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.