Week Five: Part 2 Ceramics Shoes

         This past week went much better than last. Jeff and I re-did our demonstrations in a much more organized, step by step presentation. We felt more prepared going into class and were able to improve upon the mistakes we had made last week. One of the best parts of our lesson, I think, was the demonstration. We decided to split the coil building and slab building demonstrations. Jeff had the parts of a slab-built shoe already made and I had a coil structure completed. Jeff showed how he arranged the parts and how to attach them with slip. I cut apart my coil structure to show the students what it looks like after being completed. I then demonstrated how to begin and complete carving into the shoe sole, as well as tracing the shoes onto the slab for the sole. We made the demo’s very structured but very brief, so that students could see and understand what we meant for them to without getting bored.

          After the demonstration, students were able to complete the shoe structures or begin their slab soles if they had already completed the shoes. We told the students how much time they had to work on everything and that the shoes had to be completed by the end of the class. Jeff said that I did a good job “managing” the class by keeping track and reminding students of the time, but I thought he did just as well with giving individual instruction. Jeff, Natalia, and I were all constantly helping students, but not in the frantic way we felt we had been in last week. By the end of the class, only a few students did not actually finish their shoes, which we decided to allow them to before class next week. Overall, I think that we realized we messed up on last week was greatly improved upon this week. We felt more in control and we could tell the students had a better understanding of the lesson and their work as well.

            In this week’s lesson we continued to work with the students on their clay shoes. Last week they had some struggles with the building process. I think we assume that they had worked with clay a lot more than they truly had. Because of these issues, we thought it would be best to start this week with a recap. Also after the new demos introduced this week, we revisited last week’s demos and expanded on them. These second round of demos seem to be a lot more helpful for the students and in turn for Katie and I. We tried to be more through with these demos so the students had more to work with. I think we could have added a bit more still but I believe it was a step in the right direction.

            As class went it on, it seemed to go a little smoother even though there were still some struggles. The students seem to begin to understand the processes better. Though class was stronger this week, I still felt as though I had some troubles this week. I think it was due impart to my inexperience with clay. I feel as though I should have practiced more with the material and process. I think I need to have more of mastery with it, so that my comfort level is higher. Katie had a much stronger weak and I think that has to do with here experience in teaching ceramics classes prior to this. I think she was able to help me a great deal and I should have taken advantage of that more before this class.

            All in all though, I think the week was a step forward. The kids seem to enjoy this project even through the difficulties. I think this would have been more successful, if there was more scaffolding done before hand. Ceramics is a tough media to work with, especially having little experience like some of the kids seem to have. I think when the shoes come out of the kiln though it will have been worth it.