Today was the last day. Mrs. Stewart gave me a really sweet poster and candy signed by all the students. I took pictures of all their work throughout the time I taught, and the students were excited to have their work published online, and they all wrote down the website. This was such a great experience that really gave me a taste for teaching. I learned a lot from Mrs. Stewart about classroom management, and I hope they students want to continue doing art after their experiences with me.

Today we glazed the gargoyles they made. It was pretty easy and not as messy as the clay was, thankfully. There were a few things we had to repeat over and over to the kids, like that the color will not be the same when we fire the ceramic pieces as it looked in the jars. Mrs. Stewart put the glazes and pieces on paper plates, which made clean-up a lot easier. We had stations of color so that they could move around and get the colors of their choice. We also had them only use one brush per color so we don't ruin the glazes. There were some students that were gone, so we put clear glaze over theirs. Mrs. Stewart and the teacher that is a ceramicist at the school are going to fire them, and then I will come on Friday to take pictures of all their work.

Today we started our ceramic gargoyle project. I first had the students write down a fear they had, and then they made a gargoyle that would scare that fear away. We started off by making two pinch pots, and using slipping and scoring, we connected them to make a hollow oval shape. The students then connected pieces and carved into the clay to make their desired shapes and forms. Mrs. Stewart and I emphasized that they had to slip and score each piece they connect, and to keep the clay between 1/4 and 1/2 inches thick. They needed to be told that over and over again. Mrs. Stewart arranged to get the clay from the district and then had a teacher who was knowledgeable about ceramics fire the pieces. She helped a ton with this project, and it was great to feel like we were really collaborating.

Today we looked at a powerpoint presentation about gargoyles. We discussed why Mideval people had gargoyles. Some reasons we came up with were that people had shorter life spans and people were exposed to a lot more death and disease, and wanted things to protect them. This will be a precursor to our next activity.The students really enjoyed seeing the variety of gargoyles from different parts of the world, as well as other sixth grade students' interpretations of gargoyles.

Today we learned about one point perspective. I presented a powerpoint about Greek art, and taught them about how the Greeks valued realistic art, and the glorification of the human, and the humanizing of their Gods. This tied in with their social studies curriculum, since they were learning about Greek mythology. Then we looked at pictures and determined what one-point perspective looked like, and then created rooms using the principles of one-point perspective. This activity took a lot longer than I thought. I didn't anticipate how confused the students would be, but they seemed to understand after a few tries.

Blair came back to give an example of his process, just on the whiteboard. He showed them how he roughly sketches the idea first, and then goes back in with more detail. The students then created their own comic. Some were humorous, some more of a narrative. The teacher suggested that they make their comic a myth, or relating to a myth, which would satisfy a social studies/language arts assignment. They really got into it, and though we didn't have time for everyone to finish, I'll have them work on it later when I come, and they can work on them in their free time. 

I had local comic artist Blair Sterrett come present to them about comics. He has a Bachelors degree in Animation from BYU, and a Masters degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies. I thought this would be a great resource for the students. He told them about how he got involved in comics, and gave examples of different comics, from comics strips, comic books and graphic novels. He presented a video on how to draw comic strips. He stressed that you don't have to feel like you're a 'good' artist, and that some comic artists draw with stick figures. He showed examples to illustrate that. He showed his own comic, which is a narrative on being tortured by his younger brother in his youth. He also donated one of his comic books to the class. 

 I presented a PowerPoint on Egyptian art. Before I began, I had them write down everything they knew about the ancient Egyptians since some of them had already studied it on their own. I then had them share what they had written. Then I went through the presentation and did a similar question and answer thing like I had done with Mesopotamian. I didn't finish all that I intended because I didn't prepare for everything, but I think they had enough to understand the themes and culture of the Egyptians, which was my main goal. I then introduced the next studio assignment, which was creating a comic. I linked the Egyptians to this project by explaining that Egyptians created narrative with pictures and heiroglyphs, and the contemporary narrative of this would be comics. They made some links between the two ideas, such as the idea of gods and superheroes, and that the Egyptians idealized their figures, just as modern superheroes are idealized.

I presented a PowerPoint continuing Mesopotamian art, including Akkadian and Assyrian works. I asked them a lot of questions as I went along, and they often were able to come to the conclusions and points I intended to make on their own. They paid attention well, and seemed engaged in the presentation. I want to connect this to a studio project in the future. I really was suprised at how well they were paying attention. I take my material from college textbooks, and they really understand the concepts taught, which is great.

Today I presented a powerpoint introducing Mesopotamian art, specifically Sumerian. Afterwards, they wrote in their altered books about a special place they go to think. We discussed the idea of devotion, which they defined as commitment and dedication. I tried to make a connection between the Sumerian people going to their temples to communicate with God, and having a quiet place to think, a special place. Then we reviewed what they thought were some interesting things about the Sumerian people. I then told them that this weekend they should draw or take a picture of their place. At the end of class I had them share some things that they had done in their altered books.