Blog post 2

Experience: Printmaking demonstration with Year 9 Visual Arts

Teaching Standard: 5.1.4. Provide clear directions for classroom activities and engage students in purposeful learning activities

Students have been creating collagraphs (collaged pieces of card which can be printed multiple times) based around their theme of ‘Art and Text’ and have previously had a demonstration on how to make a collagraph and wrote down the instructions on how to make and print a collagraph. During this lesson, I demonstrated to the class the process of printing their collagraphs using a printing press.

Students seemed to listen and watch the demonstration attentively as they were able to explain the process based on the notes they had written in a prior lesson. Students presented themselves as engaged with the demonstration and ready to practice for themselves. Students were then retested by myself when it came to printing their own works as I asked them different questions about the steps involved in the process, reflecting back on the demonstration. As students were able to confidently follow the same directions that I demonstrated, I feel that the directions were clear.

A few possible ways to improve this lesson:

·         Refocus a bit more on the notes students had taken (get them to draw diagrams for each step or add more information to their notes.). This would ensure that all students are reflecting on their notes and also shows consideration for different ways of learning (visual, written, auditory, and kinaesthetic).

·         Rewrite keynotes on the board to emphasise each step and have a tangible set of notes to help students recall the process when they are printing.

·         During the next lesson, a pop quiz with a small prize or praise could be used at the beginning of the lesson to check students have understood the directions and reinforce their engagement with listening to directions.