Week Six

What a week to see process and product come together! This week, we saw our students really move along in their projects and even complete a few things. Our highschoolers have been very invested in their projects, so we have figured they really want to get as much done for the show as they can. This past class served as a “catch up” day that proved to be very productive. We decided to set up “centers”: a work table, a print making station, a clay station, and a cardboard center. Since a lot of students still had a lot of carving to do on their linoleum blocks, we thought it would be best to encourage them to finish these first so that they could begin printing by the end of the class. While it seemed sort of “off” to have to hurry students along in their work, we understand that without having to push them to focus on their work they will not be able to put it in the show. Luckily, most students completed their prints and they look great! Everyone (except for the 2 students who were not in class) finished their shoes that look amazing as well. We set up the stations so that students first had to complete their shoes, then their prints. After they were done both, they were able to work on their cardboard sculptures. If they finished all of their projects, they were allowed to put a print on the collaborative print, work with clay, or create another cardboard sculpture or relief. This system worked well in that it created an organized system for students to follow when moving from one project to the next, as many students had multiple assignments to complete. We were hoping that everyone would finish all three of their prints as well as their cardboard structures, but most people only completed carving with a few prints.

Seeing that everyone is at different stages of working, we are now faced with some predicaments. We were hoping to get at least two new projects in, but we are unsure if that will be possible. The students still have a “play day” in which they can create a collaborative landscape with their cardboard sculptures and fine connections between each other’s prints on the collaborative muslin print. We have been discussing focusing our next lesson on collaboration and possibly incorporating another collaborative piece for everyone to work on while other students finish up the rest of their work. Depending on whether we can find the right resources, we would also like to try “Ebru”, a Turkish form of paper marbling. While we are not one hundred percent sure of how next week’s lesson will pan out, we were very happy with how this week’s class went and hope for similar success this coming Saturday! 

I thought this week’s class went really well. The kids worked really well and diligently on their projects the whole class. Well except for the beginning when we had the demo. I thought the demo that Katie did went very well though. It was through and the kids seem to pay attention and pick up on it. They were antsy and wanted to get to work. We did have a second part to the demo but decided it could be left out. It was about using two colors. I think leaving it out was good for now, because it would have been a lot for the students to take in all at once. It also shortened the demo so they had more time to work.

There was a really good pace to class this week as well. The students worked very well while still interacting with each other. We had created 3 stations this week. This was nice to break the students up a little and get them moving around. It created a nice flow and vibe. The students had some options and freedom, which they responded well to. This could be seen in their work, which seemed to be stronger this week as they were wrapping up the projects.

I also felt more comfortable in the setting this week. I think this was probably the best class we had yet. Katie and I got to go through lesson before class this week with the 212 students. I think this helped both of us as well to. The extra time discussing and going through the lesson helped us to keep on the same page and be more effective. This is something that seems really simple, but really pays off during class.