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.