What new discoveries have you found within the unit - reflect upon your own practice and experiences within unfamiliar or ambiguous scenarios?
I found that through this project, that I can work well as a team to contribute to something. I found that I was able to self motivate myself and was willing to help to others. This was something new to me as my own practice is self driven.
In terms of the work that was unfamiliar was the ink and water. I noticed when the children were placing the ink into the water, it created these interesting patterns and this is something that I want to explore in my work. Although I did not enjoy the placement, what I did enjoy is that it has given inspiration.
In the workshop, we spoke about the semiotics of colour and although I look at it in my own work. Learning about this is something I want to explore further and develop my understanding of my own practice.
What did you learn and discover? How has this informed your practice and wider understanding?
Before this project, I had never done interaction art which involves you teaching other people to create the work. This is something that I enjoyed, however there were points that I struggled with. When I create work, I have an image in my head and would like the work to do this, but during the development and the workshop, I kept myself from doing this and as a result, the work created turned out better than I imagine. In the future, I want to start creating more interactive art where the viewers participate in the making giving it freedom in the work. There is less control on my part but this could create work that is visually interesting but has a new dynamic.
I would also like to do more collaborative work. It is something that although was stressful at times was something I enjoyed. I found that you were able to develop your ideas as you are constantly working with bouncing ideas of each other. I found that it also self motivates you as you wish not to let the other person down.
Reflect upon your engagement with each aspect of the unit - from primary research to workshop activities, tutorial groups, collaborative work and contextual understanding. Did you commit to each appropriately and contribute well? What aspects do you consider that you developed? What could you improve upon and how much you now achieve this?
I do feel that I contributed well to the group, I went to every meeting, researched different elements of the workshop, helped write up the various different elements of the workshop and presented in the workshop. I understood that as we were working as part of team and I didn't want to let anyone down so tried to complete my work on time. Obviously there were times that this was not possible and I should in the future have made my time management better.
Throughout the development, they were times that as a team we weren't focused enough and therefore we lacked in development however, when the pressure was added, we did manage to pull through.
In terms of what I could have improved on is applying pressure on myself during the buildup of the workshop. By doing this, I would have completed my work a lot faster than I did and as a result, there would have been less stress in the last couple of days. Although the workshop was a success and we were able to turn it around, it was unnecessary.
Reflect upon your choices, from material, to process and research. Were they conducted at the right time and to the appropriate depth and level of interrogation needed to fully inform your ideas and development?
I was the person who was doing the artist research and the music for the first planned workshop and I realised that that I was part of a team. For this reason I made sure that I had the work done for the week before the dry run of the workshop. However, we did not use that workshop. In terms of research, if we had as a group, made a proper lesson plan, people would have not waisted their time doing unnecessary work. It is apparent that we were not prepared at the right time and this can not be down to one individual person but as a whole group.
As we decided to do the colour fight from the beginning, we had planned the materials at the right time. There was a few of us who had previously worked from powder paint and due to this reason, we had this aspect prepared. The rest of the activities and the materials we planned to use was not prepared at the right time, for example, we were still buying boiler suits the day before we conducted the workshop. This created unnecessary stress on us as there was a fear that we would not have everything ready.
Due to the workshop not being ready, it was apparent they were not conducted at the right time as a collective whole. Whilst some had completed their work, others had not and this was partly caused by the whole group not putting pressure on ourselves. If I was to do this again, I would try and make the group complete their tasks by a given time so it wouldn't leave the select few of us who had done the work added pressure.
What learning did you achieve? What could you improve on? Identify an aspect that you could develop further in line with your practice?
In terms of the learning I achieved in this unit is collaboration and communication skills. During the meetings, I felt as a group everyone contributed equally to not only the planning aspect but also the delivery of the workshop. There was no one that I felt did the most work, but rather we all put equal amounts of work.
There are still skills that I could improve on, for example, researching the right things, instead of waisting my time as well as others who would then look at my work. I also believe I can still improve of my confidence of delivery. Whilst it has greatly improved, during the parts of my delivery, I felt my nerves get the hold of me and I was not clear in my delivery.
In terms of the group improvements, we could possibly improve communication skills. Although they were good, when stressed at reconstructing the workshop, we would at times not listen to each other and then speak but rather we would talk over each other.
Based upon your choices made within the unit, identify and select the key motivations within this unit. Evaluate how these relate and have informed your practice and future ambitions.
In terms of the future, I do not wish to go in teaching. I did not enjoy the placement at the school and looking at teaching at the moment as spoken about in previous posts it seems as if it is no longer about the children developing as individuals but rather as a collective whole. The arts education has taken big cuts and as a result, there is a lack of education freedom and this is something that I would not want to enter. However, for all the stress of the workshop this is something I am interested in doing. I believe that through workshops you are able to show the children different ways of thinking and this could inspire them in the future. The workshop brought enjoyment to the children and this was shown in the feedback shirts in which one child asked for us to come back next week. I realise that this is a difficult profession to join but over the summer I plan to work with people on the Unit X course in creating a portfolio to present to schools in the next academic year.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Week Six - Dry Run of the DACA Workshop
We had the opportunity to give a dry run of our workshop to Anna and Clare as well as the rest of our peers. In all honesty, it was a disaster and this was caused by a whole group. Whilst some had good time management and completed their tasks before the day, there were others who did not and this contributed to it. This was picked up and it was one of the feedback was "teamwork - pay attention to the speaker, support each other, know how you are going to run it and professional dynamic".
As we did not have a detailed lesson that everyone had, we showed no cohesion and we needed structure. For this reason, we showed no control and did not translate confidence.
We were told that we would not be running the workshop at the state it is now and we would have to rework it and we needed this completed by the next day. This caused a lot of stress onto all of us, however, it was the push we needed. We decided to rework the learning outcomes as they were not clear - learn about colour and the emotions that surround it, see colour in a different way way and learn how colour is used in the world.
Once we had established this, the rest of the day planning became a lot easier. We decided to keep the in or out game, the colour fight and the emotional painting however, without music and using words instead. This was the final lesson plan we created.
The detailed lesson plan
After the lesson plan was created, we were able to sort out the script, the resources we needed and the powerpoint. With all of us working together in the same room, we were able to get each of parts completed. It became apparent that we worked better with all of us together instead of just meeting up and speaking about the work. In hindsight we should have done this at the beginning of planning the workshop as it caused a lot of unnecessary stress. In a number of hours, we were able to organise most of the workshop which was credit to us.
As we did not have a detailed lesson that everyone had, we showed no cohesion and we needed structure. For this reason, we showed no control and did not translate confidence.
We were told that we would not be running the workshop at the state it is now and we would have to rework it and we needed this completed by the next day. This caused a lot of stress onto all of us, however, it was the push we needed. We decided to rework the learning outcomes as they were not clear - learn about colour and the emotions that surround it, see colour in a different way way and learn how colour is used in the world.
Once we had established this, the rest of the day planning became a lot easier. We decided to keep the in or out game, the colour fight and the emotional painting however, without music and using words instead. This was the final lesson plan we created.
After the lesson plan was created, we were able to sort out the script, the resources we needed and the powerpoint. With all of us working together in the same room, we were able to get each of parts completed. It became apparent that we worked better with all of us together instead of just meeting up and speaking about the work. In hindsight we should have done this at the beginning of planning the workshop as it caused a lot of unnecessary stress. In a number of hours, we were able to organise most of the workshop which was credit to us.
Week Six - Research of Artists and Music for Workshop
Artist Research - Jackson Pollark
Artist Research - Ian Davenport
Music
We spoke about using this for the happy music. The reasoning for using classical music as it won't distract the younger children playing music that they know.
We spoke about using this for sad music and again kept it to classical
Week Six - Planning for Federation House
For the Federation House exhibition, we were informed that we would need to create a feedback for the the whole of Unit X as part of the exhibition.
We started brain storming ideas of how to showcase the work incorporating ideas of using colour that we are doing in the workshop. The final idea, was to have a number of questions and you would write your answer on coloured cards which would indicate the emotions you felt towards the unit. Green would indicate yes or a positive emotion, red would indicate no or a negative emotion and then white would a neutral emotion.
We then began to brainstorm ideas of what to ask. All of us were asked to think of ten questions and then we picked the best ones. This included "Nightmare/Dream", "How supported have you felt through out", "How has Unit X inspired your career?" "Any tips for first years" and finally "What colour would Unit X be?"
The plan is to have these questions on the wall and then a sheet of either acetate or plain paper, there will a table underneath which would provide the cards and the pens as well as having a description.
Working as whole posed some challenges, as there were so many of us, it was sometimes difficult to have your voice heard. Although, people would listen to your ideas and eventually we made the finial decisions. One thing that has stood out to me was how difficult it is to make any final decisions but once they are made, everyone usually agrees with it.
We started brain storming ideas of how to showcase the work incorporating ideas of using colour that we are doing in the workshop. The final idea, was to have a number of questions and you would write your answer on coloured cards which would indicate the emotions you felt towards the unit. Green would indicate yes or a positive emotion, red would indicate no or a negative emotion and then white would a neutral emotion.
We then began to brainstorm ideas of what to ask. All of us were asked to think of ten questions and then we picked the best ones. This included "Nightmare/Dream", "How supported have you felt through out", "How has Unit X inspired your career?" "Any tips for first years" and finally "What colour would Unit X be?"
The plan is to have these questions on the wall and then a sheet of either acetate or plain paper, there will a table underneath which would provide the cards and the pens as well as having a description.
Working as whole posed some challenges, as there were so many of us, it was sometimes difficult to have your voice heard. Although, people would listen to your ideas and eventually we made the finial decisions. One thing that has stood out to me was how difficult it is to make any final decisions but once they are made, everyone usually agrees with it.
Monday, 18 May 2015
Key Blogpost Two
Reflect upon the collaborative aspects of the work you have done. Consider the learning you have gained and how it may now reflect and impact on your aims for this project.
In my own personal practice, I am used to working by myself and this collaboration aspect has been challenging yet rewarding at the same time. As there are a nine of us, ideas are being bounced around and there has been a democratic vote for the activities that we are going to use. No one has the final say and there has been a fair chance for you to cast your ideas and this part is the one that I have struggled with the most. Throughout the last two weeks, I have begun to realise that you are unable to have just your ideas.
In terms of the learning I have learnt, due to people having previous commitments the amount being done by the group has been slow. This is down to bad time management and I feel that we need to push ourselves greatly in the next two weeks for the workshop to go off without a hitch. It terms of my own development, I wish to have all of my work completed by the end of next week. If everyone is to do this, then our workshop can be very successful.
Reflect upon the key discoveries - was it within a skill, process, developing a new approach?
A key discovery these past two weeks is the confidence building exercises, as I am naturally quite shy and do realise that this could hinder in my performance for the workshop. Practicing the "Fake it till you make it" is something that I am going to try to do over the next two weeks. Since learning this technique I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
Reflect upon the impact of collaboration on your methods - what aspects interest you? Why? How do you intend to further develop these? Identify further research necessary to fulfil this. What were unexpected developments? What surprises arose?
In terms of what interested in the collaboration side of things was how we bounced off ideas from each other. When one person came up with a suggestion, another person would think of an innovative way to improve that suggestion. For example, one person suggested creating a collage and this then developed to creating a collage out of the boiler suits that we are going to use in the colour fight.
One thing that stood out to me was the difficultly in the time management of working in a group. People had previous commitments and therefore would be unable to attend a meeting. Whilst this wouldn't play a difference in the meetings as such, the next meeting we would have to spend 10 to 15 minutes explaining what was discussed in the previous meeting. As a result, we waisted vital time that we could have used developing the workshop. In hindsight, we should have made notes in the meetings then passed them onto the people missing. This was further hindered by clashing personalities, as it was the focus of some meetings appose to the development of the workshop.
What are the creative responses that you have done and intend to develop in your project and practice. Consider why this is - what are the key aspects of interest? How does it relate to the broader area of your practice? Does it develop your understanding and appreciation of contact for your work?
The workshop is going to be based on colour, which is something that is of vital importance in my own practice. This did help create and develop elements in the workshop, as I was constantly being inspired and therefore being motivated. When we are speaking about the semiotics of colour, it is something that I am beginning to delve in my own practice, and it was interesting to see how people responded to different colours, for example, some one mentioned that they found it to be calming whilst I personally, feel that it is a depressing, sad colour. This is something I want to do in my own work in the future, how people react and their own responses to the colours that you have used in your work. Working out how to do this would also add interaction with the viewers, which is something that we are doing in the workshop, and therefore doing this, will incorporate what we have learnt in the workshop and my own practice.
Identify and discuss any additional research now needed to support and underpin your learning, your appreciation of your practice and development of your ideas
In terms of research, we are planning to use colour and mark making and will be looking at Jackson Pollark. In order to support our ideas in the workshop, all of us need an understanding of these artists and why they are using them. This will then begin help form, develop and finalise our ideas.
Identify a plan of action that is now required in order for you to complete the e.g. time management, exploring new technology, furthering your contextual research and knowledge?
As a group, we have delegate jobs for everyone to do before the dry run coming up. I have been given the tasks to research the music and the arts. Therefore my own personal action plan is to complete the research of the artists and the music for the activities. As my own personal time management is disorganised I realise I need to push this and get it done by Tuesday the latest. When I have completed this, it can be past on to those who are making the presentation. I am happy to be given these tasks, as the artists relate to my own practice and so with therefore inform my work later.
In my own personal practice, I am used to working by myself and this collaboration aspect has been challenging yet rewarding at the same time. As there are a nine of us, ideas are being bounced around and there has been a democratic vote for the activities that we are going to use. No one has the final say and there has been a fair chance for you to cast your ideas and this part is the one that I have struggled with the most. Throughout the last two weeks, I have begun to realise that you are unable to have just your ideas.
In terms of the learning I have learnt, due to people having previous commitments the amount being done by the group has been slow. This is down to bad time management and I feel that we need to push ourselves greatly in the next two weeks for the workshop to go off without a hitch. It terms of my own development, I wish to have all of my work completed by the end of next week. If everyone is to do this, then our workshop can be very successful.
Reflect upon the key discoveries - was it within a skill, process, developing a new approach?
A key discovery these past two weeks is the confidence building exercises, as I am naturally quite shy and do realise that this could hinder in my performance for the workshop. Practicing the "Fake it till you make it" is something that I am going to try to do over the next two weeks. Since learning this technique I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
Reflect upon the impact of collaboration on your methods - what aspects interest you? Why? How do you intend to further develop these? Identify further research necessary to fulfil this. What were unexpected developments? What surprises arose?
In terms of what interested in the collaboration side of things was how we bounced off ideas from each other. When one person came up with a suggestion, another person would think of an innovative way to improve that suggestion. For example, one person suggested creating a collage and this then developed to creating a collage out of the boiler suits that we are going to use in the colour fight.
One thing that stood out to me was the difficultly in the time management of working in a group. People had previous commitments and therefore would be unable to attend a meeting. Whilst this wouldn't play a difference in the meetings as such, the next meeting we would have to spend 10 to 15 minutes explaining what was discussed in the previous meeting. As a result, we waisted vital time that we could have used developing the workshop. In hindsight, we should have made notes in the meetings then passed them onto the people missing. This was further hindered by clashing personalities, as it was the focus of some meetings appose to the development of the workshop.
What are the creative responses that you have done and intend to develop in your project and practice. Consider why this is - what are the key aspects of interest? How does it relate to the broader area of your practice? Does it develop your understanding and appreciation of contact for your work?
The workshop is going to be based on colour, which is something that is of vital importance in my own practice. This did help create and develop elements in the workshop, as I was constantly being inspired and therefore being motivated. When we are speaking about the semiotics of colour, it is something that I am beginning to delve in my own practice, and it was interesting to see how people responded to different colours, for example, some one mentioned that they found it to be calming whilst I personally, feel that it is a depressing, sad colour. This is something I want to do in my own work in the future, how people react and their own responses to the colours that you have used in your work. Working out how to do this would also add interaction with the viewers, which is something that we are doing in the workshop, and therefore doing this, will incorporate what we have learnt in the workshop and my own practice.
Identify and discuss any additional research now needed to support and underpin your learning, your appreciation of your practice and development of your ideas
In terms of research, we are planning to use colour and mark making and will be looking at Jackson Pollark. In order to support our ideas in the workshop, all of us need an understanding of these artists and why they are using them. This will then begin help form, develop and finalise our ideas.
Identify a plan of action that is now required in order for you to complete the e.g. time management, exploring new technology, furthering your contextual research and knowledge?
As a group, we have delegate jobs for everyone to do before the dry run coming up. I have been given the tasks to research the music and the arts. Therefore my own personal action plan is to complete the research of the artists and the music for the activities. As my own personal time management is disorganised I realise I need to push this and get it done by Tuesday the latest. When I have completed this, it can be past on to those who are making the presentation. I am happy to be given these tasks, as the artists relate to my own practice and so with therefore inform my work later.
Week Five - Federation House Exhibition Planning
During this week, all of Unit X Educator meet up and began drafting ideas of what we could create for the exhibition at Federation House. Two ideas came up, either creating a workshop that involves both of our workshops and involving people or to present what we created in the workshops. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages.
In terms of creating a workshop, the advantages of this would be; we would be showing the viewers what we have been doing in the unit, giving them an insight into teaching. It would also inform them of the messages we are teaching the children and inform them which as a result, could change their mindset of art, or how to create art. We would also be interacting with the public, and this may help change the mindset of someone who does not feel that they are creative, start to believe that they can be creative. However, there are many disadvantages to this, for example, it would take a lot of time to prepare and this could have an impact on the workshops we are giving to the children. It would be better if we gave one really good workshop to the children than develop two workshops that wouldn't be to their best ability. People may not want to join the activities due to the use of paint and them wearing suits and the potential of their clothes getting dirty and therefore our time would be waisted. It would also require people being there the whole time, and why this may not be an issue for some, for others, they may have previous commitments.
When considering presenting what we did in the workshop, we spoke about either filming the workshops and projecting them onto the boiler suits or hanging up the boiler suits. The advantages of this include, it will be a lot easier for us and would give us maximum time to prepare our workshops for the children. People maybe more interested in the work as it would just include the boiler suits and could become visually quite interesting, you would have to look at the work at detail to understand what we did and what we are trying to show. However, there are disadvantages to doing this, one of them, is we are not putting into practice what we learnt throughout Unit X and passing on this information. If we were to film the workshops and project them, it would give us one day to create these films, creating a lot of pressure and stress onto us. Another disadvantage to both these ideas, is that it could be uninteresting and visually quite weak. This is a strong possibility as we will be exhibiting with other people who have had months to prepare for this.
At the end of the meeting, we decided to go with the second idea and I personally am glad for this. I would much rather create a very good workshop for the children and then present the work created in the exhibition.
In terms of creating a workshop, the advantages of this would be; we would be showing the viewers what we have been doing in the unit, giving them an insight into teaching. It would also inform them of the messages we are teaching the children and inform them which as a result, could change their mindset of art, or how to create art. We would also be interacting with the public, and this may help change the mindset of someone who does not feel that they are creative, start to believe that they can be creative. However, there are many disadvantages to this, for example, it would take a lot of time to prepare and this could have an impact on the workshops we are giving to the children. It would be better if we gave one really good workshop to the children than develop two workshops that wouldn't be to their best ability. People may not want to join the activities due to the use of paint and them wearing suits and the potential of their clothes getting dirty and therefore our time would be waisted. It would also require people being there the whole time, and why this may not be an issue for some, for others, they may have previous commitments.
When considering presenting what we did in the workshop, we spoke about either filming the workshops and projecting them onto the boiler suits or hanging up the boiler suits. The advantages of this include, it will be a lot easier for us and would give us maximum time to prepare our workshops for the children. People maybe more interested in the work as it would just include the boiler suits and could become visually quite interesting, you would have to look at the work at detail to understand what we did and what we are trying to show. However, there are disadvantages to doing this, one of them, is we are not putting into practice what we learnt throughout Unit X and passing on this information. If we were to film the workshops and project them, it would give us one day to create these films, creating a lot of pressure and stress onto us. Another disadvantage to both these ideas, is that it could be uninteresting and visually quite weak. This is a strong possibility as we will be exhibiting with other people who have had months to prepare for this.
At the end of the meeting, we decided to go with the second idea and I personally am glad for this. I would much rather create a very good workshop for the children and then present the work created in the exhibition.
Week Five - MicroTeaching Delivery
As I am not very good at public speaking, I decided to use the tips Clare showed us in the previous week. Before my session I spent a minute doing the confident pose as well faking my confidence, this I found helped but I was still nervous at the beginning. This was evident in one of the feedbacks I was given which said "Delivery could have been clearer - you didn't seem to have much confidence in the background..." This is something I realise I need to improve on, I didn't learn the script very well as I believed as I knew the background then I could wing it, I can not do this in the workshop.
In terms of the structure of the day, I planned to have the introduction last for three minutes, however, when I began conducting the session I realised that I did not need these three minutes and rather it was only one. For this session it worked out well as it gave my peers more time to create the work. This is something that I need to consider in the workshop, if I was to have a presentation that ran out of time, then I would need to prepare for this eventuality. After the session Kate mentioned that it is better to have a few good activities and then back up activities if there is still time. This is something we should think about in the planning of the workshop.
I wanted my peers to learn through themselves, seeing what they could create however would give some of my knowledge. When they asked questions, I would respond to them and told them about my website where you could other examples, one person mentioned in their feedback "can't wait to see your website... Got me motivated", which was pleasing to hear as I had clearly picked an interesting topic. However, there could have been improvement with one feedback mentioning "images of own work would have been good", in hindsight I should added these to the handouts that I created. Taking this onto the future for the workshop, if I am to present an activity then I should add examples of what I want them to create.
In terms of improvement, it was mentioned that "Whilst you began to conclude, you did not create a definite ending. Reaffirming your learning outcome should come here", speaking to Anna and Kate, they spoke how you should say your learning outcome at the beginning and at the end in order for your peers or the children to understand what they were meant to have learnt. This is something that we should consider when conducting the workshop. Therefore we need to have a defined reasoning for the workshop. One person mentioned that the introduction could have been clearer and I do agree with this. I should have practiced this more, or one person mentioned an introduction to my own practice and with either of these suggestions would have been good to do. It is clear, that you need to have confidence in your speech and carefully word and conduct this.
One thing I noticed when I created this session was the planning that went around it and the number of hours I spent either preparing the handouts or getting the materials. For me, it was only for a 10 minute presentation but some teachers will have a whole day to prepare for each day of the week, for the whole of the school week.
In terms of the structure of the day, I planned to have the introduction last for three minutes, however, when I began conducting the session I realised that I did not need these three minutes and rather it was only one. For this session it worked out well as it gave my peers more time to create the work. This is something that I need to consider in the workshop, if I was to have a presentation that ran out of time, then I would need to prepare for this eventuality. After the session Kate mentioned that it is better to have a few good activities and then back up activities if there is still time. This is something we should think about in the planning of the workshop.
I wanted my peers to learn through themselves, seeing what they could create however would give some of my knowledge. When they asked questions, I would respond to them and told them about my website where you could other examples, one person mentioned in their feedback "can't wait to see your website... Got me motivated", which was pleasing to hear as I had clearly picked an interesting topic. However, there could have been improvement with one feedback mentioning "images of own work would have been good", in hindsight I should added these to the handouts that I created. Taking this onto the future for the workshop, if I am to present an activity then I should add examples of what I want them to create.
In terms of improvement, it was mentioned that "Whilst you began to conclude, you did not create a definite ending. Reaffirming your learning outcome should come here", speaking to Anna and Kate, they spoke how you should say your learning outcome at the beginning and at the end in order for your peers or the children to understand what they were meant to have learnt. This is something that we should consider when conducting the workshop. Therefore we need to have a defined reasoning for the workshop. One person mentioned that the introduction could have been clearer and I do agree with this. I should have practiced this more, or one person mentioned an introduction to my own practice and with either of these suggestions would have been good to do. It is clear, that you need to have confidence in your speech and carefully word and conduct this.
One thing I noticed when I created this session was the planning that went around it and the number of hours I spent either preparing the handouts or getting the materials. For me, it was only for a 10 minute presentation but some teachers will have a whole day to prepare for each day of the week, for the whole of the school week.
In this graph above, it is apparent that all of the other elements of teaching add up to roughly the same time as teaching. It is becoming increasingly apparent that teaching is not a 9 to 5 job and will take more hours in your week, not just your working week. If you are to spend this amount of time on your profession, then it is clear that you need to enjoy your work and be passionate about it.
http://www.oecd.org/edu/EAG2014-Indicator%20D4%20(eng).pdf
Week Four - Planning the workshop at DACA
In my practice, I am used to working by myself and therefore I have to be very self motivated and self driven which is a dramatic change from working within Unit X and relying on others. This is something that I am struggling to work with as I would rather get the work done but obviously, people can not run on my very own timetable. We have organised meetings, and I have tried to be to every single one but unfortunately people have previous commitments and therefore the progress of the workshop has been slow. Despite this, we have created a very basic plan of the day, basing the workshop on the Holi Festival. During the holidays, I researched this and sent my research to the others. The Holi Festival is an ancient Hindu festival, which is a celebration of colour and involves throwing power paint, baring this in mind, we wish to create this colour fight at the end of the day.
When speaking to Clare, she spoke about students coming from the Hindu background and they may feel patronised by this due to understanding more about the day. Not considering this before, we have decided to change the focus of the day and as a result, we are now going to focus on colour. Clare also spoke to use about disaster management, if it was raining on the day, then we would be unable to create the powder paint fight outside and so considering this, we spoke about doing it inside with dusk sheets to cover the room. As they would be covered in powder paint and we do not want to ruin their clothes, we need to provide protective clothing as well dusk masks. Realising this, it is apparent that we need to create disaster management for every single activity in order to prepare for every single event.
As we have now changed the day onto colour, we need to focus down onto certain aspects of colour, one of these ideas is to look into the semiotics of colour, which would bring in the emotions of colour. One idea is to play a happy and sad music and ask them to create a piece of artwork dependant on the music played. One thing that we all noticed at the school is there is not much experimental work, and therefore their work is structured and similar. We want to introduce this idea of creative freedom and are considering experimental mark making using different tools. At the same time, they would be listening to the music stimulating emotions within them. Something we want to do, is introduce these different methods of working to create work in the future.
Jackson Pollark is an artist who does this and it is my job to do the research for this, as well to find other artists and I will be doing this for next week as I realise that the workshop is fast approaching. I will also be researching different types of music for the day.
Clare also spoke about getting feedback at the end of the day and we spoke about how it would be boring to do this via a questionnaire. We have decided to wear plain white t-shirts and get the children to write on our backs after ask them questions. This I feel is an exciting way to do this after the a day filled with activities as well as being informative for us. It is also important to note that doing this will hopefully let the children be honest in their feedback as it is easier to write it down rather than speak about it.
When speaking to Clare, she spoke about students coming from the Hindu background and they may feel patronised by this due to understanding more about the day. Not considering this before, we have decided to change the focus of the day and as a result, we are now going to focus on colour. Clare also spoke to use about disaster management, if it was raining on the day, then we would be unable to create the powder paint fight outside and so considering this, we spoke about doing it inside with dusk sheets to cover the room. As they would be covered in powder paint and we do not want to ruin their clothes, we need to provide protective clothing as well dusk masks. Realising this, it is apparent that we need to create disaster management for every single activity in order to prepare for every single event.
As we have now changed the day onto colour, we need to focus down onto certain aspects of colour, one of these ideas is to look into the semiotics of colour, which would bring in the emotions of colour. One idea is to play a happy and sad music and ask them to create a piece of artwork dependant on the music played. One thing that we all noticed at the school is there is not much experimental work, and therefore their work is structured and similar. We want to introduce this idea of creative freedom and are considering experimental mark making using different tools. At the same time, they would be listening to the music stimulating emotions within them. Something we want to do, is introduce these different methods of working to create work in the future.
Jackson Pollark is an artist who does this and it is my job to do the research for this, as well to find other artists and I will be doing this for next week as I realise that the workshop is fast approaching. I will also be researching different types of music for the day.
Clare also spoke about getting feedback at the end of the day and we spoke about how it would be boring to do this via a questionnaire. We have decided to wear plain white t-shirts and get the children to write on our backs after ask them questions. This I feel is an exciting way to do this after the a day filled with activities as well as being informative for us. It is also important to note that doing this will hopefully let the children be honest in their feedback as it is easier to write it down rather than speak about it.
Week Four - Confidence in Teaching and MicroTeaching Brief
Confidence in Teaching
It was apparent during the placement at DACA that if you did not have strong confidence, then the children would notice this and not respond to you as you wish. It is apparent that people will more likely respond to those who are calm and unnerved in their tone and body language and I noticed this from the first lesson I was placed in. Confidence, generally is something I struggle with as I am naturally a shy person and therefore when it comes to public speaking with new people, I struggle, however, as time went on it became easier.
Clare addressed this issue in one session, realising that this can not hinder us in any way due to having to hold an authoritative role with the children. She played us this clip by Amy Cuddy "Body Language shapes who you are". The clip spoke about "Fake it till you make it", which means, fake the confidence until you have confidence. This made an impression on me and I wanted to test this out, so in the evening I was out with people and decided to test this out and it did work, I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
MicroTeaching Brief
For this unit, we have to complete a 10 minute Microteaching session to our peers. Introducing this, Anna performed a microteaching session on Art Direction to us. It was clear that she had managed to include all types of learners into the workshop, visual learners with the powerpoint and demonstration, audio learners by listening to her in the session and kinetic learners by allowing us to complete a task. Having these three types of teaching is something I need to consider in my own workshop in order to be successful.
Following this, we worked in pairs practicing teaching another person to make something out of plasticise. I personally found this to be very helpful as I had never performed a teaching session and working with Louise gave me things to improve on. For example, sometimes I can forget that others aren't keeping up with my pace or do not understand what I am trying to say and in order to comeback that I need to slow down and consider how I word what I am saying.
Anna advised us to keep the idea very simple as we only have 10 minutes and to do something that we specialise in or know a lot about. My background is in Fine Art, specialising in paint and I wanted to incorporate this into my session but have to make this very basic. Thinking about this, I have decided to look at the reactions of a water-based paint against a oil-based paint.
It was apparent during the placement at DACA that if you did not have strong confidence, then the children would notice this and not respond to you as you wish. It is apparent that people will more likely respond to those who are calm and unnerved in their tone and body language and I noticed this from the first lesson I was placed in. Confidence, generally is something I struggle with as I am naturally a shy person and therefore when it comes to public speaking with new people, I struggle, however, as time went on it became easier.
Clare addressed this issue in one session, realising that this can not hinder us in any way due to having to hold an authoritative role with the children. She played us this clip by Amy Cuddy "Body Language shapes who you are". The clip spoke about "Fake it till you make it", which means, fake the confidence until you have confidence. This made an impression on me and I wanted to test this out, so in the evening I was out with people and decided to test this out and it did work, I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
MicroTeaching Brief
For this unit, we have to complete a 10 minute Microteaching session to our peers. Introducing this, Anna performed a microteaching session on Art Direction to us. It was clear that she had managed to include all types of learners into the workshop, visual learners with the powerpoint and demonstration, audio learners by listening to her in the session and kinetic learners by allowing us to complete a task. Having these three types of teaching is something I need to consider in my own workshop in order to be successful.
Following this, we worked in pairs practicing teaching another person to make something out of plasticise. I personally found this to be very helpful as I had never performed a teaching session and working with Louise gave me things to improve on. For example, sometimes I can forget that others aren't keeping up with my pace or do not understand what I am trying to say and in order to comeback that I need to slow down and consider how I word what I am saying.
Anna advised us to keep the idea very simple as we only have 10 minutes and to do something that we specialise in or know a lot about. My background is in Fine Art, specialising in paint and I wanted to incorporate this into my session but have to make this very basic. Thinking about this, I have decided to look at the reactions of a water-based paint against a oil-based paint.
This is my basic lesson plan for the day. I realise that I need to practice this to other people to firstly, make sure that it works, to make sure that the timings run according to my plan and finally to make sure that I understand and know what I am talking about.
I have also created these handouts for my peers to give them some background knowledge of what we are using. I do not plan to read them out but rather allow them to follow up on them if they wish to know more, which follows on from the Delegator style of teaching I had learnt previously.
Over the next couple of days, I will go over my teaching session and have everything ready before the day. This will not only make sure I am prepared but will allow me to have time to sort anything out before the session if something goes wrong.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)