Experience
In this lesson, students were asked to create an illustrated name tag where students drew their name and included characteristics to tell something about themselves. Students were given access to a variety of 2-D drawing materials, including watercolor paint, oil pastel, colored pencils, crayons and markers. Teachers introduced watercolor mixing techniques, rubbing alcohol, salt resist, and oil pastel to watercolor paint, after students investigated the dry materials first. In today's art exploration, students experimented with mixing materials to create new marks on their name tags.
Essential Understandings
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
Skills
Essential Understandings
- Art can communicate ideas/characteristics about oneself
- Artists combine materials to discover and create innovative marks
- Experimenting with materials can create new insights on how to use materials
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Make art that tells something about themselves
- Identify materials and how they made marks in innovative ways
- Mix colors to create new colors
- Mix materials to create new marks
Skills
- Innovative ways of manipulating materials into something new
- Creative problem solving
Documentation |
Reflection
What worked well for this experience? Why?
There were quite a few things that worked well in this first art experience we had the privilege to setup for the students. One of them being that there were multiple mediums and paper sizes available for them to work with as they pleased. As they worked diligently, it was easy to see how their interests played into the drawings, color usage, and overall design of their name-tags. Chapter 5 from our book touched on being able to use students' interests in lessons and worked to our advantage with how in-depth they went. Another thing was the way they openly experimented with the different mediums that were provided. Even after the watercolor was introduced some went right into it while others stayed where they were comfortable for a little bit longer. The last thing that I noticed was how they openly discussed the meaning behind their name-tags at the end. It was clear that a lot of them knew each other, but when it comes to talking about more personal things a lot of people clam up and don't say a lot.
What didn't work well for this experience? Why?
Things that didn't work as well were interactions on my part, too much time for some activities, and working with attention spans. I'm a quiet person by nature and prefer walking around observing students in silence. If they need me, then they know I am available to talk with them or if they need help. It would be better if I broke out of my shell a little bit and talked with them more, but I prefer letting students work without having to worry about holding a conversation with me; if they wanted to talk with me, then they usually initiated the conversation. At the end of class, we had them converse amongst their tablemates about their name-tags and usually that process is like pulling off a Band-Aid. However, they went through all of the questions one after the other giving them a lot of extra time. The attention spans had to be played by ear considering that we've never interacted with these students before and is mitigatable. Part of it was when we were trying to give directions and they'd focus on something else or when we were doing introductions and they'd converse with people at their table. Knowing that this is a problem now, rather than later, will help in figuring out ways to hold their attention when we need to.
What would you do differently? Why?
Things that I would do differently is try and talk more or offer to during instruction. We talked about this a little bit on our own and some attributed to habits, but for me personally it'd be better to speak up. As I said in the prior paragraph, I am just a naturally quiet person until I get to know the people I'm with. Another thing would be to have a list of possible side activities they could do if they finish early. It wasn't bad having to grab materials for side activities but I think it'd be good to have a list for them to see what's available for them to work on. There were moments where I was confronted with the "What do you think?" from a student, and I used the "I like it" phrase. However, even in using it, I would try and expand on what I liked in their work. It would still be better to try and find a different way to initiate my thoughts without using "I like it".
There were quite a few things that worked well in this first art experience we had the privilege to setup for the students. One of them being that there were multiple mediums and paper sizes available for them to work with as they pleased. As they worked diligently, it was easy to see how their interests played into the drawings, color usage, and overall design of their name-tags. Chapter 5 from our book touched on being able to use students' interests in lessons and worked to our advantage with how in-depth they went. Another thing was the way they openly experimented with the different mediums that were provided. Even after the watercolor was introduced some went right into it while others stayed where they were comfortable for a little bit longer. The last thing that I noticed was how they openly discussed the meaning behind their name-tags at the end. It was clear that a lot of them knew each other, but when it comes to talking about more personal things a lot of people clam up and don't say a lot.
What didn't work well for this experience? Why?
Things that didn't work as well were interactions on my part, too much time for some activities, and working with attention spans. I'm a quiet person by nature and prefer walking around observing students in silence. If they need me, then they know I am available to talk with them or if they need help. It would be better if I broke out of my shell a little bit and talked with them more, but I prefer letting students work without having to worry about holding a conversation with me; if they wanted to talk with me, then they usually initiated the conversation. At the end of class, we had them converse amongst their tablemates about their name-tags and usually that process is like pulling off a Band-Aid. However, they went through all of the questions one after the other giving them a lot of extra time. The attention spans had to be played by ear considering that we've never interacted with these students before and is mitigatable. Part of it was when we were trying to give directions and they'd focus on something else or when we were doing introductions and they'd converse with people at their table. Knowing that this is a problem now, rather than later, will help in figuring out ways to hold their attention when we need to.
What would you do differently? Why?
Things that I would do differently is try and talk more or offer to during instruction. We talked about this a little bit on our own and some attributed to habits, but for me personally it'd be better to speak up. As I said in the prior paragraph, I am just a naturally quiet person until I get to know the people I'm with. Another thing would be to have a list of possible side activities they could do if they finish early. It wasn't bad having to grab materials for side activities but I think it'd be good to have a list for them to see what's available for them to work on. There were moments where I was confronted with the "What do you think?" from a student, and I used the "I like it" phrase. However, even in using it, I would try and expand on what I liked in their work. It would still be better to try and find a different way to initiate my thoughts without using "I like it".