High school planning

This task was difficult because we only had a few hours of meeting time to talk and get together a lesson plan for this workshop. It was very difficult to begin with as we were a huge group working on one workshop together so we wasted abit of time not starting a discussion straight away. So we had to split off into smaller groups and come up with ideas and finally mesh them together. We threw many different ideas out there and had to put them all together and see what we could come up with. A main idea that we like was the apocalypse idea where we gave the students a senario and they had to make do with the items we gave them to makeup a survival kit that could be kept in a window box for a quick escape. This is what we came up with as a group.

 

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Primary school workshop

Today was the big day! It went well overall we had a few hiccups here and there but it went smoothly. I learnt a lot within the workshop it was intersting to see how it all played out and how everything worked out.

Our group was well organised and everyone played their part according to the lesson plan. We were able to get everything ready although we'd lost about 15-25 mins at the start due to the children being registered and the canteen space beig prepared for us to use. We also lost some time during the activity as the fire alarm went off and we had to cut out a part of the lesson plan (worksheet) and fast forward to the bug march. There were one or two children that were being a little bit difficult but and didn't want to move from table to table but I think we accommodated them well and helped them without singling them out. Apart from these two set backs we did great!

I think all the tables were well prepared and there was a good flow from table to table. The atmosphere was good and the children enjoyed the task and were having a lot of fun. The group was well prepared even with the time set back and we were able to make decisions straight away. The bug march went extremely well and the children had a great time dancing and showing off their bugs. The communication between the group and children was also good as we were nervous to begin with as the children's first language wasn't English. Overall we had a great time and so did the children.

 

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Introduction speech Rebecca and Angus

"A: (Thank you for lining up so nicely year 3. So what’s going to happen now is I’m going to come down the line and give you all a number from 1 to 4 that I want you to remember. When you go into the room I want you to find the table with your number on it and sit down ok? Everybody got that? Right….)

Ok so, hello year 3 and welcome to something a bit different today. I am Angus, this is Becky, these lovely people will introduce themselves to you shortly (gestures wildly). We’re all from MMU, we’re all art students and what we’re going to be doing with you today is making and filling some window boxes to go on display outside the new Birley Fields Building. So would someone like to tell everyone what a window box is?

B: Yep that’s right (holds up window box) this is the window box here and we’ve got a few different activities we’re going to be doing with you to transform this into something much more exciting. You’re going to be decorating the box, you’re going to be making flowers and you’re going to be making your own bugs and bug houses. Everybody will get a go at everything so don’t worry that’ll you’ll be missing out on any part of today, there’s going to be a different table for each activity and you’re going to go round and try everything.

A: And the most important thing we’d like you to do today is be as creative and imaginative as you possibly can. When you go to your table there are going to be examples that we’ve done of the bugs and flowers and everything but that doesn’t mean yours has to look like ours, and it doesn’t mean that you have to make just one thing at each table. If you want to make the best, biggest craziest bug with 7 legs and 5 eyes and pincers go for it, if you want to make an entire forest floor of flowers then do it,

B: and if you have an idea but you’re not sure how to do it, there are going to be some of us on each table and some of us floating around to help you. (So what I’m going to do now is give each of you a number from 1-4 and once I’ve given you all a number we’d like you to move to the table with that number on it. And then these guys are gonna come and explain what you’ll be doing.)

A: One last thing. There are going to be two things to pay attention to today, firstly if one of us does this (demonstrate) that means we’d like you to be quiet and listen for a minute ok? The second thing is this (blow whistle) and that means you need to stop what you’re doing because it’s time to move to the next table. Ok get started.

A: Flutter like a Butterfly. Squirm like a worm. Buzz like a bee. Bounce like a grasshopper.

B: OK guys if you could just stop what you’re doing and look this way for a second. You should have all had a go at everything now, don’t worry if you haven’t finished the one you’re on. So what we’d like to happen now is when we tell you, to go and collect you’re bugs one table at a time and sit back down. Flower table go, bug table go etc.

A: So does everybody have their bug? Now have a look at your bug and what I want you to think about is how does your bug move, does it slither, does it hop, does it maybe stomp around? And what sounds does it make? Ok. Everybody got an idea? Ok well then I think you should all stand up and show us how your bug moves and what it sounds like, maybe even how it dances. Everybody stand up, (start music) and move like a bug! (Blow whistle to finish)

B: Right so you’ve just thought a bit about your bug, and now on this worksheet we’ve given you we’d like you to think a bit more about either them, or about your flower, whichever you like. And we’d like you to do some drawing and a little bit of writing to tell us all about them. And once you’ve done that then we’re all going to finally put all of your work together to make the window boxes.

A: Right year 3 it’s now time for all of your amazing work to come together to make these window boxes so (not sure how we’re doing this bit, this is my suggestion) if this table wants to get everything they’ve made today, then this table etc. So now you’re going to come up and table at a time and put these window boxes together. (Get them to carry on with worksheets/hats while each table does this, and photograph the process of each table walking their bug into the box?)

B: Well thank you year 3, you’ve all done some amazing work today and you’ve been a great group to work with. Have you all enjoyed yourselves? Good you should all be proud of yourselves, well done and off you go."

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Primary school planning

It was a lot of fun doing a group plan for this Lesson with primary school children. We were given the task to make sure everything was planned right down to the minute and every detail was planned. We discussed every thing we needed according to the brief we were given and then we also delegated tasks to one another and made sure everyone had a role to play.

I was given the task to manage the window box table which was decorating the boxes with the children and making sure that the table was organised and had enough things for the children to use. I was pleased with my role and had a few examples prepared for the children to have a look at.

The difficult part of planning was making sure we over planned and were able to have the children's attention at all times and make it an enjoyable experience for them. It was also difficult catering to all different types of children and how they learn. We were only aware that the majority of the class didn't have English as a first language so we hoped that language wouldn't be to big a problem.

 

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Making task

We were given a task to make objects for a window box using aluminium cans and bottles. This was a fun task to do although it was tricky using the cans as materials. As I was making the flowers using these materials I decided to think of some restrictions that I could give myself whilst making the flowers that could also be applied to a school environment. I decided to use all the materials without having any mess left over. It wasn't a difficult task as it gives you a chance to try and make different outcomes out of one bottle or a can. It is a quick and easy way to make something using recycled materials.

We then went in to uni and everyone displayed their work and we all got to have a look at what they made this was a good way to pick up ideas and use other peoples tecniques with your own work. There was a variety of different types of flowers and bugs and many different object that could be put into a window box and used for a primary school class.

 

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KEY BLOG POST 1: Research

Over these past two weeks I have learnt a lot in a short space of time we have crammed a lot of information in in such a quick time this has been very interesting to me. To begin this unit we have been concentrating on making good lesson plans which can be used in actual real life settings. These sessions have really helped me understand important things that are needed for lesson planing. I have benefited from making numerous amount of lesson plans and then getting feedback and making them better. We started off by using very basic ideas on planning a lesson and using simple workshop plans underestimating what young students can produce. After feedback from tutors and our peers we realised we need to thing outside the box and not use such obvious ideas. I decided to use my own practice and my own uni work as inspiration but making it fit in with a school class and making it age appropriate. I think using something difficult and then toning down the difficulty and working backwards could help create a interesting workshop.

 I have been looking to pinterest and youtube on ideas about little things that could be good to use in a window box that could suit all ages and also be made quickly and in a short amount of time. Also trying out and making products yourself is an interesting way to learn things yourself and make a product that you can teach to others. I have been trying to look for different way to develop ideas that could be suited towards younger children using challenging materials that aren't harmful but is still not something they're used to this has been proven a little difficult as I am not fully aware of what they are capable of.

I have been interesting in learning about good lesson planning and having everything over planned and right down to every minute. This interests me because I am a organised person who enjoys having everything planned and sorted. I would also like to look further into attention span of students and what is a good safe amount of time that they will be able to engage in. I am planning to research the design technology side of teaching further as my own practice is textiles and I feel I would like to specifically teach that side of Art and Design over Art itself as I feel that is something I specialise in more I would also like to try and include a textile aspect if i can and if it caters to the brief for one of the workshops we create. If that isn't possible I think we could include a textile as a material in the workshop.

Mr X stitch

We had a very interesting lecture today by Jamie Chalmers. Jamie is a male embroider who told us a little about himself and his work, he'd initially started cross stitch as a joke but fell in love with it. He introduced us to many different artist who used cross stitch in their work. Some of the main artists that I'd highlighted and sparked an interest for are, Diem Chau, Mana Morimoto and Jose romussi. He also explained the importance of social media and your blog. It was interesting learning about all the different ways you can get your work out to the world using the internet and sending out one pot that reaches every social media platform.

http://www.mrxstitch.com/embroidery-mr-x-stitch/

http://youtu.be/NhPgUcjGQAw

 

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Working with children who have learning difficulties

Today's lecture was with Brian Frew a head teacher. This was an interesting lecture for me as I have previously worked with children who have Autism for a work placement. It was interstimg to learn that disabilities can be caused by accidents or you can be born with a disability but there are also environmental cases. Autistic people find it difficult to generalise something that they've learnt so they can't reproduce what they've learnt in a different context.

We went on to talk about lesson planning for children who have learning difficulties, Brian gave us a few tips:

• Think about the age appropriate work for your students, even if they 'act' younger than what they are.
• Communication- [PECS] Picture Exchange Communication System using picture to communicate, sign language, using iPads and laptops.
• Backward chaining- technique of working starting from the last step and working backwards.
• Planning for two outcomes- if it's easy can it be extended? Also if it's difficult could it be simplified?
• Possible challenging behaviour- gentle explanation (May have to be repeated a few times) calm stance, calm body language and a low voice.

I used all these tips and my own experience to put together a rough lesson plan which is similar to a normal lesson plan but includes all the tips given above but keeping the timing between each activity short and fast so they're easier and don't leave to much time for any distractions. I also included pictures of the equipment placed on the board and on tables making it easier for communication. I have left a few minutes in the demonstration in case it's needed for a repeat of the instructions.

 

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Art Therapy

This was an interesting lecture. I had heard about Art Therapy before but hadn't looked into it or learnt much about it before. After learning more about Art therapy I have decided it's not something that interests me although it was interesting learning about it.

It was fascinating learning about how art can be used to help people with self-esteem issues because art is used purely for expression and the activities are non judgemental because there is no wrong or right. Using drawings and symbolism is a safe way to talk about yourself especially if there is a language barrier and children are unable to communicate.

As part of this lecture we did a few drawing tasks, we drew a sun, moon, tree and a drawing of anything that we wanted to draw. It was a fun task really simple and straight forward. Every single drawing was different it was interesting to see how different they all were even when we all used the same equipment it's a task that would be good for young children as it's fun and simple.

 

 

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Museums and galleries observation and research

Today we went on a few gallery visits we started off with The national football Museum where we were given a task to observe students and young children acting in a trip environment. Unfortunately there weren't many children at this museum but I did take a look around and noticed how interactive the football museum was, the museum had many interactive games and televisions. It's a great place for young children to go and learn in a fun way. There were many interactive touch screen games, magnetic games, puzzles, dress up and also table football.

During our time at the national football museum we also had a session with the museum educator and she told us a bit about her job role and also sessions that they ran at the museum. It was a good learning experience, she told us that they ran sessions for adults, children and also toddlers. Sessions with toddlers were exploring their senses and also story telling. They have different sessions for each age range. She also gave tips on how to get attention such as clapping and lowering your voice for them to listen up. She also emphasised the fact that managing the behaviour of students wasn't part of her job and talking to the teachers or carers that brought the students is the answer.

We then went onto The Museum of Science and Industry this time it was filled with young school children! There were more than one school so it was crazy. The things that I had notices were children weren't fully engaging with what was on in the museum as they were running around and playing with with the different interaction parts of the museums I noticed this in particularly the younger children. I think their excitement levels are high as they were outside school and in a new environment. I witnessed one of the teachers shout at the children to behave but they'd continued to misbehave. I think if I was the teacher of these children I would out them into small groups and give them a task to complete that way you know they're engaging in the museum visit and you're also aware of what they are doing and the children know they have a task to complete to take back to school.

With older children I saw that they engaged more in what was going on in the museum in one part there was a talk going on where everyone was sat down and listening to someone who works at the museum give a talk this is also a good way to get everyone's attention at once and a good way of educating everyone together.

I then went off to The Manchester museum with some of my group to have a look if there was anything interesting going on there. I looked around and found interest in the tribal section of the museum I thought this was a good thing to do for the second part of our task which was to create a workshop where you will have no face-to-face engagement with your audience. Looking around the museum they had worksheets dotted around for children to do whilst they visited the museum this influenced me to write my own worksheet for children to do when they visited the museum particularly for the tribal section. Questions that I asked on the worksheet were:

• Looking at the different tribal patterns that are on display can you name some of the shapes you can see?
• What do you think these tribal textiles were used for?
• What modern day techniques do you think you can use to make similar designs? E.g. Batik, weave
• Using different colours and repetitive shapes can you make a tribal pattern but with a new modern take. You could include patterns and shapes that you feel are popular in today's society.

 

 

 

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