Last Day... Officially

The students' projects turned out very well overall. I was pleased. I will miss Oak Hall, Gary, Ponz, and the students... They were my students for a little while.

Going back before school is over to visit and say goodbye.

Spring 2010 Blog - Over and Out, Matt Rogers

Oaxacan April 1

Not too much to write about this week. The students continued with their projects. Most of them were gluing and finishing up by applying Gesso. I had to assist a student who was creating a praying mantis. I cut a hole into the main body section and he hot-glued it inside. It worked great and wee were all pleased. I suggested he reinforce the legs with paper mache layers for stability. The students finished up and took them outside to dry. I really enjoy guiding students to figure out problems and assisting students who need a little extra help or facilitation.

Week 11

This week Gary began the curriculum I prepared for him. He introduced the project by explaining a little about what the students were going to do. A brief history was given to start. Gary mentioned that he likes to give them more information as they go. I thought this was better than unloading all of the info at the beginning. We showed a few examples and the students began brainstorming ideas. Gary brought up the idea of spirit animals. Some of the students went with that, but others chose animals of interest.

The students began binding the newspaper with tape; getting the creature bodies and extremities roughed out. Most of the projects' sizes were similar and could fit within one square foot. I walked around and showed the students a couple of techniques, which I wasn't expecting to do, but they needed my help. Monday the students will finish up and apply the papier mache.

The experience is going well so far, but I have been more involved than originally conceived.

Week 10

Last week Gary introduced a new project. This was a 2D shapes project. The students viewed drawings of three dimensional shapes and had to arrange them in a surrealist fashion. The shapes had a lot of contrasting shadows and showed depth with varying sizes. They were continuing to work on this project until Thursday when my test project outline will start. I am looking forward to observing how the lesson is introduced and what dialogue will take place between the students and teacher. Gary spoke with an importer who is going to allow him to borrow some real Qaxacan sculptures. I hope these don't direct the students too much. This was a hard project to prescribe student connections, so I will see how Gary handles this and the background. I have been really busy on my thesis and have had less time to spend at the school. I will be spending more time though considering my test project this week.


Here are some examples of interesting 3D projects. The one is a high relief diorama-type project using papier mache. Need to look into more.
The next one is the silverware project. It's similar to projects that Craig and I have discussed. How high can they go? Etc. Shows sequencing skills - foundation building, stability, etc.

Week 9

"Building" project and "Scholar Rocks" Mixed Grades

Student Work - 7th Grade Ceramics

Fish Plate (intro to ceramics)- 6th Grade

High School Ceramics - Throwing Wheel

High School Ceramics - Glazing

Glazing

Getting glazing tips form AP Ceramicist

This week Gary and I agreed on a curriculum he wants me to develop for his 7th grade class. We discussed materials and possible projects that he wanted to do. He originally wanted to use cardboard to create a diorama, but he later mentioned that he wanted to use papier mache, which he hasn't used in a while. Oaxacan wood carvings came up in the discussion and we agreed that this would be a fun project. The details aren't worked out, but The big idea of the project will discuss the Zapotec Indian carvers using found materials and subjects from their natural environment. Papier Mache isn't a natural material in our environment, but this material will work. Folklore plays are large part concerning the animals and each one has a specific meaning within their culture, such as the turtle being associated with music. The students will choose an animal that represents their spirit animal and create a papier mache Alebrijes and painting them using colors to describe the nature of the animal. I will include the history of the Oaxacan carvers, how the "animal chooses the wood", and other relevant information. Ideally I would like to go through a similar process as the Zapotec do by finding forms in nature, but this lesson is being designed for someone else and material driven, so I will make the best of it.

Week 8

This week I spoke with Colquit Tanner, who came in to help the students with their clay throwing. He got his Masters in education, which I was unaware of. We were speaking about how students need to relate what they are learning to their lives or it will not fully learn it. He told me a bout a history class he taught to upper level students in the Seventies. The class had to complete a final project that related to their lives. They were learning the typical history information, but had to go out of the classroom to experiment in the public. One student in particular, an African American student, did her report on discrimination in employment. She applied to over ten positions for work, but apparently wasn't able to get any of the jobs due to discrimination. I thought the idea for students to get out into the public and experiment with a topic that resonates with them, something important. We both agreed that the method of relational learning was the best method for teaching and learning.

Gary and I went over and discussed my project resource that Gary will use to teach the 7th graders. I gave him a list of possible projects using cardboard. There were too many possibilities, so Gary wanted me to narrow them down to three projects: Steel sculpture, personal space, and student collaborative piece. The jury is still out on which one Gary will use, so I will know this week. I have been developing these projects over the last couple of weeks and hope that they aren't too in depth, which Gary was afraid of. I will try to keep things simple and to the point.

Week 7

This week I assisted the students with their projects. I was able to help them, at least to my knowledge, with their wheel throwing. There were some new student on the wheel that finished the last project. I am still generating a project that I will supply Gary to see if he is able to use the resource and the instructions. I helped students with their glazes by showing them how to tape off areas to keep straight lines when applying the glaze. This is something I didn't know much about a month ago, but I feel confident demonstrating certain aspects of ceramics.

One of the students in Ponz's class had a gallery show on Thursday, so I attended it that evening to give her support. Her artwork parody's the roles of nuclear family moms and relationships. She uses pen and ink drawings with water color. Her drawing style reminds me of Robert Crumb, but you don't want to say that around her. The originality factor is very heavy with the young artist and not wanting to be compared with other works.

I didn't have a lot going on this week, so it will be a little short.

The survey i posted online is a great success so far with over 70 responses.

Week 6

This week I continued to work along with the students in ceramics/ceramic sculpture. Some of the students are hand building, while others are on the wheel. Some of the 7th graders are creating extra sculptures since they have finished the assignments, but most go to the wheel. Three boys in the class created a dragon sculpture along with many little characters. It is interesting to hear the stories behind each one. I have been continuing my education on the wheel, while helping students up to my level of skill, which they pass quickly. I was in charge of the students in that section this week. Some of them new and some pros. I have gotten pretty good at centering, so that is where I am able to really help them.

Gary and I spoke today about the impact I have been having on the students. I was delighted to hear that the students always wait for me to come in. Even some of the high school students are pleased when I walk through the door. As soon as I walk in they ask for help or tips concerning their work. I am glad that they value my opinion. Gary was saying that I have a good ability recognizing students that need a little extra help or assistance.

I spoke with Gary again about giving him a project to teach to his students. I am going to collect cardboard for the project and give the project packet/instructions to see how well it works. This project packet is what I want to experiment with. If I can create ones that a teacher can pull out, learn a little, and then teach well, then I think that I have composed a good resource. Gary will give me feedback as well as my personal observations of pros and cons. Gary feels that my thesis project as a whole, or unit, should start with simple technique-based projects and work its way up to more difficult/multi-technique projects. He said, which was a good notion, was to have the projects vary in time and tedium. They shouldn't all be two or three week projects, but vary, meaning that, say one, should be 2 weeks long, the next a few days, then the next three weeks, etc. Have smaller/simpler technique-based projects in between the more tedious or larger works. This would give the students a break in between big projects. Let them learn a new technique with a simple assignment, then apply it later with other learned techniques. This made a lot of sense.

My survey was approved by the IRB, so I will post that by the weekend.

Week 5

This week on Tuesday there was a sub in for Gary, so I helped the students as Gary would since the sub wasn't an "art person". One student who I was assigned to help last week was creating a ceramic chip/salsa plate. They had to create this using an interest of theirs. This student was creating the roman coliseum and wanted a "roman style statue" to hold up the dip container. This idea, from which I found out later, came from another where they were learning about Greek/Roman mythology. I offered the idea to the student that the figure could be similar to the titan Atlas. Atlas was the fellow who holds up the earth on his shoulders, but instead of the planet he could be supporting the dip. He thought this was a great idea and began telling me about Atlas and other titans and gods. This was an interesting discourse that sparked other students' conversation on mythological characters. I thought that this project should have this theme throughout the classroom considering how everyone was learning about mythology. I guided him on simple proportions and carving methods and it turned out very well. We had to beef up certain parts so it would be strong enough to hold up the dip bowl. I hope it turns out well.

This seemed like a good opportunity to have the entire class create choose a mythological figure to portray in this or similar project. I thought it was great that this student was using the new material he had been learning on his own in the art room. I learned here that students can make connections to other subjects very well and that teachers can learn from this on how to incorporate ideas for their projects. This all goes back to having a good collaboration with other teachers and developing cross curriculum projects.

Ponz showed me an interesting "free" 3-D program that students could use for a number of projects. The program can be used for making landscapes, architecture, and sculpture design. This would work well when having students create "their own spaces" dioramas and designing abstract sculptures, which are two of my curriculum ideas for my thesis. There are many possibilities for this program instead of having the students drawing the designs as usual. I'm not saying that this would replace drawing designs, but could be supplemented in particular or proper projects. After I messed around with the program, I looked into other free programs that were similar. Google Sketchup is easy to use and free as well. It's a little more simple and is geared more toward architecture. This is the program that is used for some Google earth applications.

Thursday I was a student again and Colquit Tanner gave me some pointers on the clay wheel. Colquit has been throwing for 30 + years. This is the second time I really tried this I must admit I was a little proud. The information he was giving to me was invaluable for me and my future students. I would still like to take Gary's adult class on Saturdays.

Raku ceramics and how different it is from traditional clays and firings. The Raku is interesting because it is fired at enormous temperatures, but is pulled out of the kiln immediately and put into a smoke box. If other clays were handled like that they would explode due to the temperature drop. The next thing I learned was about glazes. It was simple information, but will be useful to me in the future. Glazes are a science and need to be applied evenly like paint. Different colors on top of others will effect the way they turn out; and based on this they may turn out different every time. The best thing to do is to make sample tablets sot the students can view what they look like in general and how many coats to apply.

I learned many tings this week, but the main things was that teachers may try to make or supply an opportunity for students to make connections, but when it comes down to it, the connections that students make on their own are more interesting and honest, than when connections are implied too much by an educator.

Week 4

Tuesday was a good day to come in because the Upper School were critiquing their work. I was able to see how Ponz and Gary approach critiquing students. It was similar to that of Under/Grad crits, but seemed more constructive than destructive (occasional in under/grad). The students began reading their artist statement and explaining their work. This is a good approach considering they are finding themselves and their artistic outlet as opposed to under/grad where they should have an art focus and without stating their meaning, the viewer must interpret it. To elaborate, this is a more constructive approach critiquing a budding artist, than focusing on figuring out the concept and destructing the work.

After the student gave their speech on the work, the rest of the students, teachers, and I made suggestions or pointed out and encouraged the good points. The students spoke first and then the teachers (me included) afterword.

One student, a painter, has finally found his niche, but needs to devote more time to working instead of piddling around. They have a deadline at the end of the semester for 12 good pieces. This was his first in a series about overcoming life's mental obstacles, but expressed them visually in a physical metaphor on the canvas. (e.g. walking a tightrope)

Another painter went next. Her previous work centered around Japanese internment camps of the 40's during the war, while her new paintings focused on the influence of American pop culture on the Japanese and now the influence of Japanese pop culture on American youth. The newer work was more developed and refined because of her actual interest and personal connection to the Japanese pop influence. The work is more meaningful to her because of that personal connection. She was encouraged to work on the new series.

The following student was a ceramicist that is influenced by the design of Japanese ceramics. She had strong formal pieces that shined well, but there were others that were heavy and mismatched looking compared to the others. The crit encouraged her to work in that style that worked the best and to male them into pairs since the Japanese consider these items with family and conversation.

Critiques at this level work well when understanding what the student is trying to accomplish first and then suggest the best routes to accomplish that. I have found, as many would agree, that constructive criticisms work the best. Open the conversation first with the good points and what works, then go in to suggestions for "making this even better". No one during a crit should say that something is "wrong" or "not working", instead "it would work better this way" or "you created this great, so continue that". Always be positive.

Thursday I went with Gary and his art club into the gallery where Mr Wallace's carvings were along with baskets and other artworks from Andros. Gary spoke with the students about the history of Andros and the people who live there. It was great because there were photographs of the locals by UF students who attended the program. Gary asked the students to describe one a work that was comprised of Florida shapes out of concrete with a bronze chain draped around the mirrored state. At the end of the chain was a bronze heart. The students took a little while to figure out that the artist lived in Florida, but his heart belonged on Andros. The students were very interested in the work because they were able to pick them up and investigate them closer. I mentioned to Gary that investigating a sculpture with touch is a lot more meaningful than viewing a 3D object in a typical gallery setting. It's more of an experience than staring at it formally. I think students benefit more personally to art that CAN be touched and explored.

Week 3

This week I continued to talk to Mr Wallace some more about his carving and watch him work. Some of the middle school students were working on their shoe projects and other were starting a 2 piece molded project. They had to use mold forms to create a piece. Whether it be two bowls to form a UFO or different bowls/plates to make a salsa/chip set. It was up to them what to make from the "idea". The idea was to make an object from two molds used together, but it was up to the student to choose "what". I like the idea to give the students an open ended project such as this. You may have ten different pieces by the end of the project. This is a choice-based method. One thing that I noticed bout Gary's introductions or demos are the large amounts of examples taht he has. Most of them are past student's works. I find this interesting considering how a lot of students, at least in my experience in public schools, want to keep there work and it is hard to pry it form their hands. This is great considering the variety of pieces and experience levels that are available for view. It is also a catch 22 since some students may want to copy an item verbatim.

Also this week, Colquit Tanner came in to use some Raku clay on the wheel. The US students where using the wheels as well. Mr Tanner helped the students with centering the clay on the wheel. This is an important technique that even Mr Tanner is still trying to master after 3o years of ceramics. I learned a lot as well since I am not good at the wheel at all. When I subbed a couple of weeks ago I made a coil pot and a human head, but when it comes to the wheel, the elementary students can run circles around me. This is probably how the 4314 students feel during the semester when having to draw. I am considering taking one of Gary's adult classes so I may at least make an ashtray or something before I begin teaching.

This week I learned that I need to have many examples to show students, not just one or two and that I need to learn a lot more when it comes to throwing clay. An art educator should be a well rounded individual in all aspects of fine arts, not just painting or sculpture. Gary didn't have a clue about the wheel until a few years ago and now he is teaching adults on the weekends. Being diverse is important when wanting to have a good art program. If there is an artform that a student is interested in, it is the teacher's responsibility to educate themselves on the topic to encourage the student's growth.

Week 2

My second week at Oak Hall centered around a carver form the Andros Island in the Bahamas. Andros Island is the largest Island and the least inhabited. Mr Wallace is an amazing individual that only uses hand tools to create his beautiful, traditional wooden sculptures. He came to visit to do some demos and work with the students, not to mention the opening of a show at the Coffrin Gallery featuring some of his work.

I hung out with Mr. Wallace as he was carving a Bahamian man carrying a fish and a conch. Fish and conchs are staples in Bahamian cuisine. Mr Wallace though is a Rastafarian and only eats fish on occasion and depends on who's cooking. I watched him carve with different kinds of chisels: flat, half round, and angled. The rubber mallet that he was using was one that he purchased new thirty years ago. The bottom of the mallet head is worn to fit the top of his hand. We both agreed that they don't make things like they used to. I asked him how he treats the sculpture; as a whole or concentrating on different parts. He said that he moves around on different areas and treats it as a a whole trying to keep the entire sculpture on the same level of work. That means to keep up work on all areas of the sculpture. He said that if you get to far on one area, the rest will not fit together or make it complete. The areas will be different. He is a very wise man when it comes to sculpture and carving. The wood that Mr Wallace recommends is mohogany because it has a tight grain and it is easier to carve. Gary is going to have his HS students work with Mr Wallace to learn a little about carving. I will be sitting in this week as well. I thing it would be great to have an asset such as Mr Wallace to come in and do demos for my future classes. This wil take a lot of coordination and networking on my part.

I watched Ponz introduce a project to his HS students. They have to communicate with Turkmenistan and develop a discourse with students at their sister school. Ponz introduced this topic from a historian point of view giving the students information and history about the country and the surrounding relationships with bordering countries and our own. This approach makes sense when dealing with countries and developing an understanding of their customs.

Week 1

January 5/7

I went to Oak Hall twice this week to sub for Gary. The overall experience was good since most of the students knew and respected me. I introduced the lessons that Gary typically starts them with, but I also tried to put a little of my flair in there as well by giving them the option to add to the project or do it a little differently. A couple of the classes were upper school, so they continued what they had been doing, most of them worked on the clay wheel which I am inexperienced in doing. I really need to work on those skills.

The lessons that I modified a little were the fish platter project in 6th grade and the 7th grade silverware project. I gave the students the option to create tessellation platters that could be joined together after they finished them. Most of them thought that was a great idea, but were a little scared of the results, so all but one or two used the template. I think if this was my lesson, I would introduce different styles/cultures' fish designs or discuss different kinds of fish that the students eat. This could go with science to an extent, but falls back on the creativity of the student. Other lessons may be stronger when trying to integrate other subjects, but this one would be a stretch I think. Maybe iridescence could be brought up about the scales and the glaze.

The siverware project was a little on the fly. Typically the student build a solid "architectural"-type form and then incorporate a decorative embellishment to the top with the silverware. It is a fun and inexpensive project. Some of the students had already done it the semester before, so I encouraged them to add on to their old ones to go well beyond the 18" minimum. One student got his to 5'4". I told them that once they had gotten the height and the fork/spoon/knife embellishments, they could use stuff from the junk box to add contrasting shapes. There were plastic fruits, circuit boards, cloth, and other things of interest that they could use. They had some funny conclusions, especially one student who hung berries inside of his and another who used a pear, but it made his structure slouch, so we had to beef it up. One student used cloth as a cape, while adding eyes and a mouth out of plastic bits. She wanted a marker, so I supplied one. She wrote "Super Sculpture" on the paper with her name and grade. It was really creative and I encouraged her cleverness. She was very proud.

As far as the students were concerned, they were good, but there were a couple exceptions. A few of them didn't want to do anything after I encouraged and demanded (somewhat), for them to do so. I just wrote their names down for Gary later. The 8th graders were better the second day, but the first day, they didn't want to do too much because they had already done the clay shoe project that I was supposed to teach. So instead of making them do it again I gave them a free period to experiment withe the clay some. The second day we got started on a sculpture that needs to have 1 extruded piece, 1 form wheel, and 1 from a mold. They managed to work well day 2. On the first day two of the girls bolted out the door after I told them to clean. This aggravated me a bit. I should have given them detention the next day I was there, but I will discuss it with Gary. The boys in the class were ok, but the 8th grade attitudes were there. They seemed to follow the lead of the boy with the deepest voice. I thought it was rather funny. Anyway, the second day, I gained the respect of the voiced student, so they all worked since he was.

Good experience my first week back. I learned a few things about introductions and about the respect for substitute teachers.