My name is Melissa Newberry and I have a passion for making art and inspiring students. Attached here is my portfolio to my art. In my own practices I like painting with oil paints, sculpting in metal, and working with film photography. For the past year of  2018-2019 I got to work at a place called Pinot's Palette where I taught painting classes.It was an awesome experience to work with people and do something I loved. As for being a teacher in a school I want students to enjoy art, but I also want them to feel safe in my classroom.  I believe every class should be a community. I want to create a safe environment for every student to explore and create ideas free of judgement. It is my goal to make sure students want to be in class where they feel as if they can express anything to me, its okay if they don't always like an art project; however safety is my number one concern.

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When taking EDUC 450 I had a lot of experiences working with students and building that connection of safety. I had students open up to me about missing school, being bullied, and just to talk about general frustrations. When I wasn't working in the classroom with the students I was learning about adding more skills to my teaching toolbox.In this class we learned bout classroom management, lesson plans, standards and more. When talking to administration I learned that my goal of safety and working with the students was also their number one goal. Content is great, but students won't learn content if they don't want to be in your classroom. Some tools I also gained for teaching was from our making thinking visible mini lessons. These were all so fun and interactive that to throw one of these in the lesson would be a good brain break but they would also be learning and working together. Another aspect that I gained that I think is so valuable is to create curiosity. Students and teachers are all curious and if we don't shut down curiosity more learning will happen in the classroom. So from EDUC 450 I have learned that not only are students my number one priority but also their curiosity so how do I spark that? Maybe with a making thinking visible strategy. 

During student teaching I accomplished my number one goal of safety and classroom management. I practiced everyday until I created a classroom where I set the standards for my class. At Manitou High School I taught subjects that would encourage students to stay curious. As well as lessons that built a safe environment that created a family community. At Ute Pass Elementary I challenged my classroom management and adopted the rule don't smile until December. I learned it is easier to loosen up on rules than it is to  become stricter.