Workshop Activities

This week I encountered in a number of useful workshops. I felt like these workshops opened my mind and made me aware of many things such as materials, timing, and planning. Some of these aspects I would not have thought about when creating a workshop, it just goes to show how I was not ready to go into my organisation without this help and there was much more to think about when it comes to teaching. My approach on teaching has slightly changed, but I am still intrigued to see how it is really like once I get into my environment.

The various activities that were given were all different and allowed me to bring out set of skills that I had and gain more. I was able to bring my own practice in some of the workshops, as I deal with texture; I had a chance to explore that using 3-D and 2-D materials beside fabric and thread. The one activity that struck me was the task given on the 15^th April, in pairs one person drew while the other destroyed. I drew first, and my partner destroyed. This task brought out my emotions because I have never really had an experience where someone has ruined a piece of art. My partner was being vicious and so when it was my time to destroy I took my revenge back into her work. I did feel bad while destroying it because it was something she drew and took time. This scenario could happen at my organisation. Thinking about how I would react is something I need to consider. I think I would have discipline the child by telling the teacher and letting her deal with the situation because I do not have full authority of telling them off.  These activities will also help my own practice in the future of what we can use and what activities I can use to push myself and create ideas.

The materials used in each activity were not something I would consider a material or use in a workshop. However, it has opened my eyes of what could be a material. Each material was different, some were suitable and some were quite messy to use, which is something to consider when creating workshops for my organisation. Because I will be working with children, I will have to find something suitable for them to use, which does not mess their clothes either. The activities that had the interesting materials were the sweet tasks. Creating a piece of art from sweets was fun and exciting way to bring people together. Although I was tempted to eat them, I felt like I created something amazing and needed no art resources to put it together.

Having the experience of working individually, in pairs and groups gave me a better chance to see which situation I work better in. Personally I felt I enjoyed working in all three situations, however if I had to choose one, I would choose working in a group because I felt like I could still work individually but collaboratively. It was a way of getting ideas, which could help push my ideas and a chance for my voice to be heard. It also built my confidence up as I am a quite a shy individual. I had a chance to see how people in other practices worked and if they liked the way I worked.  Although there is a risk of a person over powering a group, and taking lead. If I did not agree with their plans, I feel like I should speak up because in this project I have come here to not only work with people but a chance for my own ideas to vender through as well.

Myself and two others from my tutorial group were asked to create our own workshop for our college one group to get a taster of how it would be to give a workshop. We prepared ourselves beforehand by creating a worksheet on what we were going to do and the duration of the task. All was going well until the day of the workshop when a member of the group was ill and had all the equipment. This affected us all and showed how unprepared we were because we did not think about the worst. It also showed us that we should not rely on others and make sure that we have some sort of contingency plan for next time. Although we were unable to do our workshop, I felt I learnt from this experience and it is something I can consider for when I am actually in my environment.

These activities will also help my own practice in the future of what we can use and what activities I can use to push myself and create ideas.

As I would be visiting my organisation soon, there were many aspects to think of such as CBR checks, if photography could be taken as I wanted to document my journey, and what we were going to be doing.