Day 12: Advance and Beginning Ceramics

My ,oh my, how time flies...I just completed my third week of student teaching.

Both the Advance Ceramics and Beginning Ceramic classes are working on similar projects.  The classes have to make a clay box that is an original and abstract concept  The purpose of this project is to encourage students to think "out of the box" while creating a box.  The students are actually making some sort of container rather than a normal square or rectangular box. 

At first the students had a difficult time thinking of a creative (non-cliche) piece.  I noticed that both advance and beginning  students were frustrated and needed some motivation to help inspire their creative juices. Individually, I went around to the students and asked them what their interests were and from there the students seemed to instantly come up with creative ideas. 

With the Beginning Ceramic class the students have to use the technique of "controlled dropping" which is simply repetitively dropping a large chunk of clay on the table.  Using the "controlled dropping" technique automatically shapes the clay into an organic form somewhat like a stone.  The students then had to use the wire tool to horizontally cut up and down the clay to make the lid.  The students had the most difficulty with this step because their craftsmanship needed improvement with handling the wire tool.  After a while the students "got the hang of it" and once they properly sliced the lid they then had to hollow out their clay boxes. 

As for the Advance Ceramic class the students had a more creative flair to this project than the Beginning class.  Based on the same concept as the Beginner's class these students literally thought "out of the box".  The students are making containers that look like fish, cattle skulls, bee-hives, abstract circular objects, twist-like,depicting melting objects etc.  To the left is an image of a student's box.  The flower/eye is a lid and the two horns are the lids to the inside of the skull (so creative and I'm in love with this piece).  I asked the student about this piece and she told me she was inspired by one of her favorite artists, Georgia O'Keefe (this student is exceptional and so in-tune with the arts--I hope she pursues art in college because she has a natural gift).

As for me, I am also creating my own creative box (examples are below).  I used my box as a teacher's example and encouraged the students to disguise the lids of their pieces. I also motivated the students to incorporate something inside of their boxes to add some spice to it. While I molded and hollowed out my box I walked around the room and visited each table.  I noticed the students are coming to me a lot more for advice on their pieces. I believe that because they see me making the same projects while assisting them creates a deeper trust.  I believe this because I too am faced with the same artistic challenges as they are. On a side note, I am happy to say that I have learned all of the students names!  

I am impressed with the students' creativity and it is amazing how much they inspire me.  I truly love working with the students and Ms. Wager.  Ms. Wager and I have been successfully brainstorming ideas for upcoming lesson plans.  I have been learning so much from Ms. Wager and I strongly believe we are a great team together.  I am looking forward to week 4 as I take on more responsibilities and officially teach a class!