Week 3, 2/26, Animal-Footed Pinch Pots (S. America)

This week I took over as the main teacher and came up with my own lesson. I was really determined to have it more structured compared to the last class, and include scaffolding, smoother transitions, more organization and structure. Overall I think it went pretty well. I tied up some loose ends in the beginning, and actually brought the map in this week, asking where we were and asking if anybody new of the places we were going (Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, etc.) I showed a slide show of examples of animal pots from those regions and then asked questions about them at the end. The structure of the class was very important this week and I divided the students into three separate tables in a long row (9 students at each). I had Jess, Myoungsun and my self at the head of each table where we gave demos. We showed how to roll balls, make coils into a beehive shape, make "pancake" sandwiches with scoring and slipping and pinch pots. We showed the technique first, then ask them to do the same. Once they were finished they went straight into making their own animal pots. Some finished quickly, and others took their time. I asked students that did finish early what else they could do to their pots, and I asked them to include more textures, or to score and slip pieces they wanted to attach. I was also excited to work individually with students and wish I had more time to visit with all of them! The end products ranged from extremely impressive, to only grasping the concepts. But I was happy that students were able to work with a new medium and learn about its properties.

Some things I need to work on are presenting information more slowly, concluding the lesson in a formal way, and having organized alternative activities for students to do when finished with the assignment.

Here are some pictures of the students and their work from the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayartschool/5480554992/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayartschool/5479954141/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayartschool/5480557182/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayartschool/5479956813/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayartschool/5480557646/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayartschool/5479954369/in/photostream/