Week 3

MONDAY, AUGUST 20TH

Today I went over answers to the elements and principles quiz. I realized I have never gone over a quiz before and that the reason you would ever read the answers out loud again would be to clarify any common errors or individual mistakes and re-emphasize important concepts. I read straight through the answers which was kind of pointless. I did talk about one of the questions more in depth, but that was about it.

I introduced our first art problem today! I first walked them through the structure of an art problem. I talked about rephrasing the term art project into an art problem that they have to design a creative solution to, which re-emphasized the idea that we want to develop our problem solving and critical thinking skills. After a broad look at the phases of an art problem I introduced the concept of "spirit pods." I talked about the objectives and then showed two examples of spirit pods and asked students to select one and write a list of descriptive words that would fit a person who would have that soul. I then had them discuss in small groups before sharing answers out loud with the class. The class discussion surprised me, they had more complex and a wider variety of interpretations than I had imagined. Then I projected descriptive words that they had to draw lines for with the goal of drawing no two lines the same.

I'm not a huge fan of how this project introduction went, it felt bland and stale, except for the first exercise when I asked them to write, discuss, and share what types of people would have the two spirit pods I projected. They didn't latch onto the descriptive words well and behaved well but didn't seem engaged in an excited way. I'm going to make sure it is more engaging for the clay unit.

I did have a good moment thinking on the fly. I had forgotten 4th was a regular length period even though we were on an early release schedule, so after having students draw their descriptive lines in their sketchbooks, I had volunteers come up and draw the lines on the board. It was a great way to informally assess their comprehension because I noticed that they did not use any line variation and did not stray from creating pattern. So I was able to back track in my presentation and go over those concepts again.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21ST

Today I introduced the concept of thumbnail sketches and then showed an example of my own thumbnail sketches along with commentary on my thought process as I was sketching. They still seem to be hesitant to stray far from whatever their first idea may be. I just continued to encourage them to flip their original design upside, cut it in half, zoom in on one part, whatever they could do to further explore their initial design. 1st and 4th period had trouble conceptualizing a "spirit pod" so during lunch I talked to the rest of the art department about my idea and what I could do to help them feel more comfortable with not be so literal. David offered that I could create a little more structure to the concept by asking them to design a shell that represented how they come across as to other people and then a seed within the shell that represent who they actually are or how they view themselves. Explaining it this way seemed to help them get started. I also created a pinterest board for them with images of actual seed pods and examples of pod sculptures. I didn't do this with the first two classes because I was afraid they would see something they liked and copy it exactly, but the last three periods really benefitted from seeing examples so they could have a base to jump from. They're coming up with some cool stuff!

After grading H.'s ((the student with severely limited english) test last week, I finally received her IEP. It offered that tests be simplified and that she be given two answers to choose from. So I rewrote the test for H., making the definitions shorter and then asking her to circle a or b for the correct vocabulary. She improved drastically! M. (boy who "misplaced" his test) retook it and completely bombed it. I had Ms. O go into another classroom with him and she said she began to read the questions out loud for him, emphasizing and pointing out key words, verbally gave him a word bank of potential answers, and then pointed out the correct answer for each question and he still would write a different word. He either has severe anxiety or needs to be tested to see if he needs an IEP. I emailed his counselor to explain the situation and see if she had any suggestions with how to proceed.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND

Today was demo day for wire connection techniques. I felt that my demonstration went well. I would like to do it in smaller groups next time though because the manipulation of wire is so small that it's difficult to see in a large group. I also realized that the wire disappears when it's not against the wood of the table, so each I would lift it up to show them something up close, I realized they couldn't see. So I started putting my hand behind the wire or putting a piece of paper against it so it was more clear. The rest of the time I let students practice the techniques. When they began to slow down from that, I offered them a strand of reed per table so they could begin to experiment with mixing mediums, attaching wire to reed and so on. A few class periods came up with some ingenious techniques when mashing the wire and reed together. One girl wrapped the wire around her strand of reed, then she was able to manipulate it however she wanted and it held its form steady. I made sure to show the rest of her class and the following classes her discovery.

During 5th period the vice principal came in while I was alone and observed some of my class! I was very excited that he was able to see me in action without the assistance of Danielle. I even encouraged him to try some of the techniques we were working on!

Great day overall!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD

The kids finally got to start their projects! I encouraged them to build larger than 10 inches since I noticed some projects getting a bit small. Some kids have come up with really complicated and intricate designs that will take time, and others are almost halfway done with their project after the 1st day. I don't know how to encourage the one's who claim they're halfway done to extend the project into deeper territory. I was thinking of saying they should treat their first sculpture as their test run and then create a second sculpture with more detail. I will talk to Danielle and see what she does. All the classes seemed very engaged and excited by this project though so I'm glad the materials and the concept excites them!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH

Today I felt a little out of control. Students are flying through this project, not even in a bad way though, but I think their designs weren't complex enough. I'm going to go over the rubric on Monday to make sure they are hitting the requirements.I don't think I did a great job communicating the objectives. I am also going to show examples of student projects that are doing a good job with the objectives and extending the project. The good part is that they are super engaged. Haven't had to ask anyone to put away phones or get back to work. I think that the concept is also a little vague.

I am also getting frustrated with students not turning in work. Nothing has been homework, I also give tons of time in class to complete the assignment and time to turn it in on Canvas during class. I consistently remind them when things are due through the daily objectives, announcements on canvas, and verbally, but I still had 30/120 students not turn in a simple assignment today. It's driving me nuts! They just had to take a picture of their sketch and submit it to canvas! That's all!

Monday, I 'm going to ask them if I'm not being clear with when things or due or what more I can do to help them, but I think I'm doing everything and they just need a little wake up call.