Professional Conference Experience

      I was fortunate enough to be selected to present a seminar session to educators at the 2014 Montana Education Association Teacher's Conference. The session I taught was worth three recertification credits for attendee's. I taught an interdisciplinary lesson on the art of cartography. I gave the educators a brief history on the art of cartography, and discussed how the lesson could link to the core content areas within schools including math, language arts, social studies and science. In my session each teacher was provided with a printed lesson plan, a sign up sheet to be emailed the power point presentation, and a grading rubric in addition to the example that the teachers made in the seminar. The hands-on art portion of the project had the educators making their own map with a list of requirements such as a compass, decorated border, islands, and a series of other requirements.  After the map is finished, it is antiqued in tea.
      I gave each educator a short form to fill out providing me feedback on what they thought of the lesson, and if they had any suggestions to me as a teaching candidate on my presentation. I received some great feedback...we all benefitted from the experience.

           The map is designed around a students imaginary private island for an art lesson, however, in an interdisciplinary setting the core teacher could adapt the requirements for any content they wished to cover as maps are so universal. The strong focus on co-teaching in the education world is a nice idea, but not practical in schools as that would require more staffing. However, working together on interdisciplinary lessons for use in individual classrooms--covering more than one classes content--is an attainable and successful method of teaching communally within a school and helping to "drive home" lesson objectives in different formats for students to have broader academic coverage of the information.

Here is an example of a student made map using my lesson plan.

During my student teaching I attended many in-service meetings and days of learning for faculty, however, (unfortunately for me) due to the new schools being built in the district these meetings were used as ways for the schools' administrations to work on the organization of the new schools staffing, curriculum, scheduling, etc., it was however very fascinating to absorb how such a huge undertaking is accomplished! So, still a wonderful experience.

Resume'

Katherine M. Facklam

                        

                                    645 North Avenue West             Cell:     *removed due to web access                                                                                                  

                                    Missoula, MT 59801                  Email:  *removed due to web access

            

EDUCATION

Jun. 2013 to current           Masters of Education: Curriculum & Instruction with Education Licensure Art K-12

•       University of Montana Phyllis J. Washington School of Education

          Missoula, MT

Jan. 2015 to May 2015      Student Teaching -  Derby Public Schools, Derby, KS   

Jan. 2013 to Dec. 2014      Bachelor of Arts 

•   University of Montana School of Art

      Missoula, MT

•   Cumulative GPA: 3.96

Oct. 2014                            MEA-MFT Educator’s Conference Session Presenter

Mar. 2014 to May 2014       Education Field Experience, High School Art Classroom

Oct. 2013 to Dec. 2013       Education Field Experience, Kindergarten Classroom

Feb. 2013 to May 2013       MCPS Flagship Volunteer, 2^nd and 3^rd Grade 3D Art Teacher

May 2013 to Aug. 2013       Intern at Zootown Arts Community Center

Oct. 2007 to Sept. 2011       Bachelor of Arts in General Education with focus on Art History, Minor - History

 •   University of Maryland University College 

      Adelphi, MD

 •   Cumulative GPA: 3.157

 •   Attended Art History Field Study Courses in Rome and Amsterdam.

Aug. 1999 to Jan. 2010              Associate in Applied Science, Aviation Maintenance Technology

WORK EXPERIENCE 

Jan. 2008 to Oct. 2012       United States Air Force, Technical Sergeant, Lead Quality Assurance     

                                                Representative/Inspector   

•   Managed the maintenance safety of the Ramstein Air Base (AB), Germany, C-130 and C-21aircraft fleet.

•    Inspected the integrity of aircraft maintenance conducted on the flight line and in   

   maintenance hangars.

•    Trained over 330 airmen on proper maintenance practices, aircraft maintenance safety  

   regulations, and individualized maintenance tasks.

•    Deployed to Al Udeid AB, Qatar, for temporary duty in support of Operation Enduring 

   Freedom.

Dec. 2005 to Jan. 2008     C-130 Flying Crew Chief                                                                                       

•   Singlehandedly maintained flight integrity of C-130 aircraft during off-station missions as a flight member of the aircrew.

•   Supervised all flight line maintenance during swing shift while at home station. 

•   Trained and motivated 50 airmen per shift.

•    Oversaw mission launch and maintenance task completion for an aircraft fleet of 12 C-130’s.

•   Singlehandedly spearheaded maintenance ground crew efforts for six different airframes for POTUS (President of the United States) mission in Liberia, Africa.

•   Chosen for the lead crew chief position for the Air Force-wide Air Mobility Command’s Aircraft “Rodeo” Competition for Ramstein AB C-130 team, held at McChord Air Force Base, Washington.

•   Deployed to Ali Al Salem AB, Kuwait, for temporary duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Feb. 2002 to Dec. 2005      Dedicated C-130 Crew Chief

•   Appointed lead mechanic of a C-130 aircraft and was subsequently in charge of all aspects of its maintenance support, mission launch/recovery generation, and documentation.

•   Instructed airmen assigned as subordinates on aircraft maintenance.

•   Deployed to Camp Snoopy, Qatar, in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom.

•   Deployed to Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan, and Manas, Kyrgyzstan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Feb. 2000                           C-130 Aerospace Maintenance Apprentice

•   Learned skills and applied knowledge to tasks related to C-130 aircraft maintenance

   and motivated co-workers.

•   Deployed to Camp Justice, Oman, in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom.

AWARDS

2014                               University of Montana Dean’s List   

2013                               University of Montana Dean’s List 

2009                               Volunteer of the Quarter (Jan.-Mar.) for the 86^th Maintenance Operations Squadron

2007                               Non-commissioned Officer of the Quarter (Jul.-Sept.)

   Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez Leadership Award Annual Winner for 86^th Aircraft    

   Maintenance Squadron

   Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez Leadership Award Annual Winner for 86^th Aircraft  

   Maintenance Group

                                                    Airmen Committed To Excellence (A.C.E.) Award winner 

•   Personal award of USAFE (United States Air Forces in Europe) Commander, General Hobbins. 

•   Awarded annually USAFE-wide to only 12 exceptional airmen.

2002                               “Below the Zone”

•   Earned the rank of Senior Airman six months early.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

2011                                University of Maryland University College Alumni Association

2011                                University of Maryland University College History Alumni Association

2013                                Honor Society.org

2013                                University of Montana Honor Society

2014                                National Art Education Association

2014                                National Education Association & MEA/MFT

                                    

Goals for Student Teaching

         The question of my professional goals seems to be ever changing with the different phases of my educational training.   So, I am amending my previous set of goals to fit what I am anticipating will be areas where I will need to focus skills during student teaching. My current professional goals will be to:

1. Learn effective methods for teaching measurable and engaging lessons to a teenage and sixth grade  audience by the end of my semester long capstone experience.

2. Learn effective classroom management skills that prove effective in both classrooms.

3.  Learn to implement measurable art history content within every different art project, so as to enrich the learning targets with more than just a skill, but also background historical information and understanding.

4. Learn how to effectively manage all aspects of an art classroom. I would like to observe, take notes, and gather information on a successfully managed art room from managing budget to material ordering, material usage and management. 

5. I would like to spend the upcoming semester really focusing on assessment. I plan on asking as many questions to as many art teachers as I can come in contact with about art assessment. It is very important to me that I can find a "fair" and objective based form of assessment. That being said, I will also work very hard to find the balance between being objective and implementing differentiation amongst varied learners. 

6. Lastly, I would like to spend as much time with special needs students as possible. It is very important to me to learn effective methods of inclusion in the art classroom and the only way I'm going to learn is to practice. I am going to seek out opportunities to work with students with special needs in an effort to broaden my own experience base so I can better the learning experiences of students in my future classes.  

Best Pieces of Academic Work

"We Still Can"

I feel very strongly about being an effective art teacher and honing my academic profession and pedagogy as I am a teacher before an artist, versus an artist who is a teacher. However, I have found passion in sculpture and relief printmaking and would like to share the three pieces I am most proud of to date. My best academic work, lesson wise is attached in the box.com to the right with the coordinating label.

In my professional work I am focusing on the strength and development of my own personally sound and effective grasp art pedagogy, while simultaneously working very hard to become a "Jill of all Trades" in the art field by familiarizing myself with as many different mediums and techniques as I possibly can. All of these things will help develop my skills as an educator--I must have the content knowledge, not only of art, but how to effectively teach. I believe that through my interaction, instruction and observation during my field experiences I have determined that in a project based classroom (such as art) the enthusiasm and base knowledge of the project techniques absolutely drives the motivation of students for that project. I know that personally I will be more enthusiastic about printmaking and any three-dimensional project, however I have built the skill set and feel prepared to effectively teach within mediums that are outside of my "favored" zone.

I think one of the most important things I've decided about myself as an art educator is that I do not like the idea of teaching projects. I want to design a content rich curriculum full of important objectives which are presented in an easily understandable order that help a student grasp the importance and depth of art as a content area through understanding and appreciation. I want to teach them to see, not just look at art--and I believe that my enthusiasm for achieving this goal in teaching will step in when we are working in a medium that is not my personal favorite...as that really doesn't matter in an academic setting. What is important is the students are provided with a broad and content rich environment so they are exposed to many experiences so they may choose their own favorite while appreciating all mediums.

"Fahrt"
(A Journey in Deutsche)
8 layer reduction relief print

"A New Chapter"
(Anagama fired clay sculpture)

Volunteer Experiences

I have volunteered in many different ways since starting my teacher education program, however, I will only share a few in an effort to be concise.


            I was a Missoula Flagship volunteer for the spring 2013 semester at Franklin Elementary. I absolutely loved this experience! I taught an after-school 3D art class to 3rd graders. It was a smaller group so it was an opportunity to work on my one-on-one instructional techniques. My education with art ed had started before I was even accepted into the education program! :)

        My next volunteer activity was a summer of volunteering at the Zootown Arts Community Center in Missoula. What an amazing place. I did a myriad of different jobs while working there throughout the summer...however, one of my main job was to apprentice the visiting artists teaching summer camps by way of classroom management. So, I was the volunteer "strong hand" to keep the summer camp classes orderly and moving smoothly through the projects. I had a blast with it, and what a fantastic way for a "budding" art teacher to get some new ideas! I also received my first instruction with kiln firing through this experience. A very worthwhile skill for an art teacher.

While student teaching I volunteered  throughout the schools over a dozen times for events, fund raisers, state-wide art competitions, school club competitions and packing up classrooms for a giant move to a new school, but my favorite in-school volunteer event was my being asked to be the juror for the end of year high school art department art show. It took me 5 hours to evaluate four different teachers' classrooms adorned with art from across the artistic mediums. It was wonderful to see the culmination of the students hard work at the end of the year. This show also included the senior show, which included the graduating senior's best work from their high school career; as a group they show tremendous talent an I was proud to see some of the wonderful students I had a change to teach displaying their works and showing them off to parents. I was also coaxed into participating in a blind wheel throwing competition after awards were handed out...in which I did terribly, to the delight of the students. They knew it was my weak point and squealed with delight as my poor attempt at a cylinder spun into an unrecognizable blob. :)

Here are some photo's of the end of year art department student show that I juried.

I wrote this lesson plan for the unit following my memory boxes,
the ceiling was covered with the installation, it looked wonderful!

Finally, one of the most touching volunteer experiences of my life kind of fell into my lap while student teaching. One of the local nursing homes was calling schools to find an art teacher who could give a presentation to the home's residents on the Dutch Master's. As my first degree is in Art History, my high school cooperating teacher referred the director to me...and so it went.  I've also spent a fair amount of time in Holland, so put together a nice slide show and gave an hour long talk on the Netherlands and Dutch painting, focusing on the "Dutch Master's". (Which I feel is subjective, but I didn't share that with the residents. )

My presentation for the Derby, KS Sterling House Nursing Home is located on the right side of this blog in the Best Academic Work box, as I was really proud to have done this for some wonderful elderly within the community where I student taught. Enjoy!

Midterm Reflection

            The first half of my student teaching was completed in a clay sculpture and wheel throwing classroom in the art department at Derby High School. I was very excited about this opportunity as learning to solely manage all that comes along with clay in a classroom is very important for an art teacher. Specifically learning kiln firing, clay mixing, and glaze knowledge. My cooperating teacher was an M.F.A in ceramics and wheel thrown art. She is a master potter! She taught me the in's and out's of her classroom and how she instructs her wheel thrown classes, which have to be very sequential so the students build their skill set in the most effective manner. She spend a lot of time explaining and demonstrating to me how she mixes high-fire glazes,  which clay's to use for low-fire glazes and underglazes as well as which clays work best with certain projects. I spent hours upon hours in the kiln room loading and unloading kilns and firing almost daily. With 140 students daily, work was constantly needing to be fired. My coordinating teacher also helped me during plan time with my own wheel throwing skills, or lack thereof...so I can better demonstrate and instruct my future students.

     The sculpture classes are what she relinquished to me, relatively quickly in the first eight weeks. They were already started on a project, but she requires several mini-lessons, artist of the months, brainstorming activities, and critiques for the students so I lead all of those until the project they had started at the beginning of the semester was finished. I quickly established myself as firm with classroom management and the high school students seemed to appreciate the order as I had very little trouble with behavior in my entire eight weeks at the high school level. The first week was a little difficult as the classroom teacher runs a very loosely managed classroom, whereas I required a few more things of the students--which they were graceful in accepting for the most part. (Such as coming in, grabbing their work, and bringing their quiet attention to me for announcements and daily lesson information.)  I loved the freedom that my teacher gave me, as she is not strong in sculpture at all so welcomed the ideas--and I felt more creative than I had in years! Ideas for assignments that aligned with objectives just flowed from my imagination, it was wonderful! My cooperating teacher likes to teach jewelry in sculpture class and also does mosaic work, but aside from that everything is clay based--which of course, is wonderful for sculpture.  Management and lesson creation and set-up were definite strengths for me in the first half of  my student teaching.

     Weaknesses for me in this half of student teaching as pointed out by my university supervisor were to be even more strict with students in the classroom during my presentations if they goofed off, as well as developing effective methods of assessment. I am really hoping to get more insight into assessment with the second half of my student teaching at the Sixth Grade Center as with how few projects were completed in eight weeks at the high school I rarely had the opportunity to practice. In lieu of not being able to grade and assess projects I asked gobs of questions and took copious amounts of notes from my teacher and from all of the other generous art teachers in the Derby High art department. They all invited me into their classrooms for observation and answered any questions I had--which I made it a point to ask each one how they assessed their specific mediums (drawing, painting, print, and photo--both digital and analog). They were a wealth of knowledge, now to put all of my notes in an order so I can implement their shared knowledge!

Bring on the Sixth Grade Center!!  Even though I've absolutely LOVED my time with the high school students, I have a feeling this will be my preferred age group. It's hard to leave them, they are begging me not to go!  But I am excited about a new experience as I've not had the opportunity to work with 11/12 year olds before and am anxious to see where they are cognitively, creatively, and emotionally as young makers and humans. :)

Video Critiques I and II --A Reflection

Video Tape Reflection I

           

            The first video of myself teaching was filmed while I was introducing a lesson for a clay sculpture project. I had an introduction, a historical component with slide show and went over lesson requirements, rubric and a demonstration of the first steps of the project.  My cooperating teacher recorded me for the full 15 minutes going over all of these things.  What an eye opener!! I found that I was pleased with the volume and tone of my voice, as well as inflection. I was also pleased with my reactions to disruptive students and how I handled the introduction after the interruption.  The students were engaged and were answering pre-assessment questions I was asking…but the silence in the video spoke loudly to the objectives that needed to be addressed.

            The video was also very forthcoming with areas I needed to work on in my presentation portion.  One thing I’ve been concentrating on very hard is not addressing the students as “you guys”. For some reason, this has been the single most difficult personal auditory default for me to overcome! I counted in my video, and in a period of 15 minutes, I said, “you guys” SEVEN times! Yikes. I was working on this during field experiences as well, and it remained one of my biggest hurdles when addressing a classroom. I also noticed that after the disruptive student interrupted the introduction it took me a little longer than it should have to find my place in the lesson. I wasn’t completely thrown off track but definitely rattled a bit…which resulted in a few “Um’s” before I got myself straightened back out.

            My goals for the next video is to maintain and become more proficient at the things I feel I was successful at accomplishing and to eleviate those things that were not successful. I’m working on “ladies and gentlemen” as my common reference for the students as a solution to my “you guys” problem! Stay tuned…

Video Tape Reflection II

            The second videotape experience (four weeks later) recorded me doing a lesson objective review (post-assessment) and the beginning of the project critique. The video was eight minutes long. I am very happy to reflect that not at any point in the video did I refer to the students as “you guys”! I maintained a commanding tone and volume as well as understandable inflection while speaking. I was much more relaxed in this recording…as at this point I had learned each of the students name and was able to “squash” and behavior issues by addressing the individual student directly by name, which was helpful.  I was just visibly more comfortable in the role. I was also happy with the absence of “um’s” during my speaking portions. All together I feel much more comfortable with this video and with my instruction. Watching myself on video was painful to endure, but I will admit, was incredibly telling as far as different ways I needed improvement in the most raw way possible. I will continue to pay close attention to “ladies and gentlemen” versus my mental default address to students. I am confident that I can overcome, as I have noticed very few times in the last few weeks that “you guys” has slipped past me.