High School Practicum: Day 2 (2.25 hours)

After spring break, I was anxious to get back into the classroom to get my practicum experience moving along. After speaking with Mr. R about how he assesses student artwork he gave me a task for the day. I was to go around and ask the students how they are assessed on their artwork to see the similarities and differences between Mr. R's opinion of assessment and their opinion of how he analyzes work. I was excited to take the challenge and actually very surprised by the responses I got!

The 3D students were working on a coil pot project in the fibers unit. They were creating these pots out of rope and yarn. By weaving, wrapping and almost sewing the ropes in a coil fashion, they were creating different vessels. I have never seen this project before, so it was exciting to hear about how they learned how to do it! I asked the students all of the requirements that they were given. After visiting the whole class, this is what I concluded:

-the pot must be a vessel/vase of some form
-the bottom weaved section is not being graded, instead it is used as "practice"
- 6 - 8inches height requirement
- must have a "belly" and "neck" to the vessel
- incorporates 3 colors of yarn
- tightly coiled pot with no holes or weaknesses
- no rope showing, fully covered in yarn
- must incorporate a pattern other than stripes of color

I enjoyed asking the students if they thought this was art or craft (I am so interested in that!) and almost all of them said "craft" instantly. One girl pointed out a nearly finished pot that was in the class and said how that was art because the girl was so talented. I made sure to note to them that craft can easily become art if you put thought and knowledge into your process, just like they noted about their classmate.

The 2D class was working on woodcuts. Surprisingly I have never done a woodcut, and thought that i was a great project for the students to be introduced to. I also enjoyed asking them the requirements of their project and got some great answers back as well. The 2D class seems a lot quieter than the 3D class and they seem to be more understanding of rules, policies and expectations to stay on task while in class. Just like 3D, the students are at different parts of their projects, but there aren't many students who are so vastly different from one another. In the 3D classes, there is always two or more students catching up from the last project or moving onto the next.

The woodcuts require:

-line
-at least three different textures
-craft (neatness and technique)
- must create 3 prints from the woodcut
- pattern

The students seemed to understand what each requirement stood for and they even showed me how to do some of the techniques. I enjoyed helping a few students with the ways to hold the carving tools as well as how to arrange their designs with or against the grain of the wood. I haven't done many of the projects that the students work on, so I find that I am learning with the students as well as teaching them.