Creative (and Squishy) Circuits (pg. 125)
I chose this chapter because I have a bit of a background in ceramics and I find the idea of clay/ dough as a material that is malleable really cool. When it comes to ceramics many peoples goal is to push past that quality of the material and be as controlled as possible. It would be fun to explore malleability of art with students. I was fascinated by the dough being either insulating and conductive. I initially thought the project was using regular play dough and using normal circuit supplies. I would love to learn how the dough is created and works.
Confessions of a Maker Educator (pg. 96)
I liked this chapter because it was about a teacher teaching about technology without having an education background in STEAM or even art. I like this class, but I sometimes wonder if these are all things I would be comfortable teaching about. It was interesting to read about this teachers experiences of wanting to try new things and the excitement the kids had from it. This chapter also included how parents and administration responded to the ideas as well. I think something worthwhile she wrote too was “If I’m bored, my students have to be feeling similarly.” In the times I have worked with kids and even adults, if you are not excited about the things you are talking about, they will usually have the same energy you do and it makes it much harder to engage students. You have to be able to give them a reason to care.
Biomimicry (pg. 166)
I picked this chapter because I personally love nature and I think it is something good to base assignments on since everyone has access to nature. It relates to art education in that it applies the design thinking process. Students are asked to brainstorm, prototype and execute their projects considering aesthetics for their invention. This is a project that can be very open ended that students can really explore ideas with nature and can be expanded to include more complicated ideas for older students. I am not sure about the kind of inventions I would expect to see, but I think this project would be a good way to talk about sculptures and form. My senior year of high school I made a multimedia tree out of ceramics, wire and glass. I think it would be fun to focus more in a sculptural direction and look into light systems, 3D printing or any other STEM related materials.
christim3
I think what you pointed out about being excited about the project and the students having that same energy is really important. I don’t think a lot of people think about that aspect of education, because it’s all about getting the students to do the assignment, hand it in and get a grade, but that delivery of the project and the engagement from the teacher is so significant to the learning process.
Lexie Rider
Hi Ash, I love your interest in how the conductive dough works, I think it is so important to understand the materials we work with, that type of thinking is conducive to more advanced work.
rubinm4
Hey Ash! I really love the line you wrote, “you have to be able to give them a reason to care.” It’s so telling in a classroom when a teacher isn’t interested in the material they’re teaching. When that happens, it’s so hard for students to learn, let alone be eager to learn. As future educators, it’s definitely important for us to teach as much as we can, but we still need to have some fun while we’re doing it (we are human after all).