Jacqueline Lang Disabilities in Arts Education Arts-2-Gether Reflection #3 4/3/12 This session with Jahred was much more focused than the last. Our time together started with Jahred’s sketch book, which he remembered to bring with him this time. I was surprised by his skill, his doodles and drawings were pretty good, and he definitely had an interest in creatures like dragons and zombies, as well as in machinery and weaponry. His work was still obviously influenced by video games like Halo, but there was also the introduction of humor in his drawings. The interactions between his characters, the stories and explanations he supplied for them were all very comical. In one instance, he had drawn a few dragons on a page, and told us that the big one was about to eat the smaller one, which is why he looked scared. After looking at the sketchbook, we tried to refocus on the idea of the shadow play. We brought back some of the discussions from the last session, and eventually we landed on a completely different but decisive story idea. Perhaps prompted by the recent zombie drawings in his sketchbook, Jahred decided to focus on zombies for his narrative. He preferred to work in his sketchbook, drawing elements of his narrative in non-linear placements and order, but thinking about them cohesively nonetheless. By the end of the session, we had come up with a full narrative, from beginning to end. I tried to keep uo with where Jahred was taking his story, but he was quick in his delivery and skipped around sequentially quite a bit. As a result, I had to keep asking and confirming my interpretations of what he meant and wanted to happen when. He seemed frustrated or maybe bored by this, but interested again when we reached a new phase or focused on his drawings of what things would look like. I hope his interest increases as we continue, else it won’t be much fun for any of us. I don’t want to push him too much, but at the same time I don’t want him to have nothing for the project. There had been talk of collaborating with Neil, but as he has yet to show up we’re uncertain of that actually happening. Jahred is still receptive to the idea.
The third day of arts together was spent starting our first project with the kids. When Angel got into class, he immediately starting talking about how his friend, Ethan, would not be in class today. He seemed to be very upset that Ethan was not going to be there, so we tried to get him to think about the project instead. Lauren and I decided that we should start by having him do the storyboard. Last time, Angel described his artwork to us. Since he likes to draw fantasy scenes, we thought this would be a good starting point for the next project. One of his drawings from last year involved a fish and monsters, so he wanted to try and make a shadow play about that drawing. I noticed that immediately, it was hard to get Angel to concentrate on the project. He seems very distracted. The classroom was loud and busy, which, I think played a part in how Angel was unable to focus. After a few minutes of getting nowhere, we decided to bring him to the empty room next door where there would be fewer distractions. I believe being in the other room helped, but he was still distracted. There was a buzzing sound that I believe was coming from the heater, at one point during our conversation he stopped and said ‘I need to find out where that sound is coming from!’ as he jumped up and started searching the room. He finally came back and tried to ignore it. Getting Angel to start the story board was a bit difficult because he has a huge imagination and a lot to say. Once we got him started, it was easier to build on our story. The story started with fish in a fish bowl, a janitor comes by and knocks chemicals into the bowl and the fish turns into a monster. While talking out the story, Angel kept stopping and telling Lauren and I stories about various animals, and specifically about how donuts were made. Every time we would start to come up with something new for the shadow play, he would say, ‘that reminds me of something and I just need to say it’. I think Angels imagination is a great quality, he has a lot of ideas and creativity, but I also see how it could be a detriment to his learning process, because he is often distracted. I’m interested to see how the next day with Angel will go when Ethan comes back. I think having him there will help Angel get into the process more. The next time we plan to start making props. I also feel that doing hands on projects will excite him as well.
Since I wasn’t able to make it to the first meeting with Angel I was curious to see how he would interact with me. I was scared there was going to be a certain level of disconnect since I was a stranger. As soon as Angel arrived I introduced myself. Luckily he was more concerned with the fact that Ethan wasn’t there then me missing the first class!
Based on Angel’s past and current artwork he seems to have a huge interest in fictional and non-fictional ocean life. His work from last semester is illustrations of sea monsters, fish, and other oceanic life. During this past class we worked on a story board that will later be turned into a shadow performance. Angel decided he wanted to work with an “under the sea” theme. The story he created is titled, How the First Octopus was Made, it goes like this; Shot 1- Two fish are hanging out and swimming around in a fish bowl. Shot 2- Angel comes by to feed the fish. Shot 3- A janitor wearing a hat comes near the fish bowl and accidentally spills toxic cleaning supplies in the tank. Shot 4- One of the fish begins to get covered in the toxic cleaner. Shot 5- The fish begins to grow very big and stays at the top of the fish bowl. The other fish is still his normal size and stays at the bottom of the fish tank. Shot 6- The big fish turns into an “octopus looking thing”. Shot 7- The octopus squid monster eats the other fish in the tank. This is followed by Angel saying “Hey, a squid’s gotta eat, right?”
Overall Angel has a lot of potential. He was a fantastic imagination and isn’t afraid to use it. The biggest issue that came up during class was his ability to focus and stay interested in what we were doing. After sitting in the classroom for several minutes, Lindsay and I decided it would be best to move into a different room because Angel was easily distracted by all the activity circulating the room. After moving into an empty classroom it was still very hard to get Angel to focus. He kept trying to talk about anything besides the story board we were working on. When he would talk about the story board there were many occasions when he would say, “Oh, I have an idea…actually never mind, I forgot.” After this he would start talking about something else. He kept talking in a “knight” voice and would discuss his family, Ethan, and tell us a lot of interesting facts about animals.
Next class we’re making props for the shadow performance. I’m excited to see how Angel will like the prop making process. I’m hoping he’ll find it more interesting and engaging then the story boards.
Laura Klein Arts-2-Gether Reflection Paper #3 4/3/12
Our third Arts-2-Gether session was very exciting because it was the first day we were able to work with Tenagne in a smaller group setting. We started by showing each other our sketchbooks, and we discovered that Tenagne has an immense interest in fantastic creatures. I noticed that she likes to use many visual examples from books to copy pictures of mythological dragons, unicorns, and monsters. I think it would be great to encourage her to deviate from directly copying images and instead using these images from her books as inspiration to create her own original creatures, which we can work with when creating our shadow scenes.
Tenagne has a very active imagination and is extremely bright and empathetic. I feel that she can easily put herself in someone else’s shoes, which makes her a very considerate person. When I was showing her my sketchbook, we came across a doodle of mine that featured two tornadoes in a field and a very small house adjacent to the tornadoes. Tenagne pointed to the house and remarked, “I wouldn’t want to be in that house!”
Technology interests Tenagne as well. She was very excited when she found out she could draw on the Smart-board, but adjusted very easily when we couldn’t get it to work. Mikaela, Tenagne, and I all learned how to use David’s iPad and collectively drew an exquisite corpse-esque creature by each of us adding one body part at a time.
Tenagne was engaged with our activity the entire time and was laughing and smiling for the whole class time. She seemed very excited by our plans to create a “Cave Dogs” shadow scene and immediately started sharing a multitude of ideas, involving dragons and relationships. The vast range of materials to choose from in the supply closet seemed to motivate Tenagne even more, and she was already thinking of many creative ways to use the materials. I am very eager to see where our shadow scene will go!
For the third visit from our Arts-2-gether kids, we planned on trying to get Corey to develop his story further, since all we had accomplished last time was the idea of a bird escaping from his cage and flying away. Corey, who is usually one of the first kids to arrive, came in late because his mom couldn’t find a parking space with all of the construction going on. Looking back, this may have left Corey a little agitated and may have contributed to him losing focus later on.
We got Corey to sit down and he started working on what he was working on last time, cutting out paper props and making paper confetti for the explosion that sets the bird loose from his cage. Joe and I put the cage together and he seemed pretty happy when we put the flashlight up against it and made some really cool shadows. He tried to put his paper bird inside the cage and there were some issues about not being able its shadow inside the cage. We tried to talk to him about using a different bird and putting it next to the cage or up against it, but he seemed very set on having the bird inside the cage. We also bounced some ideas around about the explosion and the paper confetti. He wanted a fan to blow the paper across the room and we agreed to try that next time. Joe made a suggestion about having some of the paper trailing from the fan by strings to make it easier when we have to practice the explosion more than once so paper isn’t everywhere. Corey really didn’t see the point of doing that and dismissed it, so I don’t know if we are going to try that or not when we get the fan. Corey is very dead set on his ideas and while there is nothing wrong with that, it does make it harder sometimes to get him to think further and expand them. Filling out the storyboards was a bit of a challenge because he was distracted with making the props and he didn’t really want to go beyond his idea of the bird escaping and flying away. We tried to prompt him by asking, “Where would the bird fly to?” Corey wanted him to find a home in the rainforest, but to stretch out the sketch we couldn’t just have the bird fly there and once we explained that to him, he started to think about it. He came up with the bird flying up into the clouds and through a thunderstorm and over some mountains. That’s really as far as we got with him. I tried to suggest other things, but he was losing focus and seemed disinterested. There was really no dialogue, so we suggested sound effects. Joe found some cookie sheets and suggested that we could use them for thunder sounds. Corey was really excited about that until he thought about instead using an application on his phone. This is where we lost him. For the remainder of the session, he played with all these sound effects on the phone and Joe and I simply could not redirect him so we had to give up. Next time we will consider other options for sound effects because the phone is clearly too much of a distraction during the class time.
By now in our meetings with the students we are starting to develop a rhythm. I had hoped things would go as smoothly as before, but I guess a few hiccups are to be expected. We do, however, have some semblance of a theme and are working towards a story for shadow play. Cory does seem interested so far as long as he’s not allowing himself to be distracted by his phone. That happened to be a particular point of consternation for me in our last meeting and thoroughly inhibited our progress. At first his smartphone was a useful hook to get him into the project. He could show off his flashlight on the phone to make shadows and it made him want to participate. He felt like he was immediately contributing something distinct to the process. The phone in that case was a positive element of the project. It was when he started looking for sound effects on the phone that he got derailed. I had hoped it work similarly to him using the flashlight feature, but he was completely absorbed with making noises that he lost sight of the project altogether. Hopefully, when we’re working with Angel and Ethan (and whomever else we can) that the group interaction will bring him more into the moment.
Aside from the phone distraction, the rest of the time we spend was fruitful. There was even an occasion where we might have made a connection beyond just working on the project. He admitted to us a difficulty he was having in school (well, more of an unfavorable opinion of a class). He was saying how he didn’t understand why he had to learn the history of different cultures. So I just explained to him that different cultures have different ways of doing things and of solving problems that we might not have thought of so it is important to study their ways. This appeared to make some sense to him and I hope it helps him take more interest in the class.
Ethan didn't show up. I didn't really know how to spend my time. I probably should have fallowed Meghan and Matt over to the dark room. Instead I sat with Jarred and we discussed zombie scenarios. I don't feel that I made any successful contributions though. I also spoke with Audie's group and offered my help to cut out props. They were working so well together at such a fast pace; there was no room for me to contribute. If once again Ethan is absent, I'll be joining Angel's group because Ethan and Angel really want to work together. -Leah Mattice
For the third day of working with the students I joined Mikaela, Laura, and Tanagne. Tenagne showed us how imaginative she is while very precisely describing her process of sketching mythical creatures. She articulated her intentions for future creations and specified where in her accompanying instructional book she was getting the ideas from. I was intrigued by her clear fascination with mythical creatures, which is obviously enduring (her first day she spent toting around and referencing a Pokemon book). Had I been planning to work with her one on one in the future I thought it might be fun to do a sort of ecological/zoology study of some of the more fascinating creatures of our natural world. One can gain an understanding for her propensity to accurately represent the specific characteristics of each of the animals in her sketches (an eye for detail). This aspect of her character would be an excellent quality for anatomical studies of various animals, which would most likely be a key aspect of learning for her (i.e. becoming interested in the anatomical traits of creatures and the function of their body parts).
Tenagne lit up when Dr. Wexler suggested the idea of sketching on the smart board (a familiar reaction for me). I too was equally as excited (as I often burst with excitement at the opportunity to interact with a new piece of technology). The following disappointment (for both of us) was that we were unable to find the drawing function of the smart board. Inspired by Tenagne's excitement I knew I could offer her a similar experience with my iPad and stylus/drawing implement. I presented her with the utensil and showed her the basic methods of interacting with the sketching/drafting application, and she took care of the rest. She almost instantaneously memorized the gestures to direct the app and was even offering instructions to others as we passed around the iPad (taking turns on a collaborative sketch). Tenagne seemed interested/motivated in every idea presented to her for projects, she was simply a joy to work with.
It was another day where my student did not come to the Arts-2-gether program, although I’ve been assured that it’s him, not me. So I “floated” this time between M and T. The best word I can come up with to describe M, is “difficult”. He has both Downs Syndrome and Autism, so communication is difficult. He also seems to gravitate towards young, pretty ladies (really - what 19 year old boy wouldn’t), but acts inappropriately with them, grabbing at them and trying to tell them what to do and wanting to hang on them. It also seems that if you do not qualify as “young, pretty lady”, then M won’t give you the time of day. While rationally, I know he can not control his behavior, emotionally and physically, he is not a person who I would choose to be around (given the choice). So after our visit to tour the darkroom in old main, I made that choice and floated on over to where T was working with some other SUNY students on a collaborative drawing on an iPad. I asked if I could play and she said yes and seemed happy to have “more and merrier”. She asked me if I was a “coach” because of the sporty clothes I was wearing that day. She is very observant, yet incorrect – so I just said it was a style of clothing. She seemed really engaged in using the iPad, as were we all. At one point, she got thirsty and asked if she could have a sip of my seltzer, which I refused her, but said we could go find some water. Another student and I led her to a water fountain in the hallway and along the way, we found some SUNY painting student paintings that had been recently installed in the hallway. She said that she liked one of them a lot, so I took the opportunity to ask her about it. It was a picture of a snake strangling a human heart. I asked her why she liked it and she said that she liked how it was painted and that it made her think of a person who must be in a lot of pain. If a snake like a python is crushing your heart, it must hurt a lot. She said she didn’t know how a snake would get in to a person, but that if it did, it would surely bring them pain. At that point, she really opened up a lot about her experiences with teachers and other students in her school. She wonders why there are no slides or playgrounds at high schools. And she dislikes it when she is singled out in class to answer a question and she doesn’t know the answer. She said that she deflects her own pain from that kind of situation with humor. She seems to be a very astute and observant little girl with skill for reading and making art (at least on the iPad), but I sense a deep pain in her that I can’t put my finger on yet, but that makes me very sad.
So Judy came in today, very excited for life. She is going to be on TV for Dimes for Downs and is going to Florida for a pool party! So right away her energy was high and infectious. So we set right to work on our skit. We went in the back of the room and started working on the acting part. We all decided that Judy needed a costume if she was going to be an adequate baby sparkle Ariel. So we had Judy lay down on some paper and we traced her legs and made her some beautiful mermaid fins, and what Judy called “a shell bra". She loved it we dressed her up and went through the first 8 or so story boards. Acting out the scene where she sings about all her items, her father being mad, her run in with Ursula, and the transformation of her losing her voice to gain her legs to live on land with the humans. It was a blast, and then we played out the scene of the prince finding her on land. She did a few interpretive dances of how it should be when Ariel gains her legs, and it just really made sense. We got into character of being a mermaid swimming on the ground, she does this great thing i remember in theater class and to show levels and depth of the space you direct your gaze to a higher point or lower point, giving the allusion that there’s height. She's just so vibrant and fun, she took on all rolls of the production, bouncing from actress to producer to director. She just has so many ideas for how to make the skit evolve and keep going. We played with character building and understanding how each character should act and present themselves. She then looked at Jamie and I and made us play out all the scenes so she could see how it all looks. She's so silly! So of course we did, because we both are under a complete spell of her loveliness. She of course loved it, giving us ongoing praise and pride in us! After a few run through, we went back to work on our story board and Judy saw Audies props and just stood up, walked over, and asked if we could borrow it. They kindly agreed and we did our own side skit of Ursula in jail incorporating a song that I had to create on the spot. If out of all the things I may learn from Judy, it may be her comfort in crowds and singing, and her persistence on me being as comfortable. After i sang the song, she just couldn't get enough. Then it was time for everyone to go their own way. We got a lot done in the small amount of time.
During this session, we spent our time talking with Audie and creating various props for our shadow performance. We were able to use a story he had already created in his sketchbook, and are focusing on transforming that into a performance. Audie seems interested in the overall assignment, and seems to greatly enjoy creating the cardboard versions of his characters. However, he definitely seemed more interested in just continuing with his story line from the previous assignment. He is very personable, and is easy to talk with. At times he might come off as shy, but he warms up the people around him quickly it seems. His stories are also very funny and interesting, and he definitely has a large amount of detail and thought in them. I definitely think we are moving at a satisfactory pace with this project, and we are also enjoying going through it. I'm looking forward to see the end result, and to see if Audie wishes for himself (or others) to be in the skit along with his characters.
Another part I noticed was Audie seemed to catch on quickly to this assignment (cardboard cut outs and overall idea of performing a skit using them). He takes direction very well, and even enjoys being helped with the project.
Jacqueline Lang
ReplyDeleteDisabilities in Arts Education
Arts-2-Gether Reflection #3
4/3/12
This session with Jahred was much more focused than the last. Our time together started with Jahred’s sketch book, which he remembered to bring with him this time. I was surprised by his skill, his doodles and drawings were pretty good, and he definitely had an interest in creatures like dragons and zombies, as well as in machinery and weaponry. His work was still obviously influenced by video games like Halo, but there was also the introduction of humor in his drawings. The interactions between his characters, the stories and explanations he supplied for them were all very comical. In one instance, he had drawn a few dragons on a page, and told us that the big one was about to eat the smaller one, which is why he looked scared.
After looking at the sketchbook, we tried to refocus on the idea of the shadow play. We brought back some of the discussions from the last session, and eventually we landed on a completely different but decisive story idea. Perhaps prompted by the recent zombie drawings in his sketchbook, Jahred decided to focus on zombies for his narrative. He preferred to work in his sketchbook, drawing elements of his narrative in non-linear placements and order, but thinking about them cohesively nonetheless. By the end of the session, we had come up with a full narrative, from beginning to end. I tried to keep uo with where Jahred was taking his story, but he was quick in his delivery and skipped around sequentially quite a bit. As a result, I had to keep asking and confirming my interpretations of what he meant and wanted to happen when. He seemed frustrated or maybe bored by this, but interested again when we reached a new phase or focused on his drawings of what things would look like. I hope his interest increases as we continue, else it won’t be much fun for any of us. I don’t want to push him too much, but at the same time I don’t want him to have nothing for the project.
There had been talk of collaborating with Neil, but as he has yet to show up we’re uncertain of that actually happening. Jahred is still receptive to the idea.
The third day of arts together was spent starting our first project with the kids. When Angel got into class, he immediately starting talking about how his friend, Ethan, would not be in class today. He seemed to be very upset that Ethan was not going to be there, so we tried to get him to think about the project instead. Lauren and I decided that we should start by having him do the storyboard. Last time, Angel described his artwork to us. Since he likes to draw fantasy scenes, we thought this would be a good starting point for the next project. One of his drawings from last year involved a fish and monsters, so he wanted to try and make a shadow play about that drawing. I noticed that immediately, it was hard to get Angel to concentrate on the project. He seems very distracted. The classroom was loud and busy, which, I think played a part in how Angel was unable to focus. After a few minutes of getting nowhere, we decided to bring him to the empty room next door where there would be fewer distractions. I believe being in the other room helped, but he was still distracted. There was a buzzing sound that I believe was coming from the heater, at one point during our conversation he stopped and said ‘I need to find out where that sound is coming from!’ as he jumped up and started searching the room. He finally came back and tried to ignore it. Getting Angel to start the story board was a bit difficult because he has a huge imagination and a lot to say. Once we got him started, it was easier to build on our story. The story started with fish in a fish bowl, a janitor comes by and knocks chemicals into the bowl and the fish turns into a monster. While talking out the story, Angel kept stopping and telling Lauren and I stories about various animals, and specifically about how donuts were made. Every time we would start to come up with something new for the shadow play, he would say, ‘that reminds me of something and I just need to say it’. I think Angels imagination is a great quality, he has a lot of ideas and creativity, but I also see how it could be a detriment to his learning process, because he is often distracted. I’m interested to see how the next day with Angel will go when Ethan comes back. I think having him there will help Angel get into the process more. The next time we plan to start making props. I also feel that doing hands on projects will excite him as well.
ReplyDeleteSince I wasn’t able to make it to the first meeting with Angel I was curious to see how he would interact with me. I was scared there was going to be a certain level of disconnect since I was a stranger. As soon as Angel arrived I introduced myself. Luckily he was more concerned with the fact that Ethan wasn’t there then me missing the first class!
DeleteBased on Angel’s past and current artwork he seems to have a huge interest in fictional and non-fictional ocean life. His work from last semester is illustrations of sea monsters, fish, and other oceanic life. During this past class we worked on a story board that will later be turned into a shadow performance. Angel decided he wanted to work with an “under the sea” theme. The story he created is titled, How the First Octopus was Made, it goes like this;
Shot 1- Two fish are hanging out and swimming around in a fish bowl.
Shot 2- Angel comes by to feed the fish.
Shot 3- A janitor wearing a hat comes near the fish bowl and accidentally spills toxic cleaning supplies in the tank.
Shot 4- One of the fish begins to get covered in the toxic cleaner.
Shot 5- The fish begins to grow very big and stays at the top of the fish bowl. The other fish is still his normal size and stays at the bottom of the fish tank.
Shot 6- The big fish turns into an “octopus looking thing”.
Shot 7- The octopus squid monster eats the other fish in the tank. This is followed by Angel saying “Hey, a squid’s gotta eat, right?”
Overall Angel has a lot of potential. He was a fantastic imagination and isn’t afraid to use it. The biggest issue that came up during class was his ability to focus and stay interested in what we were doing. After sitting in the classroom for several minutes, Lindsay and I decided it would be best to move into a different room because Angel was easily distracted by all the activity circulating the room. After moving into an empty classroom it was still very hard to get Angel to focus. He kept trying to talk about anything besides the story board we were working on. When he would talk about the story board there were many occasions when he would say, “Oh, I have an idea…actually never mind, I forgot.” After this he would start talking about something else. He kept talking in a “knight” voice and would discuss his family, Ethan, and tell us a lot of interesting facts about animals.
Next class we’re making props for the shadow performance. I’m excited to see how Angel will like the prop making process. I’m hoping he’ll find it more interesting and engaging then the story boards.
Laura Klein
ReplyDeleteArts-2-Gether Reflection Paper #3
4/3/12
Our third Arts-2-Gether session was very exciting because it was the first day we were able to work with Tenagne in a smaller group setting. We started by showing each other our sketchbooks, and we discovered that Tenagne has an immense interest in fantastic creatures. I noticed that she likes to use many visual examples from books to copy pictures of mythological dragons, unicorns, and monsters. I think it would be great to encourage her to deviate from directly copying images and instead using these images from her books as inspiration to create her own original creatures, which we can work with when creating our shadow scenes.
Tenagne has a very active imagination and is extremely bright and empathetic. I feel that she can easily put herself in someone else’s shoes, which makes her a very considerate person. When I was showing her my sketchbook, we came across a doodle of mine that featured two tornadoes in a field and a very small house adjacent to the tornadoes. Tenagne pointed to the house and remarked, “I wouldn’t want to be in that house!”
Technology interests Tenagne as well. She was very excited when she found out she could draw on the Smart-board, but adjusted very easily when we couldn’t get it to work. Mikaela, Tenagne, and I all learned how to use David’s iPad and collectively drew an exquisite corpse-esque creature by each of us adding one body part at a time.
Tenagne was engaged with our activity the entire time and was laughing and smiling for the whole class time. She seemed very excited by our plans to create a “Cave Dogs” shadow scene and immediately started sharing a multitude of ideas, involving dragons and relationships. The vast range of materials to choose from in the supply closet seemed to motivate Tenagne even more, and she was already thinking of many creative ways to use the materials. I am very eager to see where our shadow scene will go!
For the third visit from our Arts-2-gether kids, we planned on trying to get Corey to develop his story further, since all we had accomplished last time was the idea of a bird escaping from his cage and flying away. Corey, who is usually one of the first kids to arrive, came in late because his mom couldn’t find a parking space with all of the construction going on. Looking back, this may have left Corey a little agitated and may have contributed to him losing focus later on.
ReplyDeleteWe got Corey to sit down and he started working on what he was working on last time, cutting out paper props and making paper confetti for the explosion that sets the bird loose from his cage. Joe and I put the cage together and he seemed pretty happy when we put the flashlight up against it and made some really cool shadows. He tried to put his paper bird inside the cage and there were some issues about not being able its shadow inside the cage. We tried to talk to him about using a different bird and putting it next to the cage or up against it, but he seemed very set on having the bird inside the cage. We also bounced some ideas around about the explosion and the paper confetti. He wanted a fan to blow the paper across the room and we agreed to try that next time. Joe made a suggestion about having some of the paper trailing from the fan by strings to make it easier when we have to practice the explosion more than once so paper isn’t everywhere. Corey really didn’t see the point of doing that and dismissed it, so I don’t know if we are going to try that or not when we get the fan. Corey is very dead set on his ideas and while there is nothing wrong with that, it does make it harder sometimes to get him to think further and expand them. Filling out the storyboards was a bit of a challenge because he was distracted with making the props and he didn’t really want to go beyond his idea of the bird escaping and flying away. We tried to prompt him by asking, “Where would the bird fly to?” Corey wanted him to find a home in the rainforest, but to stretch out the sketch we couldn’t just have the bird fly there and once we explained that to him, he started to think about it. He came up with the bird flying up into the clouds and through a thunderstorm and over some mountains. That’s really as far as we got with him. I tried to suggest other things, but he was losing focus and seemed disinterested. There was really no dialogue, so we suggested sound effects. Joe found some cookie sheets and suggested that we could use them for thunder sounds. Corey was really excited about that until he thought about instead using an application on his phone. This is where we lost him. For the remainder of the session, he played with all these sound effects on the phone and Joe and I simply could not redirect him so we had to give up. Next time we will consider other options for sound effects because the phone is clearly too much of a distraction during the class time.
By now in our meetings with the students we are starting to develop a rhythm. I had hoped things would go as smoothly as before, but I guess a few hiccups are to be expected. We do, however, have some semblance of a theme and are working towards a story for shadow play. Cory does seem interested so far as long as he’s not allowing himself to be distracted by his phone. That happened to be a particular point of consternation for me in our last meeting and thoroughly inhibited our progress. At first his smartphone was a useful hook to get him into the project. He could show off his flashlight on the phone to make shadows and it made him want to participate. He felt like he was immediately contributing something distinct to the process. The phone in that case was a positive element of the project. It was when he started looking for sound effects on the phone that he got derailed. I had hoped it work similarly to him using the flashlight feature, but he was completely absorbed with making noises that he lost sight of the project altogether. Hopefully, when we’re working with Angel and Ethan (and whomever else we can) that the group interaction will bring him more into the moment.
ReplyDeleteAside from the phone distraction, the rest of the time we spend was fruitful. There was even an occasion where we might have made a connection beyond just working on the project. He admitted to us a difficulty he was having in school (well, more of an unfavorable opinion of a class). He was saying how he didn’t understand why he had to learn the history of different cultures. So I just explained to him that different cultures have different ways of doing things and of solving problems that we might not have thought of so it is important to study their ways. This appeared to make some sense to him and I hope it helps him take more interest in the class.
Ethan didn't show up. I didn't really know how to spend my time. I probably should have fallowed Meghan and Matt over to the dark room. Instead I sat with Jarred and we discussed zombie scenarios. I don't feel that I made any successful contributions though. I also spoke with Audie's group and offered my help to cut out props. They were working so well together at such a fast pace; there was no room for me to contribute.
ReplyDeleteIf once again Ethan is absent, I'll be joining Angel's group because Ethan and Angel really want to work together.
-Leah Mattice
For the third day of working with the students I joined Mikaela, Laura, and Tanagne. Tenagne showed us how imaginative she is while very precisely describing her process of sketching mythical creatures. She articulated her intentions for future creations and specified where in her accompanying instructional book she was getting the ideas from. I was intrigued by her clear fascination with mythical creatures, which is obviously enduring (her first day she spent toting around and referencing a Pokemon book). Had I been planning to work with her one on one in the future I thought it might be fun to do a sort of ecological/zoology study of some of the more fascinating creatures of our natural world. One can gain an understanding for her propensity to accurately represent the specific characteristics of each of the animals in her sketches (an eye for detail). This aspect of her character would be an excellent quality for anatomical studies of various animals, which would most likely be a key aspect of learning for her (i.e. becoming interested in the anatomical traits of creatures and the function of their body parts).
ReplyDeleteTenagne lit up when Dr. Wexler suggested the idea of sketching on the smart board (a familiar reaction for me). I too was equally as excited (as I often burst with excitement at the opportunity to interact with a new piece of technology). The following disappointment (for both of us) was that we were unable to find the drawing function of the smart board. Inspired by Tenagne's excitement I knew I could offer her a similar experience with my iPad and stylus/drawing implement. I presented her with the utensil and showed her the basic methods of interacting with the sketching/drafting application, and she took care of the rest. She almost instantaneously memorized the gestures to direct the app and was even offering instructions to others as we passed around the iPad (taking turns on a collaborative sketch). Tenagne seemed interested/motivated in every idea presented to her for projects, she was simply a joy to work with.
It was another day where my student did not come to the Arts-2-gether program, although I’ve been assured that it’s him, not me. So I “floated” this time between M and T. The best word I can come up with to describe M, is “difficult”. He has both Downs Syndrome and Autism, so communication is difficult. He also seems to gravitate towards young, pretty ladies (really - what 19 year old boy wouldn’t), but acts inappropriately with them, grabbing at them and trying to tell them what to do and wanting to hang on them. It also seems that if you do not qualify as “young, pretty lady”, then M won’t give you the time of day. While rationally, I know he can not control his behavior, emotionally and physically, he is not a person who I would choose to be around (given the choice). So after our visit to tour the darkroom in old main, I made that choice and floated on over to where T was working with some other SUNY students on a collaborative drawing on an iPad. I asked if I could play and she said yes and seemed happy to have “more and merrier”. She asked me if I was a “coach” because of the sporty clothes I was wearing that day. She is very observant, yet incorrect – so I just said it was a style of clothing. She seemed really engaged in using the iPad, as were we all. At one point, she got thirsty and asked if she could have a sip of my seltzer, which I refused her, but said we could go find some water. Another student and I led her to a water fountain in the hallway and along the way, we found some SUNY painting student paintings that had been recently installed in the hallway. She said that she liked one of them a lot, so I took the opportunity to ask her about it. It was a picture of a snake strangling a human heart. I asked her why she liked it and she said that she liked how it was painted and that it made her think of a person who must be in a lot of pain. If a snake like a python is crushing your heart, it must hurt a lot. She said she didn’t know how a snake would get in to a person, but that if it did, it would surely bring them pain. At that point, she really opened up a lot about her experiences with teachers and other students in her school. She wonders why there are no slides or playgrounds at high schools. And she dislikes it when she is singled out in class to answer a question and she doesn’t know the answer. She said that she deflects her own pain from that kind of situation with humor. She seems to be a very astute and observant little girl with skill for reading and making art (at least on the iPad), but I sense a deep pain in her that I can’t put my finger on yet, but that makes me very sad.
ReplyDeleteSo Judy came in today, very excited for life. She is going to be on TV for Dimes for Downs and is going to Florida for a pool party! So right away her energy was high and infectious. So we set right to work on our skit. We went in the back of the room and started working on the acting part. We all decided that Judy needed a costume if she was going to be an adequate baby sparkle Ariel. So we had Judy lay down on some paper and we traced her legs and made her some beautiful mermaid fins, and what Judy called “a shell bra". She loved it we dressed her up and went through the first 8 or so story boards. Acting out the scene where she sings about all her items, her father being mad, her run in with Ursula, and the transformation of her losing her voice to gain her legs to live on land with the humans. It was a blast, and then we played out the scene of the prince finding her on land. She did a few interpretive dances of how it should be when Ariel gains her legs, and it just really made sense. We got into character of being a mermaid swimming on the ground, she does this great thing i remember in theater class and to show levels and depth of the space you direct your gaze to a higher point or lower point, giving the allusion that there’s height. She's just so vibrant and fun, she took on all rolls of the production, bouncing from actress to producer to director. She just has so many ideas for how to make the skit evolve and keep going. We played with character building and understanding how each character should act and present themselves. She then looked at Jamie and I and made us play out all the scenes so she could see how it all looks. She's so silly! So of course we did, because we both are under a complete spell of her loveliness. She of course loved it, giving us ongoing praise and pride in us! After a few run through, we went back to work on our story board and Judy saw Audies props and just stood up, walked over, and asked if we could borrow it. They kindly agreed and we did our own side skit of Ursula in jail incorporating a song that I had to create on the spot. If out of all the things I may learn from Judy, it may be her comfort in crowds and singing, and her persistence on me being as comfortable. After i sang the song, she just couldn't get enough. Then it was time for everyone to go their own way. We got a lot done in the small amount of time.
ReplyDeleteDuring this session, we spent our time talking with Audie and creating various props for our shadow performance. We were able to use a story he had already created in his sketchbook, and are focusing on transforming that into a performance. Audie seems interested in the overall assignment, and seems to greatly enjoy creating the cardboard versions of his characters. However, he definitely seemed more interested in just continuing with his story line from the previous assignment. He is very personable, and is easy to talk with. At times he might come off as shy, but he warms up the people around him quickly it seems. His stories are also very funny and interesting, and he definitely has a large amount of detail and thought in them. I definitely think we are moving at a satisfactory pace with this project, and we are also enjoying going through it. I'm looking forward to see the end result, and to see if Audie wishes for himself (or others) to be in the skit along with his characters.
ReplyDeleteAnother part I noticed was Audie seemed to catch on quickly to this assignment (cardboard cut outs and overall idea of performing a skit using them). He takes direction very well, and even enjoys being helped with the project.