[Seasoned Warrior]

Lucille Oka, on 30 June 2011 - 12:14 AM, said:

Seasoned Warrior, on 29 June 2011 - 04:52 PM, said:

Lucille, you posted the following a while back: "Your welcome. The idea of the catalog I got from readings about Thomas Chippendale (1718-1780) the furniture maker and Andrea Palladio (1508-1580),..." while I ascribe my poor spelling to my bad typing there is an obscure saying about people in glass houses and all that....

Not being a native English speaker I have sometimes misspelled items and I probably have other bad habits also but I try to consider the content rather than the trappings, we all make mistakes: some of us even admit them. I am sure that your education included the difference between "your" and "you're" and so I would not diminish the value of your posts because of a minor typographical or grammatical error. Please note that I did not start this spelling bee, I was not the one who commented on the spelling of ceramics in the original poster's comment, I was merely pointing out in the post that yes mistakes in spelling and sometimes grammar are made but they are less important than the information contained in the comment.

I hope you can find in your heart the kindness to forgive a poor speller like myself but I may be mistaken. I promise I will try harder to be a better speller.

Best regards,
Charles

Went checking on my posts eh? That proves my point. Seems like a vicious cycle. One corrects another, another corrects another, and on and on we go where it stops no body knows.
We all make mistakes. And sometimes spell check makes errors. You should see what it does with the verb ‘to be’. I didn’t mean to offend and you don’t have to defend. I am aware that we all make typos. Let’s just try to ignore them and move on. There are no teachers who will samck out handes. Oops, smack our hands.
By the way, thanks for the correction. I made the adjustment.

[Seasoned Warrior]

Yes, it's available so why not??? Checking past posts is a good way to get a feel of where a person is coming from and I see no restrictions on that. I believe that one shojld stand behind what one says: I do! As far as you having made your point I do not see that you offered any point to be made in your post. Your post appeared to me to be strictly an imprecation of my value as a poster because of my obvious ignorance of the English language. As I mentioned I did nto start this spelling contest and my only response to this thread was in regards to the study of pedagogics. Perhaps you should check out the "New Journalism" as taught by Tom Wolfe and others, you might enjoy the plasticity of English. There is even a difference in the spellings between American English and British English; which is correct? I am perfectly happy to ignore typos and move on, as I was from the beginning. I do however enjoy a spirited discussion, especially if there is a certain amount of verbal jousting involved.

Bests regards,
Charles

[Marcia Selsor]

My computer automatically corrects " raku" to "rake" constantly and I frequently don't notice what it has done. But I also make typos. I think the info is most important. I like the comments of kiln doc and Pres. I am about to re-enter the workforce in higher ed. The campus is in Tx. where they teach to the TAKS texas assessment of knowledge and skills.
I am apprehensive about this bureaucratic nightmare. I was not allowed to teach at the museum because the only wanted Texas certified teachers. In Montana the teachers training curriculum underwent huge restructuring to separate the pedagogy from the subject matter. Art teachers took the same concentration of courses as a BA major in History, Art or whatever their major was. Then everyone took pedagogy i.e. "how to teach" classes. I over simplify, but that was the general idea. I will keep you posted on my progress.
I feel Orwellian in this new direction.
Marcia

[Pres]

Lucille Oka, on 30 June 2011 - 02:14 AM, said:

Seasoned Warrior, on 29 June 2011 - 04:52 PM, said:

Lucille, you posted the following a while back: "Your welcome. The idea of the catalog I got from readings about Thomas Chippendale (1718-1780) the furniture maker and Andrea Palladio (1508-1580),..." while I ascribe my poor spelling to my bad typing there is an obscure saying about people in glass houses and all that....

Not being a native English speaker I have sometimes misspelled items and I probably have other bad habits also but I try to consider the content rather than the trappings, we all make mistakes: some of us even admit them. I am sure that your education included the difference between "your" and "you're" and so I would not diminish the value of your posts because of a minor typographical or grammatical error. Please note that I did not start this spelling bee, I was not the one who commented on the spelling of ceramics in the original poster's comment, I was merely pointing out in the post that yes mistakes in spelling and sometimes grammar are made but they are less important than the information contained in the comment.

I hope you can find in your heart the kindness to forgive a poor speller like myself but I may be mistaken. I promise I will try harder to be a better speller.

Best regards,
Charles

Went checking on my posts eh? That proves my point. Seems like a vicious cycle. One corrects another, another corrects another, and on and on we go where it stops no body knows.
We all make mistakes. And sometimes spell check makes errors. You should see what it does with the verb ‘to be’. I didn’t mean to offend and you don’t have to defend. I am aware that we all make typos. Let’s just try to ignore them and move on. There are no teachers who will samck out handes. Oops, smack our hands.
By the way, thanks for the correction. I made the adjustment.

I too apologize for any "ruffled feathers" as I usually overlook spelling errors in favor of the content of the post. I stopped posting on this thread in hopes that it would return to the subject at hand. The sources listed that include the national and state art education organizationsshould help a lot. Don't forget that many times colleges post their curriculum's and are a good place to start, and get ideas.

[artstrider]

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'.

[Benzine]

artstrider, on 10 September 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

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.

[Pres]

Benzine, on 10 September 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

artstrider, on 10 September 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

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.

[Benzine]

Pres, on 10 September 2012 - 09:47 PM, said:

Benzine, on 10 September 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

artstrider, on 10 September 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

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.

[TJR]

medoll, on 14 June 2010 - 05:14 PM, said:

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.

[Pres]

TJR, on 10 September 2012 - 10:27 PM, said:

medoll, on 14 June 2010 - 05:14 PM, said:

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.

[Benzine]

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.

[Pres]

Benzine, on 11 September 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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.

[TJR]

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].

[Benzine]

Pres, on 12 September 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Benzine, on 11 September 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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.

[Pres]

Benzine, on 14 September 2012 - 10:29 PM, said:

Pres, on 12 September 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Benzine, on 11 September 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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.

[Benzine]

Pres, on 15 September 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

Benzine, on 14 September 2012 - 10:29 PM, said:

Pres, on 12 September 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Benzine, on 11 September 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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.

[TJR]

Benzine, on 15 September 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

Pres, on 15 September 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

Benzine, on 14 September 2012 - 10:29 PM, said:

Pres, on 12 September 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Benzine, on 11 September 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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.

[Pres]

TJR, on 16 September 2012 - 09:46 PM, said:

Benzine, on 15 September 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

Pres, on 15 September 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

Benzine, on 14 September 2012 - 10:29 PM, said:

Pres, on 12 September 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Benzine, on 11 September 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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.

[Benzine]

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.

[Pres]

Benzine, on 18 September 2012 - 10:50 PM, said:

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.