Shadowing: Kelley Meister
Location: Science Museum of Minnesota
Grade(s): 3-5
Monday, Feb 10 (2 hours)
On Monday, I was greeted by an entirely different group of students. I knew that the class was only a week long, but it still kind of came to me as a shock when I walked in. Because it’s a different class, we all started the day off with introductions. The students sat in a circle on the floor and introduced the class with their names as well as their favorite type of art making. After introducing themselves to one another, the students were then introduced to Turtle Art. While I’m still fairly new to the program, I was still able to answer any questions that were brought up during work time thanks to my experience from last week. Similar to the previous class, most of the students were struggling with the program at first, but eventually got the hang of it as the class progressed. In fact, when it came time to pack their laptops and call it a day, many of them were disappointed and wanted to play around with Turtle Art a bit longer. It fascinates me to see the progression that can unfold within a short amount of time. From disliking or feeling frustrated about another form of art making to wanting to spend hours with the program is one of the reasons why I would like to possibly teach one day. Seeing the growth of confidence and experience of a student unfold is an amazing sight.
Tuesday, Feb 11 (2 hours)
The students continued to explore the possibilities of Turtle Art. Many of the students were fully engaged with the program and were excited to test out a variety of their own codes and to test the outcomes of each one. Not only were they excited to test out their own codes, but the students were also more than willing to share their findings with their peers. While the class is made up of students from three different schools, they were still able to help each other out and even form friendships with one another. Tuesday was also my last day shadowing Kelley at the museum. While our time was short, I definitely enjoyed each moment I had with helping her out. I’ve learned so much from this shadowing and I’m sure to visit the museum once again along the line.