Lesson Plan 4 - Outline and Process

This week's theme was sadness, and the technique we were exploring was clay slip. Since none of the students had worked with this material before, the first five minutes of class were spent playing around with the slip, and getting a hang of how it works. After students had time to adapt, we looked at our weekly PowerPoint, this time of art works that conveyed sadness. After discussing the artworks and what traits lent to the emotion, students than began creating their own projects. Since I wanted to allow as much creative freedom as possible, I allowed students to select their own forms to create and decorate with the slip. After spending half of the work time creating their ceramic bases, students then spent the remaining time piping on the slip. The last ten minutes were spent critiquing each other's work, which this time I had them start out with a positive comment and end with a suggestion on what they could improve on.

This lesson did not go quite as well, and I think it was because I was too loose with the requirements for the project. They were all enjoying the new material during the work time, but when it came to critique they all said to each other that size and planning were something they all needed to work on. They all worked pretty small and played it safe with their forms, and one of them seemed to lack a cohesive idea on their work. They all did not seem too happy with their final product, and after critique we decided that they should push themselves to work bigger and plan their ideas out better if need be. I decided for myself, that even though I wanted to let them have as much freedom as possible, it was hindering them from pushing themselves to create better artworks that they would be proud of. In Studio Thinking, the author mentions that with teacher-student interactions, although it is important to let students have time to work in private, that intervening and providing thoughtful suggestions (Hetland, 16). This discussion influenced my next few lessons, and helped me to find a balance between freedom and helpful requirements. It was also around this point that I wished that I had let students have more of a say in assignments. I did let them know if they wanted to do anything specific to let me know, but no one ever came up with any suggestions. I feel like this lesson did not do so well, because there was a lack of student empowerment (Vieth, 12). I think it would have been very beneficial to dedicate time on the first day to allow students to decided what they wanted to learn in the class. I feel like there would have been a lot more dedication and motivation to projects if they had more of a say in what they were doing.

Hetland, Lois. "Elements of Studio Classrooms." Studio Thinking. New York: Teachers College Press, 2013. 16. Print.

Vieth, Ken. "Chapter 1." From Ordinary to Extraordinary. Davis, 2000. 12. Print.