Final Reflections

I was SO nervous on the week of the final UAY art show. I was super worried that it was going to be a huge hassle to get our framework to the space at UAY. Our students didn’t seem very worried when they left the last session, and it defiantly made me appreciate more all of the setup for shows my art teachers did. On the day of the show, I thought that I would have plenty of time to set up for the show before 4:30. When I arrived to UAY to set up out installation, I was surprised at how little space there was to work. I really struggled to find enough space without interfering with others installing work. As time went on, more people filled the tiny space and I was super cramped while installing the last few sections. To my surprise, our students and parents began arriving WAY early. I expected a few people to be around early, but I didn’t expect most to show up 30 minutes earlier than the show was supposed to start. We even managed to get through our awards ceremony and most of the cake before the official start to the show.

It was a very rewarding feeling to see students and their friends and families at the show. All of the students looked really happy to see their art in the show, and it was really great to get to see the work students had made. I’ve been so focused on our own work this semester that I had not had the chance to see all of the work students were making. The students had expressed their interest in exploring the work that other groups were making, and I felt similar when I was considering how I would teach lessons that would result in equally great looking projects. I really liked the found objects that some groups used, and I was probably most impressed by those students’ incorporations of those objects into their work.

The thing that most surprised me during SFA was the attitudes of the students in our group. I expected students to be more enthusiastic about being there, but they were the opposite. It was tough to balance teaching students helpful skills and getting students to be interested and having a good time. There are defiantly difficulties in teaching to a group of students who aren’t being graded and are paying for the course. There are a lot of similarities to teaching in a K-12 situation, but it’s really hard for me to truly compare because I haven’t had that experience teaching academic courses. Working with these students has shaped my preconceptions about students and how I will plan my future lessons. It’s going to be easier to start with a rigid lesson plan, and later make adaptations if students want to explore different directions. It was very difficult to get these students to express themselves and feel involved with our project because they didn’t know us very well. I think that had this been taught in a classroom with students that you already know would make this project easier. There will almost always be some students who are disinterested initially, but what makes these sectioned murals great is that they look good with all levels of interest and motivation. I’m anticipating the opportunity to teach a similar lesson again, and I hope that I can teach it again to a small group and also with a large group of students.