their biggest fundraiser and it helps pay for the students to go on week long field trips.
 for the most part i think that everything went pretty well for this project. i really liked how creative some of the students drawing were. some kids drew monsters or people or household animals which are something that i would have never thought to draw to put on tree. i felt that those drawings gave it character and made it look really unique. i really liked the final product.
   Something that i would maybe have done differently is having them all do their drawing on 8 1/2 by 11 paper, only because it made it easier to shrink all of the images down. the students that did their drawings on tracing paper or the clear sheets had to have their drawings scanned it one by one. I also would have kept the classes drawing organized a little better but everything worked out just fine.

What are social interactions like in your workplace? Do people spend a lot of time socializing? Are people isolated, doing their own things? Lots of collaboration on work projects? Not much collaboration? How does the social dynamic impact or reflect the organization's work?

My mentor and I spend a pretty good amount of time socializing with others. About 100 students, sometimes more come through the art class a day. I take small groups of students out side to work on a project so i do a lot of socializing each day. Not only do me and my mentor do alot of socializing each day but the students do as well. this class is very relaxed and students are free to talk and socialize with their peers as long as they're staying on task and getting their work completed. As far as collaboration goes I would say that they dont really collaborate on their projects but they definitely share ideas. For example when we first started the clay project some students didnt quite know what to make but their peers would share what they are doing and give them ideas of what they could do. 
As for the teachers i would say that they definitely collaborate with one another. On Thursday's the teachers would have meets and collaborate on whats working and whats not. The core teachers, elective teachers, and office staff each would have their own little meeting in different rooms. I thought the separate meetings with alike staff was very clever because you can focus more on what you need to do and trade ideas on things to improve. 

You are half-way through your project. How is it going? What challenges have you faced? What have you learned? What are you doing to ensure a successful completion of your internship project.

  Well my project has been quite stressful. since everyone in the school is making something to go on the trees it gets kinda confusing. Some classes only half of the class drew something for the tree and some classes didnt at all. I learned that organization and communication is key. When i when to shrink down all of the drawings it became very confusing because i would have two different piles of drawing for one class or not being able to find a box of drawing.
  The way that i am going to ensure that my project is successful is by sitting down and organizing everything. i will organize all of the drawings by class and by what ones have already been shrunken and ones that have not been. i also will clearly label each folder so that there will be no confusion.

How do you see your roll at your internship?

Honestly i think that my roll is very important. I dont know how Allison( my mentor) would do this project with out any help. There is sooo much work. its alot easier with the middle school because they are more independent and we have the whole class working with clay all at the same time. For the elementary students we have them do centers. In the class we have them drawing and painting and some kids like to read art books and I take small groups of students out side to teach them how to make pinch pots or pinch pot faces while allison ran the other centers in the class room. then we would have make sure each kids name is on the bottom and then we would bring them to the kiln area. it might not sound like it is alot of work but its very time consuming and way too much work for one person. i also prep all the clay and clean the utensils while she is explaining things so that we are more time efficient.

What is the biggest challenge face at your internship?

This far my biggest challenge during internship has probably been over helping the students. We are working on the clay lesson, each grade has a bit of a different project to do with he clay. the kinders and 1st graders are making pinch pots and its my job to take groups out of class to teach them how to make them. The challenging part for me is not keeping control of the kids or them not listening to what im saying but it is over helping with make their pinch pots. when im teaching them i just want to help them so that they make perfect little pinch pots but after the first few students i came to the realization that i need to back off a little. after i realized that i would just explain to them how to do it, give them a little example of how to and just watch over them. i would help kids if they asked for it or ask them if they needed help if they were looking a little confused. i realized that its art and it doesnt have to be perfect, nothing is perfect, as long as they were happy with their final product, that they tried, and that its semi close to what the project was.

Describe the project you'll do at internship, including the skills and technology

My project is creating trees for the Gala. Every year San Diego Cooperative Charter School does this thing called a Gala, its a night for parents to come and have dinner, meet other parents, and buy art and projects to raise money for the school. So my project is to have the students make birds, leaves, flowers, bugs, basically any thing that would be in or on a tree. After the students do their drawings I am going to take them and shrink them down so that they are in proportion to the tree then i am going to be attaching them to the branches of the trees. there is gonna be about 8 trees and two classes per tree, although i am only going to be making one of the eight trees. Even though im only making one tree i am going to shrink down all the classes images.
The skills that i will be earning/ using through out this project is how to shrink images, different techniques of how to attach things, trial and error, tracing, organization. and collaging.

What are you excited about, nervous about and wondering about?

Im most excited to be interning at my old school and to get to see all of my old teachers again. I am also excited that I got to pick my internship because i almost did not. Im excited to be working with little kids and to be learning more things about art.
Im nervous that my internship isnt going to be what i expected or that i will be doing things that dont qualify as what i am supposed to be doing during internship. I am also nervous about if i will be able to make 30 hours because my internship is at a school and every thursday is a half day and there are two days during the course of internship that the students have off.
I wonder if the school is going to be different then i remember and if im not gonna know how to things work around the school.