Day 7 in the classroom

Today the ceramics classes were working on sushi platters again. What many of them were finding was if they had left the wood blocks in that made the shapes of their platters their pieces had cracked apart. The reason being clay shrinks and as it shrunk it became smaller then the blocks therefore causing them to crack and break. So several students found themselves disappointed but they definitely learned what they needed to do for next time.  One of the girls was also working on some of her own projects at the same time. She likes to ask for advice but its usually more of a what path should I take. Her project was of a clay head that she had made. I really enjoyed the piece as she did an excellent job carving features for him. This time she knew her path but I look forward seeing what this girl is capable of.

In the 5^th grade they begin their still life drawings. Normally with still life you would think that you would set up things for the students to look at but he decided to do things differently. The students were going through a step-by-step process of how to create an orange.  They had learned how to do a sphere the other day the biggest concern now was how can I add color to what I already learned.  Things seemed to be going well and students understood the concepts a great deal better then they had in the previous class.  So, I felt good knowing that they didn’t need my help as much this time. Some still did, as the challenging part was the highlights and shadows. By the end of the class each of the students had an orange that seemed to look, as it should. Next class period it will be interesting to see what they come up with for the rest of their fruit as I was told there would be more freedoms.

Today was the painting day of the plaster mask project.  What I learned from today is that you really need to have a good system setup for the students or everything gets crazy!  Paint requires a lot of materials and potential mess. Fortunately the 6^th grade is aware of the expectations when painting. They know that one person is to handle each of the chores for instance getting the paint, paint trays, water, and brushes. I ask and one person automatically volunteers. What I know though. Something I mental noted from today’s teaching was to make sure I tell them everything I want them to understand before I start asking for volunteers for the chores because once that happens they are on a whole new mindset. I did do better keeping them informed but I could see where that could have been a problem.  Today was a really fun day though because one really started to see the student’s masks come to life and I think they were truly starting to enjoy it. The plaster day was kind of the wait before the big event so now they are starting to get the rewards. They also seemed very excited to see the potential of their masks and what they could do on the final day when they are able to add things to the mask.  Many of the students also decided to change their project ideas from their sketches. It was nice though after Tuesday to feel better with the direction of the project.