Classroom, Topic & Rationelle
I am teaching to a variety of students. The students in my class range from freshmen to seniors. Their abilities are also widely spread. Each student had to take the 3-D fundamentals class in order to register for pottery. Pottery is touched on in the 3-D fundamentals class but students are only taught the basics.
Many of these students are hands-on. They have all signed up for pottery by choice after having a brief introduction in their 3-D fundamentals class. When the class was asked who was planning on doing something with art after high-school not one student raised their hand. I would divide the students into about 3 different groups. There is a group of girls who tend to be on their cell phones often and leave class frequently. The teacher does notice this and asks them to put their phones away and makes sure that they tell her where they are going before they leave. The next group of students would be the quiet and freshmen and sophomores. They often keep to themselves and are generally always on task. They like to have fun but they know when to focus and pay attention. The last group would be a group of seniors that are just taking the class as a fun last credit. Many of these students said that they thought this class was going to be an easy credit which they soon found out was wrong. They will have to spend a large amount of outside time for this class. They typically all have good attitudes and are willing to learn and have fun. The demographics of the class are approximately…
-18 Girls : 6 Boys
-4 Freshmen: 8 Sophomores: 6 Juniors: 6 Seniors
-18 White: 6 Hispanic
The class culture is very independent. The teacher expects the students to be on-task and responsible for producing quality work. The atmosphere in the classroom is very relaxed and laid back. Students have deadlines but how they get there is up to them. The teacher outlines her expectations on her website as…
I expect…
-You to come prepared; ready to learn, grow, create & transfer.
-You to have a willing attitude & effort.
-You to communicate in an effective & productive manner.
-You to be respectful of me, classmates, and any other guest in the classroom.
-You to embrace the process of creating and problem solving to design and produce artwork.
-You to commit to participation throughout the entire quarter.
The physical environment that the class is held in is quite astonishing for a high school. The class consists on many kick-wheels that the students can throw on, plenty of workspace, resources, storage, and pottery tools. The room has a separate back room where fragile student work is stored along with the kilns, glaze mixes, and a few other machines.
The context of the learning environment is that this is one of 5 art classrooms. It is used for other classes such as 3-D fundamentals. The Fine Arts department is well known at Rocky Mountain High School and receives a large amount of funding for its great outcomes.
I was fortunate enough to teach the second lesson for this class. The students had previously learned basic throwing skills on the wheel as well as pinch pots. What I was teaching the students was something that they explored in 3-D fundamentals but what I was showing them was something fairly new. The students should have all built a slab vessel in 3-D fundamentals but they will not have seen techniques such as beveling or using a template and math. I will be teaching this topic because this will be a skill that the students will have the opportunity to use in future projects.
The instructional strategy that I will be using is similar to “I-do, you-do.” I will be demonstrating the technique to the students and provoke some questioning. The students will then have the opportunity to do this on their own while I walk around and check for understanding. I chose this strategy because it is common in the art classroom. It can be difficult to teach building techniques without demonstrating the technique itself. This gives students a firsthand encounter of the technique and get to see instant results of what that technique can do.
Many of these students are hands-on. They have all signed up for pottery by choice after having a brief introduction in their 3-D fundamentals class. When the class was asked who was planning on doing something with art after high-school not one student raised their hand. I would divide the students into about 3 different groups. There is a group of girls who tend to be on their cell phones often and leave class frequently. The teacher does notice this and asks them to put their phones away and makes sure that they tell her where they are going before they leave. The next group of students would be the quiet and freshmen and sophomores. They often keep to themselves and are generally always on task. They like to have fun but they know when to focus and pay attention. The last group would be a group of seniors that are just taking the class as a fun last credit. Many of these students said that they thought this class was going to be an easy credit which they soon found out was wrong. They will have to spend a large amount of outside time for this class. They typically all have good attitudes and are willing to learn and have fun. The demographics of the class are approximately…
-18 Girls : 6 Boys
-4 Freshmen: 8 Sophomores: 6 Juniors: 6 Seniors
-18 White: 6 Hispanic
The class culture is very independent. The teacher expects the students to be on-task and responsible for producing quality work. The atmosphere in the classroom is very relaxed and laid back. Students have deadlines but how they get there is up to them. The teacher outlines her expectations on her website as…
I expect…
-You to come prepared; ready to learn, grow, create & transfer.
-You to have a willing attitude & effort.
-You to communicate in an effective & productive manner.
-You to be respectful of me, classmates, and any other guest in the classroom.
-You to embrace the process of creating and problem solving to design and produce artwork.
-You to commit to participation throughout the entire quarter.
The physical environment that the class is held in is quite astonishing for a high school. The class consists on many kick-wheels that the students can throw on, plenty of workspace, resources, storage, and pottery tools. The room has a separate back room where fragile student work is stored along with the kilns, glaze mixes, and a few other machines.
The context of the learning environment is that this is one of 5 art classrooms. It is used for other classes such as 3-D fundamentals. The Fine Arts department is well known at Rocky Mountain High School and receives a large amount of funding for its great outcomes.
I was fortunate enough to teach the second lesson for this class. The students had previously learned basic throwing skills on the wheel as well as pinch pots. What I was teaching the students was something that they explored in 3-D fundamentals but what I was showing them was something fairly new. The students should have all built a slab vessel in 3-D fundamentals but they will not have seen techniques such as beveling or using a template and math. I will be teaching this topic because this will be a skill that the students will have the opportunity to use in future projects.
The instructional strategy that I will be using is similar to “I-do, you-do.” I will be demonstrating the technique to the students and provoke some questioning. The students will then have the opportunity to do this on their own while I walk around and check for understanding. I chose this strategy because it is common in the art classroom. It can be difficult to teach building techniques without demonstrating the technique itself. This gives students a firsthand encounter of the technique and get to see instant results of what that technique can do.