I spend a lot of time after each semester writing notes and reflecting on the teaching experience. What works, what doesn’t, what needs some tweaking all gets written down as I unpack the semester experience. Then after some vacation time has passed and I’m ready to start planning with lengthy notes ready to aid me. Often times I focus on the negative as a result of being a relatively fresh teacher in the field. There is always more to improve and change than to be left alone. This post is going to focus on the positive! I need to remind myself that teaching can have those moments that make it worthwhile while I work to improve my art pedagogy. Here are some of the student prints and sculptures from the semester.
I had a lot of fun seeing projects turn around more successfully from my 3D design course. This is my second go around for the class and I was able to adjust a few assignments to have more exercises or practical research installed in the beginning. My architecture projects were a little lackluster last year from being too rigid with the premise of the assignment. I opened up the parameters and the results improved.
The semester closed off with one of my former students from the fall semester coming back to give me a thank you gift (a bookmark and key chain). She was a foreign exchange high school student taking my drawing course for college credit. She needed help with her college applications and letters for recommendation and I happily obliged. When she visited, she told me that she got in to one of her choice schools. So proud!