Choice week 2

I spent choice site two watching one of the other teachers at Sitar. Yeah, yeah- it seems like a cop out being that I teach there as well- but with no word from the center for the aging, I decided this was a pretty good alternative choice. I watched the ages 10-18 illustration class which proved to be a pretty interesting dynamic. The range of ages could prove to be a difficult group to handle- without factoring that this is an after school program and the kids have already pushed through an entire day.
The kids were quiet, focused, and intent on creating good representations of the blocks on the tables in front of them. I remember being in an illustration class at age 10- my drawings mostly looked like cave paintings and I would have been bored to tears trying to render the perfect shadow on a wooden cube. In fact, I remember being bored to tears, which is perhaps why I am not very good at drawing. I will attribute their attentiveness to a few things, 1) that they chose to sign up for this course as opposed to others, 2) that the older students guide the younger ones by displaying appropriate behavior, and 3) that the teacher has excellent classroom management skills.
The older students are well into high school and are clearly there to practice their arts seriously. The students take the class assignments quite seriously, not treating the course as if it were just a way to pass the time after school until dinner. The younger students then fall in line with the behavior of the older ones. It's not to say that they are not having fun, its just that they are quiet, focused, and try their best to complete the assignment before the class ends. I attribute this as much to the self-guided study as to their teacher's management. She steps in for more guidance with the younger ones, but generally hangs back and allows her students to create. Stepping in when they need help, or offering advice, but really allowing them to take in the experience. A part of the class that I really enjoyed was at the end she had all of the students stand behind their chairs and circle the room single file. The students then got to look at the work that everyone had done with a certain degree of anonymity. It freed the students from the pressure of speaking about there work, but still allowed everyone to see the progress and ideas that had come out of the assignment. I thought this was a great idea, but the more that I think about it, it seems like the most practical way to share work in a group of students that has such a large range of age and experience.