This New Year might mean new opportunities, new beginnings, and new places for myself and others. Diving into a new environment for my Independent Study in a middle school in West Philly was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Certainly, there were some instances where I had to take some time to adjust. I am thankful that all the staff were so kind and most of the students were fairly behaved. Some days only 8 students attend the class while other days up to 20 students attend the class making it a little difficult to plan and prepare materials.
A sense of relief overwhelmed me when I lead the visual arts class to finish the project today just in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We finished up making DIY paper pom poms and their personal dream drawings in the beginning of class and began actually installing the designs to form a peace sign. I ended up staying almost 2 hours later than usual to help the students complete the project but time always flies while working with them.
Since Freshman year, D&M majors have always learned about deriving a design which includes finding inspiration, planning, and timing. While working with these middle schoolers, I have learned that no matter how much planning and preparation you put into the projects it will never go 100% as planned and that is alright. With 20 other students, they each have their own opinions which betters the project. The final project turned out even more creative because of the students and some have even solved some design issues that may have occurred during the process.
Sounds like a really awesome & rewarding experience. The great thing about working with children is that you are constantly learning just as much from them as they are from you. I'm taking Visual Merchandising this term and we just started working on the Lea School project, I am excited to finally meet the kids and create awesome design concepts with them!
ReplyDelete