Class #7

Independence, not perfection.  We began class discussing how we do not have to be perfect but we should be well equipped to handle the task at hand on our own.  As teachers we should be teaching our students ways to be working and problem solving with confidence.  It is not the perfect product we should be after, but developing enthusiasm for art making and developing a sense of responsibility for the artwork amongst our students.

With that, jobs are assigned for critique (timer, note taker, and critique leader) and we began our critique of all of our "draft" Alphabet Primers.  We have already worked in this format and are now familiar with the three jobs and the limited time to present work and to receive feedback.  One difference from our last critique structured in this fashion was that Aileen did not participate.  Last class--we were on!  It was our show to run and Aileen was listening and observing.  I was personally glad that Aileen participated in this critique, I think it was beneficial to have her voice in the feedback on our projects.  I welcomed her perspective.

While we hand crafted the actual letters, our final product is to be strictly digital.  This aspect of the project brought up plenty of helpful hints with regard to using technology in artwork.  This was a good time to share tech knowledge and problem solve with classmates.  Aileen pushed us to use technology and if we do not know how to do something, she pushed us to find out.  I see the lesson to be learned: don't be lazy with technology--figuring out how to do something new will only broaden your knowledge and this attitude will ultimately carry over into your work with children and art making.

One classmate projected a visual with the different letters in different sizes and arranged in a way that made the letters appear stacked (even though the arrangement was unintentional.)  This called to mind the artist Martin Creed.

Martin Creed, Work No. 997, 2009

Aileen had a a set of criteria she used for a similar project last semester that she presented to us as a rough guide for establishing the grading criteria for the Alphabet Primer.  Aileen admitted grading is not one of the more fun aspects of being an art teacher, however schools will require some form of grading or assessment of the students in art classes.  After a group discussion, Aileen revised the criteria and emailed us the following table. I think these are fair grading standards for the Alphabet Primer project and I think they were all agreed upon by the class as a group.

     After Alphabets and grading we plunged once more into our Dystopian worlds.  We worked on the actual construction of our books.  The cover was made by either doing a rubbing or a drawing with a white candle on  brown butcher paper and then painting over the wax with watercolor. The cover papers were then folded around found pieces of chipboard.  The pages of the book were folded accordion style and glued into the book.  All of the materials we used were very common, classroom art supplies/household supplies.  This book project would be an excellent project to do with a group of children.  I personally have made accordion books in classes I have taught. This project is easy to scale down or up depending on the age group of the students with whom you are working.  The opportunity also exists to combine two different art processes in one project because the cover can be one type of art making and the inside could utilize completely different materials.