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| Took this picture yesterday at the end of class |
All of them have improved incredibly from this study of sculpting cartoons in the round (with boneware clay) and each piece really shows the great investment of time and effort that each put forth in order to turn out such carefully sculpted and painted finished works.
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| Inspired by Mike Wazowski of Monsters Inc. |
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| Inspired by Pearl of Finding Nemo |
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| Inspired by Pascal from Tangled |
Something else that isn't so obvious from the works is also how much the students have learned in the way of learning how to navigate and take care of working art studio space. I would like to say that all student artists learn this but this 3D class of this semester did an exceptional job at really learning how to use all of the tools and space available to them on top of really taking care of all of it.
While in the past I have had classes who have really been hard on both the tools, raw materials, AND space offered to them by way of their visual art and design studies, the students I have had this round have shown great integrity and taken great responsibility not only in what they have created but in the ways they have created. It really makes me feel proud as a teacher because I feel like I really and truly have done a pretty solid job teaching them this semester. And I even had this confirmed/affirmed two days ago when I was out sick and the substitute teacher left me a lovely note that said that from her experience as a public school physical education teacher at the elementary school level, she experienced my classes as being incredibly well-mannered, hard-working, focused, and generally pleasant. She said I was very lucky to have the student artists that I have and I can't say that I can do anything other than agree with her whole-heartedly.
Next semester I have two more sections of 3D Design and I really hope and pray that they get as much out of the class as I know this class finishing has. I am going to be keeping some projects (like this clay sculpting one and maybe the Form of the Formless one as well) but I will also be adding in some old favorites from my archives like the Inside Out Masks and an updated version and spin on The Ombre Experience. That being said? Even though I have been a bit spotty with what used to be a pretty faithfully update blogsite every week day morning at 7am, don't abandon checking in with me completely even when I am being (sort of) flaky. There is plenty more to come and I will try and keep sharing as best as I can.
These projects are wonderful and better yet is the glowing praise from their art teacher! It feels great to have children respect the space they are in and produce great art because of it. What "rules" to do have?
ReplyDeleteThe one simple rule I have is something that I swiped from that show 19 kids and counting: Do everything with J.O.Y. in mind (which stands for Jesus first, others second, and yourself last). Since I work at a private Christian school it's not a big deal for me to frame out the classroom procedures with something like this but it really does work well because I apply it to everything - their daily doings like how they are staying focused on their work or taking care of the general shared studio classroom space (I work this into thinking about stewardship) as much as how they are interacting with one another (ways they are talking with/about one another and the artwork created). I also use the framework of J.O.Y. to structure their grades. The most of their grade is for what they are creating for Christ and that is 70% and then there is 15% for others that is classroom stewardship (care of space and material) and the last 15% is for their individual/daily performance. Otherwise than this I don't really have classroom rules posted or anything. *shrug* I have high expectations for their behavior and I inform them constantly that we are artists together and the space and materials we share ought to be respected with the greatest amount of care and love. An administrator I had once said that he would love to do away with the student handbook and have it be replaced with a single phrase, "Do the right thing" and I feel like somehow I have kind been able to do something like that with my students.
DeleteOh my gosh! I love these!!!
ReplyDeleteJen - This is one of my favorite projects to do with the kids and it is almost always a winner! I do it for the purposes of teaching them how to do three dimensional form with clay and expressive sculpture without putting them through the paces of doing something sometimes very frustrating like people. Also, because they get to pick their own subject matter, they are always really invested in their work and they never fail to show up ready to work (and clean up in the end too!) and really willing to have the greatest amount of attention to detail as possible.
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