What We Saw
This week, we introduced blown glass artist Dale Chihuly. We first discussed the shapes, colors, size, patterns and designs that he includes in his work. Our first activity focused on the shapes that blown glass can be. We had the students experiment with model magic (extending from our clay theme from last week) and make their own sculptures based off of examples we showed them of Chihuly’s work. Most kids took time recreating shapes similar to Chihuly (natural forms, sea forms, flowers), while others wanted to see how many colors they could get in their clay ball. We allowed them to walk around and choose their clay colors.
The dynamic relationship between Jack and Max this week really emerged. While they choose to sit at a table by themselves this week, they also worked very well off of each other’s ideas. They seemed to turn our activity into a game by focusing on the amount of clay and colors that they could add to their big ball sculpture. We also noticed how they really stem off of each other’s ideas, which can be a great learning experience for them.
After the Chihuly sculpture activity, we took a trip to the Palmer Museum of art to see a real Dale Chihuly blown glass sculpture. We found that we were more excited about showing the artwork to the students. The new surroundings of the museum seemed to excite and took their focus off of the Chihuly artwork.
Following the museum, we then discussed with the students the variety of shapes, lines and designs that Chihuly includes in his blown glass. After we learned how to manipulate shapes with the Model Magic, we wanted to bring the focus to a more detailed aspect of the art. Students were able to decorate designs on transparent plastic and Shrinky Dink Paper. Next week students will be able to finish decorating and then will see the process of heating the plastic and watch it move and take a new shape.
What We Learned
1. Present More Challenges (Figure out how to challenge the older students more. Behavior was a bigger issue this week and we think it stems from not having enough challenges to focus their attention or energy on. Specific students repeatedly asked to go to the bathroom as well when they had only gone a short time ago.)
2. Parents! (Going along with the bathroom issue, one girl kept asking to use the bathroom because her mom was sitting right outside the classroom. We have found that the parents seem to be more of a distractor rather than a consoler.)
3. Stop Ripping OUR PAPER ☺ (This week students, surprisingly the quietest students, discovered that they could rip the paper off of the tables. They also got a kick out of eating the paper. Jordan repeatedly asked two students to not rip the paper but students continued anyways. The two students together thought it was funny to keep doing it. Finally she had to ask one of the students to move to another table and then the behavior stopped. We learned that we should not be afraid of being stern with the students if they are not following directions.)
4. PowerPoints (In the first two weeks powerpoints were very successful but this week students seemed very bored and more interested in their peers this week. Since they have a shorter attention span, we need to find new ways to convey our information about our lesson. YouTube videos have really worked in the past, students seem to really enjoy them and actually learn
I like how you worked on two projects with the students and took them to the Palmer!
ReplyDeleteI feel like it is hard to know the skills of certain ages and sometimes it feels like I am challenging them too much and its not fun and other times not enough. I am a little surprised they started ripping the paper on the tables! maybe they would like to draw on the paper sometime?
Paper ripping was a problem in our class also the first week. We ignored the behavior in order for them to stop and this worked well for out class because it was only on student. I think Katie's idea is a good one though because sometimes drawing especially for artistic students helps them focus. It will also give them something to do with their hands. Another helpful tip could be shortening the presentation or demonstration to keep their attention. All these are ideas, but sometimes they do not always work for the younger students.
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