Check out the article and pictures about UAYSFA in the Daily Iowan!
UI students teach art to local children - The Daily Iowan
Sunday, February 27, 2011
1st Day of UAYSFA
I had been anxious and apprehensive about the students coming on Thursday, mainly because I was worried about not being prepared enough, but it all turned out great! I was surprised at the few number of male students enrolled, and then surprised that that I had expected more males than females, I do not know where that assumption came from.
Actually meeting the students alleviated a lot of my fears, they were a lot younger than I remembered high school students to be, and while talented, they are not the experts I had been worried about impressing. I am no longer terrified of knowing less (about art, anyway) than a student.
Watching them mingle and figure out their own social order at the beginning was pretty hilarious. I talked to a few students that were lingering on the edges and tried to draw them into a crowd or encourage them to sit with some other students. They seemed to appreciate the invitation to be included and I saw some relief on a few of their faces.
As we were explaining our project to our group I think our students became a little overwhelmed and didn't necessarily fully grasp what we had laid out for them, but their enthusiasm didn't fail! They seem excited for the project and I think they will have a lot of great ideas once they feel more comfortable talking with us about them. We have two females and a male in our group and the ladies are far less talkative thus far. While we made artist trading cards I tried to ask them questions about themselves, what kind of art classes they had taken or were going to take, and they opened up a little. I think next time we need to work on asking them more questions and getting them to talk a little more and especially feel comfortable sharing their ideas and speaking up about them.
I also think that having a specific agenda for what we want to accomplish each session will help with their confusion about the project. It is a complicated project to explain and once we get started I think they'll get it, but for now, I'm not sure they have any idea what we're doing.
I am really excited about the next coming weeks and can't wait to get to know our students better and see what everyone creates!
Actually meeting the students alleviated a lot of my fears, they were a lot younger than I remembered high school students to be, and while talented, they are not the experts I had been worried about impressing. I am no longer terrified of knowing less (about art, anyway) than a student.
Watching them mingle and figure out their own social order at the beginning was pretty hilarious. I talked to a few students that were lingering on the edges and tried to draw them into a crowd or encourage them to sit with some other students. They seemed to appreciate the invitation to be included and I saw some relief on a few of their faces.
As we were explaining our project to our group I think our students became a little overwhelmed and didn't necessarily fully grasp what we had laid out for them, but their enthusiasm didn't fail! They seem excited for the project and I think they will have a lot of great ideas once they feel more comfortable talking with us about them. We have two females and a male in our group and the ladies are far less talkative thus far. While we made artist trading cards I tried to ask them questions about themselves, what kind of art classes they had taken or were going to take, and they opened up a little. I think next time we need to work on asking them more questions and getting them to talk a little more and especially feel comfortable sharing their ideas and speaking up about them.
I also think that having a specific agenda for what we want to accomplish each session will help with their confusion about the project. It is a complicated project to explain and once we get started I think they'll get it, but for now, I'm not sure they have any idea what we're doing.
I am really excited about the next coming weeks and can't wait to get to know our students better and see what everyone creates!
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