by: Aidan Hatch
With the rise of COVID-19 and the start of online learning, teachers of hands-on programs have had to make a shift in their teaching style. Mrs. Yates, the teacher of the 3D Art course, has added a surprising twist for her students this year.
Yates still plans on giving her students the 3D Art experience this year. She says she will be “explaining projects & skills over zoom, then recording [her] demos so students can watch them later.” She’ll also be able to put students in small breakout rooms to check their progress and give advice.
Yates will be sending home “Art goodie bags with materials” to her students. The supplies come in a brown paper bag with each student’s name labeled on it. She has portioned and separated clay for each student to ensure they don’t use too much or too little.
Photo and creation credit: Seneca Sowers,’22
Over distance learning, students will be completing sculpture and ceramic projects. Their first project is to create, “a corona face mask that is elaborate & detailed”. In the picture above, Seneca Sowers ’22 created an underwater, scuba themed mask made from materials found throughout her house.
In preparation for the return of in-class learning, Yates has formed a system to prevent the spread of the virus. All Students will have to remain spaced out, tools and tables will be sterilized, face masks or face shields will be required, hand sanitizer will be given out to everyone entering the classroom, and she will “have make up work available so students will stay home if they’re sick”.
Yates plans to continue creating distance learning lessons even when/if students return back to in person classes. She will continue creating step by step videos with short descriptions for students who are absent. She likes that students can now “turn in pictures of their art projects so there’s documentation if it was turned in on time or not”.
Alek Samaduroff,’22 is currently enrolled in Yates’s 3D Art 1 class. Samaduroff describes that a typical day on Zoom “starts with a sketch that we do after we take role”. Yates assigns a prompt for each day and gives the students 5 minutes to draw whatever they want as long as it ties back to the prompt.
Photo and creation credit: Alek Samaduroff, ’22
He says that he really enjoys the class, but he wishes he could be in the classroom because “there are a lot of limitations with having a hands-on class over Zoom.” Samaduroff finds Zoom more of a hassle because “there are many things that can go wrong like connection issues and other technology issues”.
Photo and creation credit: Alek Samaduroff, ’22
Samaduroff just finished his first project for the class. The assignment was to “use shading to color different sized lines with different colors”.
Yates has spent her time and money to ensure that her students will receive an in class experience even through a screen. Through art goodie bags and instructional videos, students will be able to complete their 3D art projects from home.
Tags: 3D Art, art, Mrs. Yates, redwood high school, zoom
Aidan,
Your continuing coverage of the RHS art programs during the pandemic offers us a good look at the ‘behind the scenes’ life of distance learning and its effects on the arts.
Stay rad