The First Day of U.A.Y.

The first day of UAY I was too exhausted to be anxious, which I guess is kind of a good thing. I was just hoping to muster up enough energy to make it though the class.  Towards the end of class I was getting slap-happy, which I am sure the students were enjoying. I really had no idea what to except.  I was surprised at how few boys were enrolled in the program. I had an idea in my head that it would be a more even mix of males and females. I was upstairs helping the students with registration, so I missed out at seeing the kids pick out what classes they wanted to be in. I am sure that it was interesting to see them interact and their reactions to the projects.

I came downstairs when the student’s classes were already picked, and the introductions had already started. When the introductions were done we gathered into our classes. There are three students in my class.  The students were pretty quite in the beginning, so I just began to ask questions, and made sure that all three of them answered. After a few questions the students started to interact with each other. One of the girls seems to be very intelligent, and keeps to herself. She said that she wants to work with plants when she grows up, and that she is in a robotics club after school, which she really enjoys. The other girl in our group seems to be very open, and talkative. I felt that she likes to be different and really enjoyed asking bizarre questions. For example, I asked the students if they had any questions for us and she replied by asking us what your favorite pie was. It should be interesting to see how the two girls interact in our group. The male is our group also seems to be intelligent, and talkative. I had no idea that he was autistic until the instructor told us. I really don’t see it being a problem, but I am a little nervous because I have never worked with someone who is autistic before. I think that the male in our group, and the girl who enjoys robotics will get along pretty well. I think our group has an interesting chemistry, but I don’t see any problems happening in the future.

Overall, I am pretty excited to teach the students about how to make masks and mosaic. All three of the students expressed an interest in masks, with all three of them being collectors of masks. I would not say that I am nervous or anxious about teaching them, but I am a little apprehensive about working with an autistic person. Hopefully, because I didn’t even notice before, it wont ever be a problem. 

Drawing in the Classroom

Drawing is a key component to any high schools art curriculum. That is because with drawing you learn about a variety of skills and concepts (perspective, composition, contrast, value, shading, etc.) that can be translated into many different mediums. Plus, it is probably one of the cheaper ways to teach students these concepts. When teaching drawing it is important to remember baby steps. We all dread the day that we have to set up a still life drawing, but lets face it, it is an essential step in learning how to draw. It is the beginning exercises, like cross-hatching an entire page and still lives, that allow people to build their skills. I once had a teacher compare drawing to a muscle, saying that you could not just one day decide to bench-press 200 pounds, you slowly have to train and build up to it. Also, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. This could not be more true for drawing. You have to slowly build your skill and practice, practice, practice.  It is important to remind students that everyone will start to build their own individual style. It is also important to expose students to many different styles of art so they have a wider appreciation. 

I chose this print by MC Escher because it was the image a teacher once showed me that made me want to learn how to draw. I know, I know, it is a photo realistic drawing, but hey, it made me want to learn how to draw. As I stated before it is important to show a variety of images to students, because this MC Escher drawing may have pulled me in to drawing, but a much more abstract drawing could work for someone else.