Community of Peace Academy, Teacher Ms. Lor, High School, 5 hours.
Minnesota Museum of American Art, 0 Hours.
This week was upsetting for me for MMAA. Unfortunately, MMAA had to cancel one of the classes I was going to shadow and help an artist named, Paj Ntaub. What she was going to teach was Hmong Embroidery. I really wanted to learn and help the artist because I have seen Hmong embroidery before and always wondered how they created from scratch and created the final embroidery. They always amazed me and they were always beautiful because it was part of their culture and it shows history, traditions, and culture. Unfortunately, the class didn’t have enough people for her to give the lesson/teach and someone from her family passed away. I really hope that they are okay. The class was a 2-day classroom, so there should be another lesson coming soon and I do hope that they don’t cancel because I really want to learn and experience first-hand on how she creates the embroidery.
With CPA, I had a really good time because I helped Ms. Lor, to put in grades and she showed me how she graded the students and their projects and their warm-ups. I also met the new students for the second semester! Some students recognize me and talked about my life and advice. I was very happy enough that they were thinking about their futures and looking for advice from a student who graduated from the same high school. I came when they were adding small details on their projects. What amazed me about the project Ms. Lor gave to the students was that all the students had the same materials and tools and they had to create a sculpture using those materials that everyone got. And the final result was outstanding! Everyone had different sculptors and no one created the same thing! But it’s crazy how they had the same tools at the beginning but different results! Ms. Lor was very excited and had this satisfy smile on her face and it made me think. It wasn’t about her project that she gave out to the student but the students that gave her. The students planned out what they wanted by using limited materials that everyone had. They gain something from this project that made me even think, that that is what I wanted in my teaching. I wanted them to gain something from projects. They created something they wanted to see and no matter how many or little materials they had, they made it work. I think that that is success in what Ms. Lor wanted.
Below I have certain examples of student final projects! They were Juniors and Seniors art class, first period.
After the classes were done, Ms. Lor and I talked about my future teaching. She said to think about what grade I wanted to work with and she also recommend that 3 period and 8th graders will be best for me because they are learning 2D and I, as an illustrator, would be good to teach one of those classes. Now, I have some ideas and I will speak more to Ms. Lor and my professor, on what works and what doesn’t work. I asked her about my education and how I wasn’t sure about if I wanted to go for my Master’s degree or my MFA. She gave me advice and it helped me know what I really wanted and I am not as confused or lost as I was before.
