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High School Ceramic Teacher


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After many years in elementary art, I am now teaching HS Ceramics (3 sections) and Studio (3). I was disappointed to see that there were no posts added to your question. My students have been used to making magnets and stamps and I have been trying to start with handbuilding and would be interested to know what suggestions are available for the student who is 'done'.

 

 

 

 

 

Once students get going in my ceramics classes, they really have no GOOD reason to have downtime. Once they have the project done, they can underglaze it, research/ sketch ideas for their next project, or glaze bisque-fried projects. Worst case scenario, they can help some of their classmates with wedging, or do some clean up around the room. I have a pretty tight project schedule, so the issue more than not, is that students have barely enough time to get everything done.

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After many years in elementary art, I am now teaching HS Ceramics (3 sections) and Studio (3). I was disappointed to see that there were no posts added to your question. My students have been used to making magnets and stamps and I have been trying to start with handbuilding and would be interested to know what suggestions are available for the student who is 'done'.

 

 

 

 

 

Once students get going in my ceramics classes, they really have no GOOD reason to have downtime. Once they have the project done, they can underglaze it, research/ sketch ideas for their next project, or glaze bisque-fried projects. Worst case scenario, they can help some of their classmates with wedging, or do some clean up around the room. I have a pretty tight project schedule, so the issue more than not, is that students have barely enough time to get everything done.

 

 

Keeping the schedule tight is a good idea. However, at times there are students that will be ahead of the rest on at least one project. For this situation I have an optional project list of projects that would allow the student to explore a little more. I made it a requirement for 2 optional projects-one each marking period. Ideas included tight dimensions for a candle box, index card holder, match box/tube, poison goblet, soap dish, or serving platter. Most of these were slab, but the requirements were more for texture/pattern/decoration. These types of projects allowed the student to choose something they were interested in, and yet explore decoration in a manner they would not have been brave enough on a larger project.

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After many years in elementary art, I am now teaching HS Ceramics (3 sections) and Studio (3). I was disappointed to see that there were no posts added to your question. My students have been used to making magnets and stamps and I have been trying to start with handbuilding and would be interested to know what suggestions are available for the student who is 'done'.

 

 

 

 

 

Once students get going in my ceramics classes, they really have no GOOD reason to have downtime. Once they have the project done, they can underglaze it, research/ sketch ideas for their next project, or glaze bisque-fried projects. Worst case scenario, they can help some of their classmates with wedging, or do some clean up around the room. I have a pretty tight project schedule, so the issue more than not, is that students have barely enough time to get everything done.

 

 

Keeping the schedule tight is a good idea. However, at times there are students that will be ahead of the rest on at least one project. For this situation I have an optional project list of projects that would allow the student to explore a little more. I made it a requirement for 2 optional projects-one each marking period. Ideas included tight dimensions for a candle box, index card holder, match box/tube, poison goblet, soap dish, or serving platter. Most of these were slab, but the requirements were more for texture/pattern/decoration. These types of projects allowed the student to choose something they were interested in, and yet explore decoration in a manner they would not have been brave enough on a larger project.

 

 

I've kicked around the idea of having extra projects, but I've just never needed them. Usually, if a student is ahead, it is towards the end of the term, and the student has everything glazed. At that point, they really can't do another projects, because it's past my due date for finished greenware.

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Beginning this fall - I will be teaching 5 high school ceramic 1 classes to about 35 students per class. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to organize my classes?

Would it be better to give a list of projects to students and have them work on their own? Or should we all do the same projects together?

Any lesson plan ideas??? The classes will run for 18 weeks then the classes will change to ceramics 2.

 

 

Medoll;

I am speechless, and that is saying a lot for me. I am a qualified art teacher, having taught art for lo these past 26 years. I am dumbfounded that they would hire an unqualified person to teach five classes of ceramics with 35 students in each class. I went screaming to my principal last semester when she tried to put 30 students in the other art teacher's class. We are set up for 24-26 students max.

You don't mention what facilities you have, kiln, glazes,sink? Budget?

Where is the pedagogy, where is the curriculum?

I know so many qualified art teachers nipping at my heels for my job, all trained ceramic artists. They don't get hired.I don't know what to say.

I hope I spelled everything correctly.

TJR.

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Beginning this fall - I will be teaching 5 high school ceramic 1 classes to about 35 students per class. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to organize my classes?

Would it be better to give a list of projects to students and have them work on their own? Or should we all do the same projects together?

Any lesson plan ideas??? The classes will run for 18 weeks then the classes will change to ceramics 2.

 

 

Medoll;

I am speechless, and that is saying a lot for me. I am a qualified art teacher, having taught art for lo these past 26 years. I am dumbfounded that they would hire an unqualified person to teach five classes of ceramics with 35 students in each class. I went screaming to my principal last semester when she tried to put 30 students in the other art teacher's class. We are set up for 24-26 students max.

You don't mention what facilities you have, kiln, glazes,sink? Budget?

Where is the pedagogy, where is the curriculum?

I know so many qualified art teachers nipping at my heels for my job, all trained ceramic artists. They don't get hired.I don't know what to say.

I hope I spelled everything correctly.

TJR.

 

 

TJR,

My thoughts followed your own, but I kept my mouth shut. When I retired, the administration requested that I be on the hiring committee. This was in 2009. Believe it or not, we only had two viable candidates for the the position. This is in a district that is near a LARGE university in Central PA. I stumped me that we did not have more apply. At any rate my position was retained by a young lady that has an excellent background in ceramics and seems to be very well grounded. I also taught computer animation part of my day, and classes were taken over by another teacher that was hired the year before when another art teacher retired. I retired relieved that none of my classes that I had put years of hard work into would be dropped.

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

 

 

In my worse times I had 29 to the class. Eventually we got the admin to cut the cap to 25. In the later years due to lower enrollments in the school we had classes of about 18-21. I had no problems buying materials after I went to making glazes. Clay was usually not a problem, and we used an old Walker pugmill to recycle. I taught adult classes in the winter and donated my time. This allowed me to take all of the adult tuition to add equipment, and upgrade existing equipment. It was nice to have a few extra dollars to play with every year. Heck they even allowed me to have an account that would roll over, and not dump out at the end of the year. Really helpful, as I could save up for bigger ticket items.

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Medoll;

The issue that I am concerned about is that you have been hired for a position that you are not qualified to teach. Congratulations on getting a teaching job in this day and age. I am worried that your principal is taking advantage of you. Many of us on this blog teach, or have in the past. I teach high school art at a school with 1340 students. There are two full time art teachers. We teach all media. We have a curriculum. We have an art consultant. We have a budget. We have limited our class sizes to 26. I am worried that you are not going to succeed at this position. Do you have any supports other than this blog? Have you thought about where you are going to store all these in process pieces? What about breakage? Do you know how to fire a kiln? Aside from the lesson planning, there are all the technical aspects of ceramics you must deal with. Please tell me that you have some training so that I can sleep at night.

Tom[TJR].:blink:

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

 

 

In my worse times I had 29 to the class. Eventually we got the admin to cut the cap to 25. In the later years due to lower enrollments in the school we had classes of about 18-21. I had no problems buying materials after I went to making glazes. Clay was usually not a problem, and we used an old Walker pugmill to recycle. I taught adult classes in the winter and donated my time. This allowed me to take all of the adult tuition to add equipment, and upgrade existing equipment. It was nice to have a few extra dollars to play with every year. Heck they even allowed me to have an account that would roll over, and not dump out at the end of the year. Really helpful, as I could save up for bigger ticket items.

 

 

 

By making glaze, do you mean buying the dry mix, or actually buying the base components and creating your own? I just buy Amaco glazes. They have a great selection, and it saves me quite a bit of time.

I wish I had a pug mill, but honestly I don't really have anywhere to put it now. The two previous schools I worked at had one. The first had a smaller one, that was slow as all get out. The second school had an older one, with a huge hopper. I loved that thing. Now, I just have the kids rework the clay themselves. Many of the students need to do a little honest work once in a while any way. Regardless of the method, recycling clay does save quite a bit of money.

 

You had an account that rolled over? I've never seen that pulled off anywhere. The closet that I have to that is an Art Club account. That is just for extra items, the normal budget can't take care of, like digital cameras and such. Like I said though, my administrators have been quite accommodating, so I won't complain.

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

 

 

In my worse times I had 29 to the class. Eventually we got the admin to cut the cap to 25. In the later years due to lower enrollments in the school we had classes of about 18-21. I had no problems buying materials after I went to making glazes. Clay was usually not a problem, and we used an old Walker pugmill to recycle. I taught adult classes in the winter and donated my time. This allowed me to take all of the adult tuition to add equipment, and upgrade existing equipment. It was nice to have a few extra dollars to play with every year. Heck they even allowed me to have an account that would roll over, and not dump out at the end of the year. Really helpful, as I could save up for bigger ticket items.

 

 

 

By making glaze, do you mean buying the dry mix, or actually buying the base components and creating your own? I just buy Amaco glazes. They have a great selection, and it saves me quite a bit of time.

I wish I had a pug mill, but honestly I don't really have anywhere to put it now. The two previous schools I worked at had one. The first had a smaller one, that was slow as all get out. The second school had an older one, with a huge hopper. I loved that thing. Now, I just have the kids rework the clay themselves. Many of the students need to do a little honest work once in a while any way. Regardless of the method, recycling clay does save quite a bit of money.

 

You had an account that rolled over? I've never seen that pulled off anywhere. The closet that I have to that is an Art Club account. That is just for extra items, the normal budget can't take care of, like digital cameras and such. Like I said though, my administrators have been quite accommodating, so I won't complain.

 

 

I used Amaco glazes for years, then ART, and Minnesota Clay. In the end, they were bogging down the budget to have the variety of colors the kids were interested in. I had switched to powdered glazes, and then to 25# lots to cut budget, but still needed more squeeze. So I started doing some on my own, adding to as the bulk dry glazes ran out. The color and textures are different than what was there before, but students were just as satisfied. Firing at ^6 gave me a lot of latitude with color and texture and very durable ware.

 

Most club accounts will not roll over, most central admin accounts do not roll over. Because this was an adult class, it was a central admin type of account. In the early years I only put my funds from the adult class in there, then I asked if I could deposit the lab fees that we charged for the Ceramics classes at the HS. Allowed. This really helped out a lot as before it was a spend or lose philosophy-whether you need to or not. We had been charging lab fees for years as the admin would see these pots leaving and couldn't understand how we couldn't be charging anything for them. Lab fee at my last year was 5.00 for Ceramics.

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

 

 

In my worse times I had 29 to the class. Eventually we got the admin to cut the cap to 25. In the later years due to lower enrollments in the school we had classes of about 18-21. I had no problems buying materials after I went to making glazes. Clay was usually not a problem, and we used an old Walker pugmill to recycle. I taught adult classes in the winter and donated my time. This allowed me to take all of the adult tuition to add equipment, and upgrade existing equipment. It was nice to have a few extra dollars to play with every year. Heck they even allowed me to have an account that would roll over, and not dump out at the end of the year. Really helpful, as I could save up for bigger ticket items.

 

 

 

By making glaze, do you mean buying the dry mix, or actually buying the base components and creating your own? I just buy Amaco glazes. They have a great selection, and it saves me quite a bit of time.

I wish I had a pug mill, but honestly I don't really have anywhere to put it now. The two previous schools I worked at had one. The first had a smaller one, that was slow as all get out. The second school had an older one, with a huge hopper. I loved that thing. Now, I just have the kids rework the clay themselves. Many of the students need to do a little honest work once in a while any way. Regardless of the method, recycling clay does save quite a bit of money.

 

You had an account that rolled over? I've never seen that pulled off anywhere. The closet that I have to that is an Art Club account. That is just for extra items, the normal budget can't take care of, like digital cameras and such. Like I said though, my administrators have been quite accommodating, so I won't complain.

 

 

I used Amaco glazes for years, then ART, and Minnesota Clay. In the end, they were bogging down the budget to have the variety of colors the kids were interested in. I had switched to powdered glazes, and then to 25# lots to cut budget, but still needed more squeeze. So I started doing some on my own, adding to as the bulk dry glazes ran out. The color and textures are different than what was there before, but students were just as satisfied. Firing at ^6 gave me a lot of latitude with color and texture and very durable ware.

 

Most club accounts will not roll over, most central admin accounts do not roll over. Because this was an adult class, it was a central admin type of account. In the early years I only put my funds from the adult class in there, then I asked if I could deposit the lab fees that we charged for the Ceramics classes at the HS. Allowed. This really helped out a lot as before it was a spend or lose philosophy-whether you need to or not. We had been charging lab fees for years as the admin would see these pots leaving and couldn't understand how we couldn't be charging anything for them. Lab fee at my last year was 5.00 for Ceramics.

 

 

I'm a fan of the Amaco glazes, because of the great color variety. They can indeed be a little pricey though. I do have a decent underglaze selection as well, and they too are pricey. If anything, I'd cut some of those.

My Art Club account is replenished by fundraisers the club does. So it does roll over.

I wish I could charge a lab fee, especially with my photo class, but many districts have put a stop to that. One of the previous art teachers in the district had the students buy their own tool sets. Not bad in theory, but as many had no use for them afterwards, I have boxes full of wood ribs, wood tools, loop tools, etc. Normally I don't mind having extras, but it's more than I'll ever need. I just have numbered sets for my students. Each student has a small box with the basic set of tools that they'll need. They are responsible for that set throughout the class. If a tool is broken, because of misuse, or lost, they have to cover the cost to replace it. With this system, I have had very few lost or damaged tools.

If the administration starts restricting my budget, maybe I'll start charging a lab fee.....If I can legally do so.

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

 

 

In my worse times I had 29 to the class. Eventually we got the admin to cut the cap to 25. In the later years due to lower enrollments in the school we had classes of about 18-21. I had no problems buying materials after I went to making glazes. Clay was usually not a problem, and we used an old Walker pugmill to recycle. I taught adult classes in the winter and donated my time. This allowed me to take all of the adult tuition to add equipment, and upgrade existing equipment. It was nice to have a few extra dollars to play with every year. Heck they even allowed me to have an account that would roll over, and not dump out at the end of the year. Really helpful, as I could save up for bigger ticket items.

 

 

 

By making glaze, do you mean buying the dry mix, or actually buying the base components and creating your own? I just buy Amaco glazes. They have a great selection, and it saves me quite a bit of time.

I wish I had a pug mill, but honestly I don't really have anywhere to put it now. The two previous schools I worked at had one. The first had a smaller one, that was slow as all get out. The second school had an older one, with a huge hopper. I loved that thing. Now, I just have the kids rework the clay themselves. Many of the students need to do a little honest work once in a while any way. Regardless of the method, recycling clay does save quite a bit of money.

 

You had an account that rolled over? I've never seen that pulled off anywhere. The closet that I have to that is an Art Club account. That is just for extra items, the normal budget can't take care of, like digital cameras and such. Like I said though, my administrators have been quite accommodating, so I won't complain.

 

 

I used Amaco glazes for years, then ART, and Minnesota Clay. In the end, they were bogging down the budget to have the variety of colors the kids were interested in. I had switched to powdered glazes, and then to 25# lots to cut budget, but still needed more squeeze. So I started doing some on my own, adding to as the bulk dry glazes ran out. The color and textures are different than what was there before, but students were just as satisfied. Firing at ^6 gave me a lot of latitude with color and texture and very durable ware.

 

Most club accounts will not roll over, most central admin accounts do not roll over. Because this was an adult class, it was a central admin type of account. In the early years I only put my funds from the adult class in there, then I asked if I could deposit the lab fees that we charged for the Ceramics classes at the HS. Allowed. This really helped out a lot as before it was a spend or lose philosophy-whether you need to or not. We had been charging lab fees for years as the admin would see these pots leaving and couldn't understand how we couldn't be charging anything for them. Lab fee at my last year was 5.00 for Ceramics.

 

 

I'm a fan of the Amaco glazes, because of the great color variety. They can indeed be a little pricey though. I do have a decent underglaze selection as well, and they too are pricey. If anything, I'd cut some of those.

My Art Club account is replenished by fundraisers the club does. So it does roll over.

I wish I could charge a lab fee, especially with my photo class, but many districts have put a stop to that. One of the previous art teachers in the district had the students buy their own tool sets. Not bad in theory, but as many had no use for them afterwards, I have boxes full of wood ribs, wood tools, loop tools, etc. Normally I don't mind having extras, but it's more than I'll ever need. I just have numbered sets for my students. Each student has a small box with the basic set of tools that they'll need. They are responsible for that set throughout the class. If a tool is broken, because of misuse, or lost, they have to cover the cost to replace it. With this system, I have had very few lost or damaged tools.

If the administration starts restricting my budget, maybe I'll start charging a lab fee.....If I can legally do so.

 

 

Benzine;

We charge an Art Fee of $25.00 per student. This covers the cost of sketchbboks, pencils, glazes etc. It's a pain to collect. I had $400.00 in cash stolen out of my desk a couple of years ago. Now I keep it in my pocket and turn it in every couple of days. Check with your administrator before you start this. We also let parents know that there is a fee on our website. All the schools in our division charge a fee. It's unfortunate, but these are tough times.

TJR.

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That is indeed a lot of sections, with a lot of students each.

 

The largest ceramics class I taught was twenty seven, which is still a lot. Luckily, I had a good group of students. They were hard working, and respectful. I've had far smaller classes, where the opposite was true, and those are the classes I dreaded.

 

I have caps on all my classes, yet the Guidance Office, seems to forget they exist. I only have twenty seven seats in my room, so no class is allowed to exceed that.

 

Right now my ceramic class is twenty two, which keeps me busy, but is manageable. The biggest changed I've made over the years, due to larger classes sizes, is to reduce the size requirements of my projects. That way I can fit more projects in the kiln, and so they are using less clay and glaze/ underglaze.

 

Thus far, the administration has been very accommodating, in regards to materials, so I won't complain if I have over twenty students. These days, with budget cuts everywhere, I want to keep the program looking as strong as possible.

 

 

In my worse times I had 29 to the class. Eventually we got the admin to cut the cap to 25. In the later years due to lower enrollments in the school we had classes of about 18-21. I had no problems buying materials after I went to making glazes. Clay was usually not a problem, and we used an old Walker pugmill to recycle. I taught adult classes in the winter and donated my time. This allowed me to take all of the adult tuition to add equipment, and upgrade existing equipment. It was nice to have a few extra dollars to play with every year. Heck they even allowed me to have an account that would roll over, and not dump out at the end of the year. Really helpful, as I could save up for bigger ticket items.

 

 

 

By making glaze, do you mean buying the dry mix, or actually buying the base components and creating your own? I just buy Amaco glazes. They have a great selection, and it saves me quite a bit of time.

I wish I had a pug mill, but honestly I don't really have anywhere to put it now. The two previous schools I worked at had one. The first had a smaller one, that was slow as all get out. The second school had an older one, with a huge hopper. I loved that thing. Now, I just have the kids rework the clay themselves. Many of the students need to do a little honest work once in a while any way. Regardless of the method, recycling clay does save quite a bit of money.

 

You had an account that rolled over? I've never seen that pulled off anywhere. The closet that I have to that is an Art Club account. That is just for extra items, the normal budget can't take care of, like digital cameras and such. Like I said though, my administrators have been quite accommodating, so I won't complain.

 

 

I used Amaco glazes for years, then ART, and Minnesota Clay. In the end, they were bogging down the budget to have the variety of colors the kids were interested in. I had switched to powdered glazes, and then to 25# lots to cut budget, but still needed more squeeze. So I started doing some on my own, adding to as the bulk dry glazes ran out. The color and textures are different than what was there before, but students were just as satisfied. Firing at ^6 gave me a lot of latitude with color and texture and very durable ware.

 

Most club accounts will not roll over, most central admin accounts do not roll over. Because this was an adult class, it was a central admin type of account. In the early years I only put my funds from the adult class in there, then I asked if I could deposit the lab fees that we charged for the Ceramics classes at the HS. Allowed. This really helped out a lot as before it was a spend or lose philosophy-whether you need to or not. We had been charging lab fees for years as the admin would see these pots leaving and couldn't understand how we couldn't be charging anything for them. Lab fee at my last year was 5.00 for Ceramics.

 

 

I'm a fan of the Amaco glazes, because of the great color variety. They can indeed be a little pricey though. I do have a decent underglaze selection as well, and they too are pricey. If anything, I'd cut some of those.

My Art Club account is replenished by fundraisers the club does. So it does roll over.

I wish I could charge a lab fee, especially with my photo class, but many districts have put a stop to that. One of the previous art teachers in the district had the students buy their own tool sets. Not bad in theory, but as many had no use for them afterwards, I have boxes full of wood ribs, wood tools, loop tools, etc. Normally I don't mind having extras, but it's more than I'll ever need. I just have numbered sets for my students. Each student has a small box with the basic set of tools that they'll need. They are responsible for that set throughout the class. If a tool is broken, because of misuse, or lost, they have to cover the cost to replace it. With this system, I have had very few lost or damaged tools.

If the administration starts restricting my budget, maybe I'll start charging a lab fee.....If I can legally do so.

 

 

Benzine;

We charge an Art Fee of $25.00 per student. This covers the cost of sketchbboks, pencils, glazes etc. It's a pain to collect. I had $400.00 in cash stolen out of my desk a couple of years ago. Now I keep it in my pocket and turn it in every couple of days. Check with your administrator before you start this. We also let parents know that there is a fee on our website. All the schools in our division charge a fee. It's unfortunate, but these are tough times.

TJR.

 

 

Folks, if you are teaching, you have to realize that many districts are even charging an athletics fee for students that play on teams. With the continued cuts to budgets, the rise in material costs, and the Tea Party type mentality that is existent, lab fees, studio fees and others are one of the easier ways to supplement the shrinking budgets. Even if you don't get budget cuts from the administration, your suppliers cut your budget every time they raise the price on that glaze, or pencil, or cable to repair the slab roller with.

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TJR and Pres, I may have to inquire about lab fees with my administrators. But, as I may have mentioned, the state has been putting a kibosh to most of that. They say that, if it part of the expected course work, you can't make them pay for it.

 

TJR, you had four hundred stolen? That's terrible. It's too bad you can't trust the students anymore. But that's one reason I don't let the kids near my desk without permission. That way, if something happens, the list of suspects is short.

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TJR and Pres, I may have to inquire about lab fees with my administrators. But, as I may have mentioned, the state has been putting a kibosh to most of that. They say that, if it part of the expected course work, you can't make them pay for it.

 

TJR, you had four hundred stolen? That's terrible. It's too bad you can't trust the students anymore. But that's one reason I don't let the kids near my desk without permission. That way, if something happens, the list of suspects is short.

 

 

Four hundred dollars is quite a blow to anyone's budget. I learned early on to make a stop by the office every so often during the week to deposit the moneys that I kept in my shirt pocket. I always had the account numbers in my wallet, so that I could fill out the receipt, and make certain that the money was put in the right account. I also kept a running watch in the early years by checking with the secretary that had account access to know how much was in the accounts. Later on, as an administrator for the adult ceramics class I could get access to account information on line. The adult class as I said often had administrators in the class, this interest of theirs in my media, made them interested in sustaining the class. Many times they would ask if I needed anything when there would be a surplus in one of their own accounts. Helpful. I never took advantage of this, but made use as I felt prudent.

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TJR and Pres, I may have to inquire about lab fees with my administrators. But, as I may have mentioned, the state has been putting a kibosh to most of that. They say that, if it part of the expected course work, you can't make them pay for it.

 

TJR, you had four hundred stolen? That's terrible. It's too bad you can't trust the students anymore. But that's one reason I don't let the kids near my desk without permission. That way, if something happens, the list of suspects is short.

 

 

Benzine;

Like, Pres., Ive been doing it for a long time. The sad thing about losing that money was the cheques, which the thief could not cash and I could not get back. I knew which class it was, and I even think I knew the student as he ducked out early. Lesson learned. I worked at an inner city high school for 12 years-the toughest school in the division. The city seemed to subsidize that area because of the economic situation. So, not every school charges fees, but many programs such as band, art, phys-ed all rely on these monies. The cost for football team equipment is very high.

I could go on and on, but I won't. In an ideal world, there would be no extra fees. And all the birds would lay soft-boiled eggs.

TJR.:lol:

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  • 3 weeks later...

TJR and Pres, I may have to inquire about lab fees with my administrators. But, as I may have mentioned, the state has been putting a kibosh to most of that. They say that, if it part of the expected course work, you can't make them pay for it.

 

TJR, you had four hundred stolen? That's terrible. It's too bad you can't trust the students anymore. But that's one reason I don't let the kids near my desk without permission. That way, if something happens, the list of suspects is short.

 

 

Benzine;

Like, Pres., Ive been doing it for a long time. The sad thing about losing that money was the cheques, which the thief could not cash and I could not get back. I knew which class it was, and I even think I knew the student as he ducked out early. Lesson learned. I worked at an inner city high school for 12 years-the toughest school in the division. The city seemed to subsidize that area because of the economic situation. So, not every school charges fees, but many programs such as band, art, phys-ed all rely on these monies. The cost for football team equipment is very high.

I could go on and on, but I won't. In an ideal world, there would be no extra fees. And all the birds would lay soft-boiled eggs.

TJR.:lol:

 

 

 

Part of the expected work. If it were part of the required work it may be a different story. However, the art classes were elected by the student to fill out their course requirements in the arts. They could take a course that did not have a lab fee such as Art 2, or other arts and humanities courses to complete those requirement. The lab fee was included in the Course Selection booklet that all students took home to flesh our their schedules for the next year so there were no surprises. Yes in and ideal world, there would be no fees, but lets be realistic there is a greater community following for the sports than there is for the arts, and at the same time a greater following for the band because it is icing on the half time. Real world real realities.

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  • 2 months later...

I teach HS art and ceramics and I've been following this thread with interest (even the little squabble about spelling. My opinion on that is that this forum is akin to a casual conversation. Would one criticize another's grammar in casual conversation, or would one be focusing on the point the other is making? Also, some people may be good with words but not with letters. Does that really take away from their excellent ideas and the content of their contributions? But I digress). I think the idea of teaching five ceramic classes of 35 students each sounds insane, even if one is highly qualified. I have a lot of experience in ceramics and in teaching it, and storing and firing 175 different students' projects has me quaking in my dust covered boots, never mind ordering, storing and keeping track of materials, dust and safety issues, and mess. Is this really a one-person job? It seems to me that this is a task that requires a helper of some kind at least. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I work at a private school with small classes, and I can barely find time to mix glazes from raw materials. How does one find the time to do that? (Any jealously you may be feeling right now would quickly evaporate if you were to get a glimpse at my paycheck). We are expected to be involved in a lot of other things and give much individual student attendion, so I still find myself staying late at school and not getting to the glazes. Any advice? I'd like to have shop glazes as I think the results would be more authentic and unique....

 

 

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I teach HS art and ceramics and I've been following this thread with interest (even the little squabble about spelling. My opinion on that is that this forum is akin to a casual conversation. Would one criticize another's grammar in casual conversation, or would one be focusing on the point the other is making? Also, some people may be good with words but not with letters. Does that really take away from their excellent ideas and the content of their contributions? But I digress). I think the idea of teaching five ceramic classes of 35 students each sounds insane, even if one is highly qualified. I have a lot of experience in ceramics and in teaching it, and storing and firing 175 different students' projects has me quaking in my dust covered boots, never mind ordering, storing and keeping track of materials, dust and safety issues, and mess. Is this really a one-person job? It seems to me that this is a task that requires a helper of some kind at least. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I work at a private school with small classes, and I can barely find time to mix glazes from raw materials. How does one find the time to do that? (Any jealously you may be feeling right now would quickly evaporate if you were to get a glimpse at my paycheck). We are expected to be involved in a lot of other things and give much individual student attendion, so I still find myself staying late at school and not getting to the glazes. Any advice? I'd like to have shop glazes as I think the results would be more authentic and unique....

 

 

 

Bianca;

This is an old thread, but I still feel that I can respond. I just won the Canadian High School Art Educator of the year award.[Comes with a cheque of $1000.00!].

Anyway, everyone knows that class sizes of upwards of 35 are insane! A class of 25-26 is doable, any more and you are just babysitting. I have gone in the past to the principal and protested class sizes of 30. I don't think they would dare put 35 in my room.

On the question of glazing, I used to mix coloured slips and we would decorate on leather hard. After bisquing, I would dip glaze in a bucket of cone 04 clear that I also mixed up in my studio. Now that I have been doing it for 27 years, I buy commercial glazes. You can get reds and oranges which I couldn't provide, and the students are happier, as slips are dull until they are fired.

On spelling-I am Canadian. We spell a lot of words differently up here, like coloured, and theatre.

Nuff said, Tom

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I teach HS art and ceramics and I've been following this thread with interest (even the little squabble about spelling. My opinion on that is that this forum is akin to a casual conversation. Would one criticize another's grammar in casual conversation, or would one be focusing on the point the other is making? Also, some people may be good with words but not with letters. Does that really take away from their excellent ideas and the content of their contributions? But I digress). I think the idea of teaching five ceramic classes of 35 students each sounds insane, even if one is highly qualified. I have a lot of experience in ceramics and in teaching it, and storing and firing 175 different students' projects has me quaking in my dust covered boots, never mind ordering, storing and keeping track of materials, dust and safety issues, and mess. Is this really a one-person job? It seems to me that this is a task that requires a helper of some kind at least. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I work at a private school with small classes, and I can barely find time to mix glazes from raw materials. How does one find the time to do that? (Any jealously you may be feeling right now would quickly evaporate if you were to get a glimpse at my paycheck). We are expected to be involved in a lot of other things and give much individual student attendion, so I still find myself staying late at school and not getting to the glazes. Any advice? I'd like to have shop glazes as I think the results would be more authentic and unique....

 

 

 

Bianca;

This is an old thread, but I still feel that I can respond. I just won the Canadian High School Art Educator of the year award.[Comes with a cheque of $1000.00!].

Anyway, everyone knows that class sizes of upwards of 35 are insane! A class of 25-26 is doable, any more and you are just babysitting. I have gone in the past to the principal and protested class sizes of 30. I don't think they would dare put 35 in my room.

On the question of glazing, I used to mix coloured slips and we would decorate on leather hard. After bisquing, I would dip glaze in a bucket of cone 04 clear that I also mixed up in my studio. Now that I have been doing it for 27 years, I buy commercial glazes. You can get reds and oranges which I couldn't provide, and the students are happier, as slips are dull until they are fired.

On spelling-I am Canadian. We spell a lot of words differently up here, like coloured, and theatre.

Nuff said, Tom

 

 

on spelling was that ginch or guanch ;). T

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I teach HS art and ceramics and I've been following this thread with interest (even the little squabble about spelling. My opinion on that is that this forum is akin to a casual conversation. Would one criticize another's grammar in casual conversation, or would one be focusing on the point the other is making? Also, some people may be good with words but not with letters. Does that really take away from their excellent ideas and the content of their contributions? But I digress). I think the idea of teaching five ceramic classes of 35 students each sounds insane, even if one is highly qualified. I have a lot of experience in ceramics and in teaching it, and storing and firing 175 different students' projects has me quaking in my dust covered boots, never mind ordering, storing and keeping track of materials, dust and safety issues, and mess. Is this really a one-person job? It seems to me that this is a task that requires a helper of some kind at least. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I work at a private school with small classes, and I can barely find time to mix glazes from raw materials. How does one find the time to do that? (Any jealously you may be feeling right now would quickly evaporate if you were to get a glimpse at my paycheck). We are expected to be involved in a lot of other things and give much individual student attendion, so I still find myself staying late at school and not getting to the glazes. Any advice? I'd like to have shop glazes as I think the results would be more authentic and unique....

 

 

 

Bianca;

This is an old thread, but I still feel that I can respond. I just won the Canadian High School Art Educator of the year award.[Comes with a cheque of $1000.00!].

Anyway, everyone knows that class sizes of upwards of 35 are insane! A class of 25-26 is doable, any more and you are just babysitting. I have gone in the past to the principal and protested class sizes of 30. I don't think they would dare put 35 in my room.

On the question of glazing, I used to mix coloured slips and we would decorate on leather hard. After bisquing, I would dip glaze in a bucket of cone 04 clear that I also mixed up in my studio. Now that I have been doing it for 27 years, I buy commercial glazes. You can get reds and oranges which I couldn't provide, and the students are happier, as slips are dull until they are fired.

On spelling-I am Canadian. We spell a lot of words differently up here, like coloured, and theatre.

Nuff said, Tom

 

 

I fought the fight for many years about the class sizes. In the end, I invited several administrators to come in to my classroom during a 32 student class, and a 22 student class. Next semester all of my classes were limited to 35. Their take was that I never sat in either class, but could not meet with every student during a period where needed. They were surprised at the type of teaching,one on one, that went on in studio class after initial demonstrations were completed. Over the years our class sizes dropped to about 20-22 in the advanced classes and 25-27 in the Art 1. If a teacher is not proactive about these things, most administrators do not have a clue.

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I teach HS art and ceramics and I've been following this thread with interest (even the little squabble about spelling. My opinion on that is that this forum is akin to a casual conversation. Would one criticize another's grammar in casual conversation, or would one be focusing on the point the other is making? Also, some people may be good with words but not with letters. Does that really take away from their excellent ideas and the content of their contributions? But I digress). I think the idea of teaching five ceramic classes of 35 students each sounds insane, even if one is highly qualified. I have a lot of experience in ceramics and in teaching it, and storing and firing 175 different students' projects has me quaking in my dust covered boots, never mind ordering, storing and keeping track of materials, dust and safety issues, and mess. Is this really a one-person job? It seems to me that this is a task that requires a helper of some kind at least. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I work at a private school with small classes, and I can barely find time to mix glazes from raw materials. How does one find the time to do that? (Any jealously you may be feeling right now would quickly evaporate if you were to get a glimpse at my paycheck). We are expected to be involved in a lot of other things and give much individual student attendion, so I still find myself staying late at school and not getting to the glazes. Any advice? I'd like to have shop glazes as I think the results would be more authentic and unique....

 

 

 

Bianca;

This is an old thread, but I still feel that I can respond. I just won the Canadian High School Art Educator of the year award.[Comes with a cheque of $1000.00!].

Anyway, everyone knows that class sizes of upwards of 35 are insane! A class of 25-26 is doable, any more and you are just babysitting. I have gone in the past to the principal and protested class sizes of 30. I don't think they would dare put 35 in my room.

On the question of glazing, I used to mix coloured slips and we would decorate on leather hard. After bisquing, I would dip glaze in a bucket of cone 04 clear that I also mixed up in my studio. Now that I have been doing it for 27 years, I buy commercial glazes. You can get reds and oranges which I couldn't provide, and the students are happier, as slips are dull until they are fired.

On spelling-I am Canadian. We spell a lot of words differently up here, like coloured, and theatre.

Nuff said, Tom

 

 

on spelling was that ginch or guanch wink.gif. T

 

 

I don't know! Made me laugh, though. Probably guanch as it has more letters.:Psrc="http://ceramicartsdaily.org/community/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif">

TJR

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Re class size.

I was at an art opening last night for student art projects called "quantum". A guy came up to me and said;"Are you an art teacher?" I introduced my self and said where I taught. He teaches art in another school division. I knew his school has the largest population of students in the city @ 1800. We have 1340 at my school and we have two full time art teachers, and couild probably use at least another half time person. He said that he is the only art teacher there! I know that back in the day they had 3 full time art teachers! He was shocked,when I told him this. He said he teaches 150 students in seven classes. We cover 14 classes with the two of us.at our school. This means that at his school 1650 students are NOT getting an opportunity to take art. Yes, it is not a compulsory course, but you would think that there would be room for at lest one more art person.

TJR.

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Re class size.

I was at an art opening last night for student art projects called "quantum". A guy came up to me and said;"Are you an art teacher?" I introduced my self and said where I taught. He teaches art in another school division. I knew his school has the largest population of students in the city @ 1800. We have 1340 at my school and we have two full time art teachers, and couild probably use at least another half time person. He said that he is the only art teacher there! I know that back in the day they had 3 full time art teachers! He was shocked,when I told him this. He said he teaches 150 students in seven classes. We cover 14 classes with the two of us.at our school. This means that at his school 1650 students are NOT getting an opportunity to take art. Yes, it is not a compulsory course, but you would think that there would be room for at lest one more art person.

TJR.

 

 

Yes, this sort of thing is happening at a lot of schools. It brings to mind the chicken or the egg. Do you go out and try to drum more students into the program by being proactive, and thus hoping to get more staff to handle students, or do you hide your head in the sand to handle the students you have the best you can. If the schools are holding the budget to a minimum by not adding staff, increasing your class sizes results in less of a quality education for those you have. Big problem for arts educators.

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Re class size.

I was at an art opening last night for student art projects called "quantum". A guy came up to me and said;"Are you an art teacher?" I introduced my self and said where I taught. He teaches art in another school division. I knew his school has the largest population of students in the city @ 1800. We have 1340 at my school and we have two full time art teachers, and couild probably use at least another half time person. He said that he is the only art teacher there! I know that back in the day they had 3 full time art teachers! He was shocked,when I told him this. He said he teaches 150 students in seven classes. We cover 14 classes with the two of us.at our school. This means that at his school 1650 students are NOT getting an opportunity to take art. Yes, it is not a compulsory course, but you would think that there would be room for at lest one more art person.

TJR.

 

 

Yes, this sort of thing is happening at a lot of schools. It brings to mind the chicken or the egg. Do you go out and try to drum more students into the program by being proactive, and thus hoping to get more staff to handle students, or do you hide your head in the sand to handle the students you have the best you can. If the schools are holding the budget to a minimum by not adding staff, increasing your class sizes results in less of a quality education for those you have. Big problem for arts educators.

 

 

Pres;

Of course you know that I do the former. When I started at my current school nine years ago, the position was 1.5. Then I built it up to 1.7, and now it is at 2.0, and has been for quite a long time. I think think putting your head in the sand helps anyone. Like you, I want to retire in a blaze of glory, with my head held high, and have no regrets.I did feel a bit powerless to help this guy.

TJR.

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