nothing cohesive really
it was a good week at school. I think my students and I are starting to find a good working relationship. I have 9th through 12th graders in my class, and I probably don't need to say that there is a huge difference within that range. So it becomes interesting how to work with each student. Everyone needs something a little different from me. I was feeling kind of down about the general direction of the studio and the students' work, so on Tuesday we had a little talk about education in general. I just wanted to try to impart on them the significance of a free education, the oppurtunity in having time and space to create art, and the importance of working hard and taking risks. I know that I certainly didn't think that way in high school and I probably wouldn't have responded super enthusiastically if someone tried telling me those things. However, after completing college and slogging my way through $15,000 in debt, I feel my perspective is a little different now. I can't help but to try and spark some inspiration or motivation. After that talk we spent the rest of the period cleaning the studio. I think it was beneficial for all of us. There seems to be slightly less lag time between entering class and starting in on their projects, and they certainly seem to have a better grasp on how clean I expect the studio to be.
A few of the students are really starting to emerge as having deep latent talent in clay and form. I'm pretty impressed with three in particular--the forms they are coming up with. There are also a few who are showing a quick facility with the wheel, which is a tricky bastard of a device. Most of the students are moving into an attitude that this can actually be a pretty cool thing, or at least fun if they work at it. There are only a few that I have no real hope for. However, the art teacher Mr. Dorn warned me about this disparity between students. He said that you have to try as much as possible to treat all the students equally, and anything else will only deepen the disconnect between you, the students you like, and the students you don't like. That seems to make sense, but I tell you it's hard sometimes to not simply ignore students that don't care at all. At any rate, I've set the minimum requirements--the 'C' grade--very low, so I don't have much concern that I'll have to fail anyone. In fact I've set it up so it's very easy to get a B and not too hard to get an A.
There is also the after-school class which runs Tues. and Thur. 4-6. This is a fun class made up of mostly my 2nd period students that really like clay and a few of their friends. My idea for that class is to create a workshop environment where every student is contributing to a unified "line" of functional pottery. The reality is that we are nowhere near that skill level yet so it's pretty much become ceramics fun time. I think we're slowly moving towards a line. I'm tempted to just create a series of simple prototypes, let them choose a few, and then teach them how to make them. But I also want it to be as student-run as possible. At any rate the after school is kind of like my therapy session compared to the 2nd period class. We just sort of listen to music, speak freely, work clay, and I don't have to worry about evaluating any of them.
The only other school obligation at this point is pick-up soccer on Monday. This week was the first game. It was fun. Oh--and I'm now officially part of Amy's 4th period AP English. I'm meeting with her this afternoon to figure out exactly what we'll be doing this week. That's a good group and I appreciate the variety in my day--some clay, some english, some philosophy. It's really not a bad gig, don't let me fool you into thinking it is.
Last night mols and I picked up coworker Aaron (AmeriCorps/theatre) and headed to the "Telshor 12" to check out--that's right--motha-fuckin snakes on a mutha-fuckin plane. What a movie. It's the return of unashamed schlock to Hollywood. Their basically saying, 'yeah, it's bad. you got a problem with that?' It's literally so bad it's good. We had a blast at that movie. The crowd was really in to it, laughing at totally inappropriate times, screaming, clapping, cheering when Samuel L. would deliver some total cheese. I had a way better time than I was anticipating, and I was anticipating a pretty good time. Maybe it's just because I live in a town where there is nothing to do.
Saturday night we went with my coworkers--4 of them live in the same house on a street called Brownlee--to a brew-pub called High Desert Brewery. Really great beer, really bad music. I had a Hefe and the IPA and I thought both were top notch. But I also sat through a few cuts from Bush, Evanescence, Oasis, etc. Ok, I kind of like Oasis. But Bush?! Sometimes I think it's wise that we don't consume the richest goods available all the time. For instance it's probably not good to eat out at restaurants every night even though restaurant food usually tastes really good compared to what we eat at home. The truth is that restaurant cooks load up the food with butter, MSG, cheese, and other fatty/palatable treats so that you can't stop spooning the shit into your mouth. But I've always felt differently with music. There is no reason to listen to bad or even mediocre music. there's just too much good stuff out there--new and 0ld--to be wasting your time and ears like that. And it's not going to make you fat to listen to good music. So maybe I'll bring in a couple burned mixes next time we go to High Desert.
Other than that the weekend has been about sitting, sleeping, cooking, cleaning, and reading. I'm reading a collection of Orwell's essays right now. Very good writing. Sorry, super duper good writing. I especially liked one titled, "Shooting an Elephant." Right now I'm watching Tiger Woods demoralize his colleagues, and I like it. We don't have many true champions these days in sports. Mostly overpaid corporations masquerading as teams or superstars. But tiger is a true champion, a phenom. Roger Federer would be another example, but I don't care much for tennis. Rooting for the underdog can be nice, but has anyone ever rooted for tiger to not win on a sunday?
that's all for now. In the words of my upstairs neighbor Sean at the Cecil house, "Be Cool."
A few of the students are really starting to emerge as having deep latent talent in clay and form. I'm pretty impressed with three in particular--the forms they are coming up with. There are also a few who are showing a quick facility with the wheel, which is a tricky bastard of a device. Most of the students are moving into an attitude that this can actually be a pretty cool thing, or at least fun if they work at it. There are only a few that I have no real hope for. However, the art teacher Mr. Dorn warned me about this disparity between students. He said that you have to try as much as possible to treat all the students equally, and anything else will only deepen the disconnect between you, the students you like, and the students you don't like. That seems to make sense, but I tell you it's hard sometimes to not simply ignore students that don't care at all. At any rate, I've set the minimum requirements--the 'C' grade--very low, so I don't have much concern that I'll have to fail anyone. In fact I've set it up so it's very easy to get a B and not too hard to get an A.
There is also the after-school class which runs Tues. and Thur. 4-6. This is a fun class made up of mostly my 2nd period students that really like clay and a few of their friends. My idea for that class is to create a workshop environment where every student is contributing to a unified "line" of functional pottery. The reality is that we are nowhere near that skill level yet so it's pretty much become ceramics fun time. I think we're slowly moving towards a line. I'm tempted to just create a series of simple prototypes, let them choose a few, and then teach them how to make them. But I also want it to be as student-run as possible. At any rate the after school is kind of like my therapy session compared to the 2nd period class. We just sort of listen to music, speak freely, work clay, and I don't have to worry about evaluating any of them.
The only other school obligation at this point is pick-up soccer on Monday. This week was the first game. It was fun. Oh--and I'm now officially part of Amy's 4th period AP English. I'm meeting with her this afternoon to figure out exactly what we'll be doing this week. That's a good group and I appreciate the variety in my day--some clay, some english, some philosophy. It's really not a bad gig, don't let me fool you into thinking it is.
Last night mols and I picked up coworker Aaron (AmeriCorps/theatre) and headed to the "Telshor 12" to check out--that's right--motha-fuckin snakes on a mutha-fuckin plane. What a movie. It's the return of unashamed schlock to Hollywood. Their basically saying, 'yeah, it's bad. you got a problem with that?' It's literally so bad it's good. We had a blast at that movie. The crowd was really in to it, laughing at totally inappropriate times, screaming, clapping, cheering when Samuel L. would deliver some total cheese. I had a way better time than I was anticipating, and I was anticipating a pretty good time. Maybe it's just because I live in a town where there is nothing to do.
Saturday night we went with my coworkers--4 of them live in the same house on a street called Brownlee--to a brew-pub called High Desert Brewery. Really great beer, really bad music. I had a Hefe and the IPA and I thought both were top notch. But I also sat through a few cuts from Bush, Evanescence, Oasis, etc. Ok, I kind of like Oasis. But Bush?! Sometimes I think it's wise that we don't consume the richest goods available all the time. For instance it's probably not good to eat out at restaurants every night even though restaurant food usually tastes really good compared to what we eat at home. The truth is that restaurant cooks load up the food with butter, MSG, cheese, and other fatty/palatable treats so that you can't stop spooning the shit into your mouth. But I've always felt differently with music. There is no reason to listen to bad or even mediocre music. there's just too much good stuff out there--new and 0ld--to be wasting your time and ears like that. And it's not going to make you fat to listen to good music. So maybe I'll bring in a couple burned mixes next time we go to High Desert.
Other than that the weekend has been about sitting, sleeping, cooking, cleaning, and reading. I'm reading a collection of Orwell's essays right now. Very good writing. Sorry, super duper good writing. I especially liked one titled, "Shooting an Elephant." Right now I'm watching Tiger Woods demoralize his colleagues, and I like it. We don't have many true champions these days in sports. Mostly overpaid corporations masquerading as teams or superstars. But tiger is a true champion, a phenom. Roger Federer would be another example, but I don't care much for tennis. Rooting for the underdog can be nice, but has anyone ever rooted for tiger to not win on a sunday?
that's all for now. In the words of my upstairs neighbor Sean at the Cecil house, "Be Cool."
posted by j0eb0t-xj9 at 11:54 AM
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