2nd day of lesson!

The second day of the lesson was a workday. The students have made excellent progress already on their projects and I am excited to see what is finished for tomorrow, and I am anticipating an excellent discussion and critique. Many have found the deadline to be a challenge, but as a result, they have put a lot of effort and discussion amongst themselves in finding solutions their problems.
In another class, the 8th graders are learning to paint three-dimensional objects. They color the sides of boxes in a still life, using two different colors and an inward gradient. After one decided to use reflections to ground the objects, many attempted to do the same. It is great to see them motivated by the success of their peers! They have been built up to this point in a very strategic manner, and many are painting successfully because of it. Mr. H. explained that he does each project leading to another, so there is only one variable to consider. For instance, project one is just drawing a box, project two is drawing a still life of boxes, and project 3 is coloring a still life of boxes with crêpe. This way, if a student struggles with an assignment, due to the success of previous assignments, the teacher will know exactly what is not going right. By having only one variable per project, students can learn easier and teachers can teach more efficiently.
I asked Mr. H. about his experiences with evaluations from the principal and such. He smiled at me and said the last time her was evaluated was about 5 years ago. Having taught at his school since the new school was constructed, and having seen five different principals over the years, he had gained a trust from the principal on how he ran the class. The work produced in the class also spoke for itself. I suppose this wasn’t useful to me, as I know that I WILL be evaluated, but it still is amazing to see the amount of respect a teacher can gain for doing exceptional work. He simply said not to worry about it, just teach the way you usually do, and don’t get stress or thrown off by someone watching you.