Jenny Kraft’s 5th-grade classroom at Whittier International Elementary School - 3 hours
Jes Reyes and Spectrum ArtWorks, open studio hours - 3 hours
I focused my energy on lesson planning this week at Spectrum, particularly on writing my Photoshops basics guide book. I was planning on writing it using primarily content gathered from internet sources, but after discussing vocabulary accessibility I realized that many professional sources simply don’t phrase ideas in a way that are comprehensible to someone who isn’t familiar with computer jargon. I’m going to try to write most of the content of the guide myself in order to have a go at making it approachable. I think the key might be to phrase it as I would explain it in conversation, and to not muddle the basics with over complicated processes that are better discovered independently.
The art ambassadors of Whittier have finished their photo project, and installation is set to begin this next week. The students year extends after I finish my semester, but I sense their burnout looming even with time to undertake more projects. Hopefully having a project that can be completed in a shorter time span will freshen up their creative instincts,
On Friday we worked on preparing the student's photos for display and discussing a thank you card design project requested by the PTA. I was delighted to learn of this project, as it contains similar design problems I encountered in a project in my product design course. I’ll be able to bring in my work to show students to help them think about how to design this card as an illustration professional might. Each student will be designing their own thank you card, and the PTA will select a limited number to print. I will be able to provide technical assistance on this project and hope to give all the students the chance to see their work digitized, prepared for print, and realized as a physical card.