TA week..8?

Losing count of the weeks! Today was actually our first critique of the semester. The first project was building the screens and the second project was doing the reduction method of screenprinting. I was impressed with the flow of the critique. It did not seem too long, which is amazing because they always seem too long. There was interesting input from almost the entire class, another amazing plus. Kathy has the students decide which piece to talk about first, her rule is that the artist waits to speak about the work until students have had time to comment and wonder about the piece. She also asks questions relative to the work for people to respond and to keep the conversation flowing. Then the student puts in their opinion/explanation and then that student picks the next piece to discuss. I have done critiques set up in this way where the students pick what to discuss. I think it is successful because if you are at the bottom at some point, the next project you will work much harder for success and a completed piece. It is kind of passive aggressive competition. I also had a great discussion after class about grading, her attendance policies, ect. I think Kathy is a wonderful mentor for me, I really enjoy her style of teaching and would want to have a similar approach and classroom atmosphere.