What was our class like?
Cooper Home is a class for students with disabilities that cannot live alone but are very independent in thought, motion, and creativity. There were a few students from Fossil Ridge High School that would join us for each meeting as well. We would meet every two to three weeks on Monday afternoons from 12:30 – 2:00 PM in the Colorado State art education studio and classroom. This group of students always had a lot of energy and excitement for the upcoming art projects we would have on agenda for that day. In total, we had about thirteen to fourteen students in each class period, and four to five paras would come join these meetings as well.
The students that we worked with displayed a range of abilities. All of the students were very independent with their ideas, thoughts, and interests. We had a few students who were really interested in sports and participated on various teams in their free time. Other students of ours had strong interests in the outdoors and really liked animals. In this group of students, we had two students who were either non-verbal, or had very limited speech. It was a challenge at first communicating with these students in regard to their needs in their art making, but as we got to know this group over the semester, it became easier to accommodate their abilities. We also had two to three students in each meeting that had limited ability with motor function in terms of using certain art tools, for example, v-gouges for printmaking. With these students, we provided options that would allow them to participate with their peers in the art experience. Overall, every one of these students was very lively and was always eager to get their hands dirty and jump into the art project we would have ready for them that day.
In the course of the five meeting with this group of students, we provided art experiences that allowed students to use and experiment with a variety of 2-D and 3-D art making methods. Students used acrylic paint, printing ink, easy cut printing blocks, clay, and a variety of drawing tools. Students created mixed media drawings, paintings, relief prints, and clay pots/vessels in the five meetings. Students were asked to consider things like their favorite activities, seasons, movies and books, and fictional characters in their art making to give it personal meaning. Each one of our students displayed exceptional creativity skills and problem solving over the course of this semester.
Our studio space contained six workstations where students gathered and worked on their art work each meeting. Generally speaking, we had the students sit at the four tables closest to the front of the room and the two back tables were reserved for the paras to sit and where materials were placed for students to grab and use as they wished. Having students sit only at four tables allowed for students to collaborate and share their ideas and problems in their process with each other. There was a space in the back of the classroom reserved for two kilns and pottery storage, and another closet in the back where all of the art materials were stored when not in use.
The students that we worked with displayed a range of abilities. All of the students were very independent with their ideas, thoughts, and interests. We had a few students who were really interested in sports and participated on various teams in their free time. Other students of ours had strong interests in the outdoors and really liked animals. In this group of students, we had two students who were either non-verbal, or had very limited speech. It was a challenge at first communicating with these students in regard to their needs in their art making, but as we got to know this group over the semester, it became easier to accommodate their abilities. We also had two to three students in each meeting that had limited ability with motor function in terms of using certain art tools, for example, v-gouges for printmaking. With these students, we provided options that would allow them to participate with their peers in the art experience. Overall, every one of these students was very lively and was always eager to get their hands dirty and jump into the art project we would have ready for them that day.
In the course of the five meeting with this group of students, we provided art experiences that allowed students to use and experiment with a variety of 2-D and 3-D art making methods. Students used acrylic paint, printing ink, easy cut printing blocks, clay, and a variety of drawing tools. Students created mixed media drawings, paintings, relief prints, and clay pots/vessels in the five meetings. Students were asked to consider things like their favorite activities, seasons, movies and books, and fictional characters in their art making to give it personal meaning. Each one of our students displayed exceptional creativity skills and problem solving over the course of this semester.
Our studio space contained six workstations where students gathered and worked on their art work each meeting. Generally speaking, we had the students sit at the four tables closest to the front of the room and the two back tables were reserved for the paras to sit and where materials were placed for students to grab and use as they wished. Having students sit only at four tables allowed for students to collaborate and share their ideas and problems in their process with each other. There was a space in the back of the classroom reserved for two kilns and pottery storage, and another closet in the back where all of the art materials were stored when not in use.