My Impressive Wheel Throwers, Fall 2022

Student work, raku fired, Fall 2022

Teaching Functional Pottery at YVC

Functional Pottery was one of the classes I was hired to teach in 2006. When I started that fall, fresh out of graduate school, I taught Functional Pottery, Art Appreciation, and Design 1. 

Ella Steinhilb mugs

Though I was primarily a ceramic sculptor in undergrad and graduate school, I had been teaching myself to throw better during the last year or so of graduate school when it became clear that so many of the teaching jobs expected the applicant to teach functional pottery.

Ella Steinhilb mug

Throwing for my Job

In fact, my application to teach at YVC required a throwing demonstration. I believe it specifically asked me to send in a video of a begining throwing lesson. So my brother borrowed a camera and came to my tiny sub basement studio in the education building to film my throwing demo. Neither of us know a ton about video editing, so it was a one-take kind of situation. While I was demoing, I made a mistake and ripped the rim or something. I thought "well, there goes that application." But I kept talking while my brother continued filming.

Bowl by Rachel Barfus

On video, I said something to the effect of "well, sometimes that happens and when it does, here's what you can do to fix it" and then demonstrated how to cut off the rim of the bowl I was throwing.  Nowadays I build in mistakes into my throwing demos so that I can show students some typical beginner throwing errors and how to fix them, but back then it wasn't a strategy.

Student work, teacups

The coda to that story is that years later, when I had been teaching at YVC for years, I ended up having lunch with Dr. Kaminski, the YVC president, and she said to me that she remembered my throwing video because it made her feel like she could throw. 

Teapot by Andrew Martinkus

My Classes at YVC

Over the years, besides the three I was hired to teach, I've added other classes, most of which I designed or redesigned before teaching.  These including intermediate clay and design classes, advanced pottery classes, clay hand-building, a team-taught Design/Photoshop class called Design One Byte at a Time, and an experimental class called Mural in a Quarter. After I'd been at YVC several years, I remember my colleague, Bob Fisher, asking if he could take back the Design class, which he had taught before I came to YVC. 

Three cups by Andrew Martinkus

Bob left YVC at the end of the Fall quarter in which I took my sabbatical. When I returned to campus, Bob had left, our adjunct Art Appreciation faculty had taken medical leave, and a miscommunication had prevented YVC from advertising for part time faculty to teach art classes. All of this conspired to mean that immediately after my sabbatical I taught three sections of Art Appreciation as well as my Functional Pottery class. I don't remember the clay class that quarter, but I remember finding it disorienting to teach three sections of the same lecture class in one quarter--I kept feeling like I was repeating myself (because I was).

Student work Fall 2022

I also remember bargaining with my dean that I'd teach duplicate classes (because of a scheduling error or faculty shortage) in one quarter, if the next quarter she let me teach Clay1: hand-building as a stand alone class the next quarter. Of course I did and she did, and I've taught hand-building once a year or more ever since.

Student work Fall 2022

By Fall 2015, I was teaching Intro to Clay (throwing and hand-building together in once class) as a stand alone class. Sometime before that, maybe Winter of 2012, I taught my first stand-alone hand-building class (I was talking about making musical instruments in that class in fall 2011--and, oof, reading my very old blog posts is strange, they feel and look very different from how I write now).

Student work Fall 2022

Through my 16+ years at YVC, my teaching load has shifted from 1/3 clay to 2/3 clay most quarters. At some point around 2014 I also stopped teaching Art Appreciation so that I could teach the Western Art History series. I taught Ancient & Medieval Art history online this fall and last fall, but during the pandemic I went back to teaching Design (online) and Hand-building (online) most quarters. 

Carmen Nelson, blue and white vases

While I was on medical leave last year, my colleague taught the Renaissance and Modern Art History classes. This quarter, because we again had not enough studio faculty, especially in Grandview, I am teaching online design and he is taking the Renaissance Art History class.

Carmen Nelson, red and purple

Functional Pottery is Consistent

Though my other classes have switched around quite a bit over the years, I think I have taught a functional pottery class every quarter that I've been on campus.  If I'm counting correctly, I've taught functional pottery 42 or 43 times at YVC.

Carmen Nelson, flames ashtray

I was telling students this quarter that when I look at their work during critique, I am comparing their work against a massive catalog of beginner work from more than 16 years of beginner classes. I brought this up this quarter, in particular, because the work was consistently of high calibur across all students. Even the students who struggled the most this quarter, compared favorably against students who struggled the most in previous quarters. 

Carmen Nelson purple and white teaset

Magical and Non-Magical Classes

There is some magical alchemy that happens some quarters that causes the dynamic in the studio to produce high quality work. I've observed it over the years and those quarters are so energizing as a teacher. I think the basic ingredients are a full or nearly full class, a couple or three students who were going to work hard anyway, and then somehow the mood and the atmosphere in the studio has shifted just right so that everyone works harder, tries more challenging projects, or simply shows up. It helps to have an intermediate or advanced student or two in the studio to help get the magic started.

Carmen Nelson, teapot and flames

Other quarters, those same students, mixed in with a different group of classmates, or in a class that's simply too small, the magic doesn't happen. Often when the magic isn't happening, the visible results are that students are missing class, they don't come into the studio outside of class time, they might miss a critique, and one or two students doing this infects the rest of the group in the opposite way, encouraging more and more people to take on easy projects, miss class, etc.

Carmen Nelson teapot (detail)

The basic magic/no magic I've observed quarter after quarter after quarter. Obviously I try to control for making a studio atmosphere magic, but I can't always control it. Low class enrollment seems to be an almost insurmountable hurdle. The only think I can do about it is advertise the classes and help with advising. 

Searra Rodriguez handleless vase

Last fall was an exellent example of a whole list of "don'ts" for building a magical studio atmosphere. We had low enrollment to start. I was forced to limit studio access because of the lack of student workers and because of the pandemic restrictions. I, personally, got fairly distracted partway through the quarter and had to cancel class or close the studio more often than I wanted to. Some students got sick and had to miss more than a little class. And when we were in-class, we were trying to social distance.

Searra Rodriguez Cindy's Shino vase

The wild thing, and something I want to be clear about, is that students in these classes aren't worse than students in the magical classes. I fundamentally believe that if you pulled any one student out of the non-magic class and put them in a magic quarter, their work would improve--regardless of whether they started as the best, the worst, or somewhere in the middle of the other class. And I think it works the other way too.

Searra Rodriguez horse hair raku vase

One fascinating thing for me this quarter, is that while the in-class and in-studio work was consistently high quality, the online work was really hit-or-miss. I've flipped my throwing classes for quite a while now. Students can watch video demos instead of in-class demos, though I also offer in-class demos as alternatives or in addition to the videos. More recently, I've shifted lectures in the Functional Pottery class from in-person events to online interactive lessons that students can do on their own time (including evenings and weekends when they can't access the studio).

Searra Rodriguez pitcher

This quarter, while some students regularly did all the interactive lessons and assignments, others regularly did not do them. Or didn't do them until weeks later. I was annoyed by this, but couldn't figure out why it was happening when it hadn't happened before. It wasn't until well into the quarter that I realized what had happened.

Searra Rodriguez pitcher

In previous quarters, if students didn't do the pre-test (which was due before class/at the start of class on the second or third day), I would sit them down in the studio and make them complete it before they could throw or participate in the rest of class. I did this especially for the online studio safety lesson (that replaced a long and repetitive talk about safety on day 1 and 2).  But with not teaching the class during the pandemic and then after another break for my cancer stuff, I had forgotten about this teaching tool.

Searra Rodriguez mug

Over the years, I've developed teaching patterns and strategies and lots of them are written down, but this year, in particular, I learned how many things that "I always did" weren't written down and thus got forgotten or missed this quarter. Obviously I am making plans to bring back the big ones next quarter.

Liliana Morales vase

Functional Pottery Projects

I've kept the functional pottery class projects almost exactly the same year after year. They start with bowls (I once tried experimenting with having them start with cylinders, but I didn't like it and switched back), then cylinders. They have to make 2 at least 8" tall. Then for their third project, they can choose handles, lids, spouts, or all three in the form of teapots, mugs, canisters, or pitchers (or some combination of those elements).

Liliana Morales gold set

Unlike in other classes where I switch projects around, decide I don't really like the parameteres, adjust the order, etc. In the Functional Pottery class, I think the projects just make sense this way. They get lots of centering and trimming practice to begin the class. They get pushed to increase their size in the middle, then for the last project, they have some choices and more room for creative solutions.

Liliana Morales gold twisted teaset

I have, as I mentioned above, switched much of the stuff that surrounds the projects. Demonstrations used to be entirely in-class, then I created some supplemental videos, then I replaced all of those and recorded a a massive quantity of videos, then I decided to offer students a choice to flip the class and watch all demos online and none in person.

Liliana Morales blue vases

Now I've settled into something I think I like, for now at least, which is the choice to flip the demos, with a few demos required in class and a few "extra credit" demos offered only online, but most students choosing, day by day, whether to flip or not. Students don't need to choose ahead of time; they can simply watch the videos one day and watch the in-class demos another. Or they can always watch both. 

Kevin Arellanes, lidded set

What to do when they haven't watched

Sometimes in clas, I notice that students haven't understood the demos (or possibly haven't watched them). My solution is usually to single out a few students and say "this in-person demo is for you". I'm always a little worried about doing this in a way that embarasses students, but frequently when I do this I am noticing a particular thing they are doing that is just a bit off. An example would be a student who keeps leaning too far forward while centering. Though I've touched on this in the standard flipped and in-class video demos, it's a little hard to notice this as your own problem until it is pointed out. For a short in-person demo after I notice this problem, I would target certain students and would exaggerate the problem on my own wheel so they can see it at theirs.

Kevin Arellanes, lidded set

The one probel I really feel I haven't solved, however, is what to do with a student who says they've watched the videos, but it doesn't look like they have. Especially when this student has missed class or is asking for early-quarter things late in the quarter (often they also ask this late in the day). Obviously when there's time, I will redo intro demos quite a few times, but there gets to be a point where we've got so much else going on in the classroom (kilns, glazing, other demos) that it is difficult for me to stop or interrupt that to demo things they've had multiple opportunities to watch already.

mugs by Jazlyn Alexander. Jaz was in intermediate wheel, which met at the same time as functional pottery but had different and more challenging assignments

In this case, it is difficult to simply send the student to the video demo (which I do early in the quarter if they miss class and want a demo I don't have time to do in class or between classes). By late in the quarter, if the student hasn't watched the video demos (or if the video demos haven't helped), sending them to watch them is unlikely to be effective. 

Jazlyn Alexander, white bowl with drips

Class Time

Functional Pottery (and Intermediate Wheel) classes meet twice a week for about 3 hours. This time includes mostly live-demonstrations on the wheel and student work time. Of course, it also includes instruction and practice for loading and unloading kilns, glazing, surface decoration, studio processes, ergonomics of functional forms, critiques, and more.

Jazlyn Alexander, tall blue vase

I think the most valuable regular use of my time during class, though it often isn't something strictly scheduled, is watching students throw and checking in with them about that throwing. They can watch me throw in-person or via video, but if they don't get feedback on what they are doing, it is hard to take in every single nuance of the process and apply it to themselves.

Jazlyn Alexander, tall vase with handles

When I watch them throw, I can point out adjustments to wheel speed, position of their hands, speed and pressure of their movements, amount of throwing slip, tool use and positioning, and issues specifically related to clay body, centering, drilling, pulling, and finishing. In a shared classroom, I might intereact with students entirely one-on-one for some adjustments, but I might also notice that a group of students are all having a similar issue.

Jazlyn Alexander, tall splatter vase

Also in a shared studio, students can overhear my instructions to a classmate and that may not impact them immediately, but it might be something that they adjust on their own later. One thing I worry about, just a tiny bit, is how well this pratice will age with me. I usually squat down in front of the students' wheels to watch them throw. And I regularly walk through the wheels (we have two rows of four wheels facing each other on two sides of the classroom, so I can see 8 students throwing as I walk up one aisle).

Jazlyn Alexander, mugs

However, this quarter I noticed that I was getting more tired from squatting down between wheels than I remember. This year of treatment has been a doozie and I know that the side effects of both radiation and the current hormone therapy include fatigue and joint pain. I'm hoping that, as I get back to more regular exercise, I will gain more stamina, but this was the first quarter I really wondered about how my studio teaching practices will need to adjust as I age (the good news being that last fall, I was just hoping aging was something I'd get a chance to do).

Jazlyn Alexander, lidded jar

Shared Studio

The other great thing about a shared studio, especially one with intermediate, advanced, or independent study students, is that they can teach each other. If I tell one student about a particular technique on Tuesday, they might share it with a classmate on Wednesday (between classes, when I'm not around). Intermediate students have already learned the basics, so they can help beginners, especially early in the quarter, but also late in the quarter when the beginners want to try more challening forms and, in a magic studio, might start looking across the wheel aisle to see what that other student is up to.

Jazlyn Alexander, mushroom tea set

The fact that I have lots of video demos online helps with this, because students can look ahead. I also encourage them to watch other throwers in person (in the studio) or online. I always try to tell students why I suggest a particular technique or tool, because I want them to understand why another potter might do it differently than I do. When both approaches accomplish the same goal, the student can choose my way or the other.

Jazlyn Alexander, mugs

Of course, I also try to give students the tools to know when they shouldn't try another potter's approach. There are some potters online, especially on Instagram, who throw very fast. The speed with which they move the clay can be a factor of their skill and experience, but it can also be because the clay body they are using can handle that speed (while our frequently recycled class clay cannot). And, of course, there's always the possibility that a video is sped up artificially.

Jazlyn Alexander, plates

It can be frustrating to watch an expert throw in a way that seems impossible for a beginner. Sometimes the answer is more practice, but sometimes this answer is that even that potter didnt' really throw that fast.

Jazlyn Alexander, raku bowl

Right now all my studio classes (Functional Pottery, online Design, and Handbuilding 1 & 2 together) are full. I hope that, and the large group of intermediate students in Handbuilding 2, means that my classes next quarter will be as magical as this past quarter. I also hope and plan to bring back some of the forgotten practices around what to do when students don't do the required online prep. 

Jazlyn Alexander, raku dishes

Glazing Spree

Glazed bowls loaded into the kiln before firing

I recently finished a marathon of glazing, lots and lots of cone 6 glazing. This is all functional work from this summer. This kiln load contains a batch of bowls, some for my friend, a few COVID mugs and planters, and some other mugs and odds and ends for sales this summer (Fresh Air Art Celebration at the Greenway, July 24 and Yakima County Artists' Studio Tour, September 4-6th)).

COVID mugs and planter in progress

The COVID mugs and planters are the most time consuming to glaze as I need to work the background glaze in and around the covid bumps and then I wipe the surfaces off before applying the red glaze.

COVID planter before I've wiped off the glaze from the top edges that will be red

I got into a nice flow with the bowls. I really prefer dipping glazes, but I'm not sure I can justify large buckets of glaze for the amount of functional work I produce at home.

partially glazed mug on a banding wheel

For this batch of bowls, I got out some large brushes that hold a lot of glaze and set up the bowls on banding wheels. It just feels good when the glazes go on smoothly while the wheel is spinning. And this works a lot better with large bowls than with mugs or other mostly narrow or vertical pieces.

applying glaze by brush to a bowl on the banding wheel

It also should help with how the glaze looks, since any brush strokes that show up should be even and all arranged with the same direction. I've had a few inconsistent results where I've applied the glaze too thinly and the brushstrokes show, so I tried to make sure every piece got a solid 3-4 coats of glaze. It's sometimes harder to judge when some of the glazes are thicker or thinner (because they've been sitting for longer). This time around I used mostly new bottles of glaze which makes for more even application and consistency.

bowls after the interiors were glazed, the colors are blue and light green

I glazed all the interiors, then all the exteriors, then cleaned up all the rims and feet, then added a rim coat of another glaze or glazes to most of the bowls. I only remembered after I loaded the kiln that I might not have enough coats on some of the rims (and I might have layered the two glazes out of order), so maybe I'll unload the kiln and add some glaze right after I post this.

glazed bowls ready to fire

I decided to dribble glazes inside most of the pieces because I like the effects. I usually do this when I am glazing at YVC. I like how the marks and color combinations aren't carefully planned but add some variety and something to look at inside the pieces. I used mostly celadons on the interior and exterior walls, but the dribbled glazes include some Potter's Choice glazes. I've tested them before on my plates and like the results.

glazed bowls waiting to be loaded in the kiln

I did leave one piece un-dribbled. This interior is a new white I just purchased, so I'd like to see how it looks on its own. Hopefully it won't look too strange being different from all the rest. I guess if it is, I can just make more. The bowls especially are just pleasant to throw, trim, and glaze. For some reason, maybe it's the simplicity or maybe it's my familiarity with these forms, but I find these to be soothing to create.

the one bowl without dribbles

 

Teaching Pottery Online, with Social Distancing

Governor's Directive for Moving Teaching Online

Friday afternoon I attended an emergency meeting at my school in response to the COVID-19 directives from Governor Inslee. In a press conference earlier in the day, he had asked all K-12 school to close from Tuesday of next week (March 17) through April 24. He also told state colleges that they would be required to move classes online or observe social distancing.

The tools that make me think I cannot teach this class online.

Essentially, the state would prefer all faculty and all classes to move online. There are some fundamental concerns about this plan and most of them have to do with equity and access. A significant number of our students at YVC do not have reliable computers or internet at home. With the K-12 schools also closed, working at home will be more difficult for all of our students who live with children, including students who had originally intended to take online classes. 

Bisqueware from my hand-building class this quarter, before glazing. Clockwise from middle: Sean Wilkinson's extruded ears, coil pottery by Zanity Conteras (back), Ibet Vargas, Amy Wade, and an anonymous student. 

Only about 15% of classes at YVC are normally taught entirely online, meaning the majority of our students were not planning to take their spring classes online. Besides equipment and internet access, students may not feel that learning online is best for them, and they might be right. Taking an online class requires time and tools, but it also requires students to hold themselves to a regular schedule without the expectation of a class meeting to support them. As anyone who has wasted a lazy weekend knows, this can be tough.

Pottery and sculpture from various students waiting for next week's critiques.

Trying to do all the work for a 5-credit online class on a Sunday night leads to burn-out and frustration. I always advise my students to spread out their time and work on the class daily so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. I often ask my students to give tips to their classmates and I remember a couple of years ago a student saying "Don't wait until you feel motivated, because you arer never going to feel like doing the homework."

Work fresh from the raku firing last week, both shorter pieces by Eryana Weaver.

Social Distancing in Classes that Can't Be Taught Online

I'm scheduled to teach three classes next quarter. One is entirely online, so moving online doesn't really impact the organization of that class. But the clay classes are a different story. I am schedule to teach functional pottery next quarter. The outcomes and objectives of this course focus on making and glazing pottery. In particular, this objective, "Create functional and visually appealing forms using the potter’s wheel" tells me that this class cannot be taught entirely online (I think it is safe to assume that most students don't have a potter's wheel at home). 

A student throwing on a potters wheel (in the old studio).

My administration understands that not all classes can be taught online and the state has indicated that we're allowed to teach classes in person if they can't be moved online. But if we do teach them face to face, we need to follow social distancing guidelines that dictate that people can't be within 6 feet of each other for more than 10 minutes.

That yard stick gives a sense of how far 6' is. The 16 student wheels are currently in groups of 8, each roughly a yard from its 5 neighbors.

My clay studio at school is very large, with wheels on one end of the room and work tables on the other. There are 16 student wheels, but they are currently set up roughly a yard distance from the wheel on either side, across and both kitty-corner wheels. Logistically, there are two main options for separating the students from one another. I can move the wheels away from one another, which would also entail moving the work and wedging tables. The other option is one that has been discussed for lab classes, the class could be divided into different meeting times, so that there were fewer students in the room at the same time time. Wheels and wedging tables would still need to be moved if the class had 8 students, but there would be less moving required.

A view of the studio before the metal shelves were put in place (the wheels are in different positions today).

I went in to the studio yesterday to measure distances. There is room to place fit 16 student in the space each with a buffer of 6', but there would be a lot of moving to do. This would create a very different atmosphere in the clay studio, but at least everyone would be in the same class meeting time. However, I realize now that my measurements didn't account for me. Where would I be? How could I teach 16 students effectively from this distance? 

In the foreground, the distance between facing wheels, in the background, the six wedding tables much too close together.

Both a meeting of 16 and a meeting of 8 would necessitate some thinking about processes in the studio. Once folks move from their wheels, our 6' distance is lost. And students would need to get tools, set up their wheels, get clay, wedge clay, put finished work away, and clean up daily. Later there's kiln loading, glazing, and firing. The main room is larger than the glazing room. where we could probably only fit 5 students in at a time (and apparently they would have to synchronize all their movements from wax, to brushes, to spray booth to glaze buckets). 

the glazing room. the center counter is less than a yard, so folks would have to stagger themselves on different sides of the table or spread out long the 18' feet of glaze buckets (with 6 different glazes within each of those 6' distances).

Students would certainly need to glaze in shifts. Wedging tables, too, would need to be moved. We have six wedging tables where 12 students can reasonable wedge at once, but maintaining the social distance would require us to move all six tables apart and only 6 people could prepare their clay at once. Presumably they'd each be pulling clay from our 4-7 different buckets, but how long does the virus live in clay? What about throwing slurry (clay mixed with water) and washing up? Do we need to set up different protocols for throwing and cleaning? Our work study students and hourly employees usually run laundry and recycle clay, does this put them at risk of handling contaminated towels, clay, and slurry?

A demonstration of what teaching with a 6' gap would look like. 

But the thing that I've been really thinking hard about is the distance I am expected to maintain from students. I wanted to think about this distance Friday night, so I laid out a yard stick and a couple of rulers to measure a six foot distance from my own wheel at home. That's a loooong ways to stand away from someone who is throwing. It is difficult to see what someone is actually doing with their hands, or even how thick their thrown walls are. These are things that I point out daily in class and it is the most efficient way for students to see what is happening.

Pottery from last week's raku firing. Beautiful copper glazes, but I can't remember whose pots these are.

Normally I walk between the two rows of wheels and I often kneel down in front of students' wheels to give individual instruction and correction. This puts me within two feet of the students. Sometimes I even touch their hands to adjust their hand position when they can't understand what I am describing or showing. Transferring precise hand positions and pressure from what you see to what you do is not as easy as it looks.

The dark text is a simplification of my course outcomes and objectives. The red circles are the things that require students to make things out of clay or glaze these same things

Teaching Pottery Classes Online

So, the big question is, how could I possibly teach a class with students on the wheels when I can't get close enough to see their hands and interiors and they can't get close enough to me to see the same?  To help me think this through, I want to return to my course objectives and outcomes. These can be divided into three categories: making, glazing, and firing. As I read through these course objectives, though, I see that besides the obvious need to actually use these techniques, there is also a focus on demonstrating understand of techniques, processes, and materials.

One of my many video demons for the Functional Pottery classes.

I already have a lot of elements of this class online. This class is flipped, meaning that students can watch all or nearly all of my demos online. I've already put my lectures and tests online.. The only thing they really can't do online is the making itself. They can't make pottery, glaze pottery, mix clay, and load and unload kilns online. 

students throwing (in the old building) within 6' of one another

But I've been thinking about this all weekend. maybe students can virtually load kilns. Maybe they can virtually identify placement of foot rings and handles and analyze form from pictures. Maybe they can even practice and get feedback on the placement of their hands (virtual hands) and tools during throwing and trimming. Last week people were laughing at me when they talked about loading kilns virtually, but now I'm thinking it has possibilities. Also, why doesn't a virtual game of loading a kiln already exist?

With one relay damaged, we were down two one electric kiln for the end of the quarter, so things got loaded extra tight in order to have everything glazed and fired before our Monday critique (which, of course, was moved online due to the COVID-19 precautions).

I'm picturing a lesson in SoftChalk that would include drawings or photographs. Students can sort correct hand positions versus incorrect hand positions. They can write or select answers about why these positions are correct. They could take pictures of their own hands or their own pots and identify what they've done correctly or incorrectly and what needs work. With a picture of a kiln interior, they could place things correctly or incorrectly. This would approximate hand-on activities without the interpersonal risk.

Raku firing (I admit, part of me feels about like this looks--things are on fire and the results are not entirely within our control).

What Cannot be Moved Online

Either scenario (one class meeting of 16 students all spread throughout the room) or two meetings of fewer students each solves the problem of getting students access to the wheels. The personal instruction which is both my favorite part of the class and probably the most effective part of the process, is perhaps insurmountable. I don't mean to be defeatist, but I think it is more difficult to apply instructions given at a different time or instructions that include small adjustments that you can barely see. But that gutting that part of the process does not mean that we can't approximate the content that students would receive in normal circumstances.

No idea how we could safely fire a raku kiln with 6' between participants. Maybe the COVID-19 risk will be gone by June when we usually fire.

Unfortunately, I think there are several parts of the class that may simply have to be skipped this quarter (or, optimistically, saved until after the COVID-19 threat has passed). I can imagine a way for students to load kilns one by one, but I usually supervise this process closely so that things don't break. If I were to, literally, step back during this process, the damage risks would increase. I'll have to think about whether that's worth it. Additionally, clay mixing might have to go and critiques will certainly have to move online. 

Running a critique live is fairly relaxed, but converting it to writing for an online critique makes it look tedious.

The Next Weeks: Online Finals & Massive Planning Efforts

I've moved my live final critique for Monday and Wednesday of this week online, per instructions. I think the critiques will be able to accomplish the course objective of having students "Exhibit knowledge of functional glazing techniques in discussions and other assignments." But the critiques next week will be less pleasant, less fun, and involve more technical frustration than I like. There will also be fewer donuts to celebrate our accomplishments. Even local establishments like Don's Donuts is impacted by these restrictions.

Pottery finished last week by Jamie Barker in my winter throwing class, including our only final critique donut.

Tomorrow I anticipate there will be meetings about what we are doing next quarter. We are supposed to finish up Winter quarter on Friday, March 20, the return for Spring quarter on Tuesday, March 31. Assuming that the quarter doesn't get delayed, which some schools are doing, that gives faculty just over a week to make significant changes in their classes and solve intractable problems about delivery and access. 

During the raku firing, someone's glaze dripped onto this sculpture by Ibet Vargas. The glaze dripped and pulled into a thread as the piece was removed from the kiln, then cooled into a tiny sliver of glass.

There are several workshops and lots of online training and assistance available to faculty next week, but, of course, most of us are at capacity with the usual end-of-quarter grading, cleaning, (firing), and paperwork next week. On top of that, many faculty (perhaps the 85% of classes that are not taught online) are scrambling to make major changes to move our finals online as well. All this is to say that I'm probably not the only one who took a significant amount of my weekend to revise my finals, communicate with students, and start planning for major changes in spring. And I won't be the only one to trade at least a portion of my spring break for solid chunks of intense planning and course development.

A full view of Ibet's slab-built sculpture (from above). She used horse-hair on the surface to create the black smoke lines

If you are also trying to move your pottery or art class online or observe social distancing for spring, what does your plan look like? What access and delivery issues have you solved? What resources are you using? Who knows of a virtual kiln loading app or game? I'd be happy to connect with you. 

If you're a clay instructor and on Facebook, I know the Clay Buddies group has some conversation threads going about teaching online, but I haven't seen much about social distancing.