So on Friday, I tried my first art lesson. We were doing still lifes of oranges to consolidate our learning from the Light Science unit. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Oy.
Anyways - so that kids get to class, and they are seriously offended that they are going to be drawing oranges. They think that they are circles, and this is beneath them.
Then I have set up the class in a giant circle (like a real art studio) and controlled the lighting so that the students can see all of the highlights and shadows in a dramatic way. Within 2 minutes of the class, one of the students tripped on the cord of the lamp that I was using and shattered the bulb. Because I had blacked out the window light, students couldn't see their own papers.
Before you know it, I am getting choruses of does that mean art class is over? This is bad for us isn't it? So at this point I am started to get a bit wired so I go a try to do a demonstration on the board. and all of the chart paper fell onto the floor. It was actually a circus performance. One kid started to cry. Oh my god.
Anyways, what I learned is that set up of an art class is crucial. It doesn't matter what you are teaching if the set up doesn't work. I tried the lesson again this week (on Friday), and it was night and day.
This time I didn't try to control the lighting. I used reflective surfaced objects (Christmas ornaments) so that additional lighting did not need to be used. I put still lifes at each of the table clusters so that everyone could see up close. I changed the activity so that students did not need to worry about mid colours: this time students each got red or green construction papers and a piece of white chalk, pencil, and a tissue. With their tools they had to block in the highlights with chalk and shade in the lowlights with pencil and blend it all together with tissue. The still life was of red or green Christmas balls so they did not have to worry about capturing the colour. Another change that I made was doing the demonstration up on the chart paper easel. I hung an ornament over the top of the easel so that everyone could see the same highlights and reflections (another BIG problem from week one) and taped a piece of green paper underneath it so that everyone could see. Then I modelled how to draw it. Another change that was made was showing the finished work before starting so that the students don't think drawing circles is lame.
That's it for now.
Hi Laura, I know it must have been a nightmare - but it did make me laugh. I can just imagine since I know all the students in that class - you recovered excellently in your 2nd try :) That's what it's all about, right? I miss being in a core class situation where you get to spend the whole practicum with 1 class and really get to know them. Being on rotary this time is a good experience, but it is making me realize, I really hope I get to have my own class if/when I get a job as a teacher :) Please say hello to everyone for me. I'm exhausted right now. So glad it's Friday. 1 more week :) Good luck and have an awesome last week of practicum, my dear ;)
ReplyDeleteI, too, laughed at the point where the student cried during all of the commotion. Glad to see you are doing Art - especially still life! This is grade 4, right? Let's compare fiascoes when we get back to OISE.
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