Help me give my students furniture for the kiln! Having a finished piece gives children pride, and seeing the fruits of their labor physically instills in them the significance of the methods they were taught.
I teach students across the board from K-12th grade. Each student ranges in abilities, but they are creative and excited when they enter my classroom. I love to see the wonder in their eyes when I present a new project, show them a new art trick, and help them grow as artists. They make my days much brighter because they are always happy to see me and give me feedback everyday. For the majority of my kiddos, art is an emotional outlet where they can be themselves. Each student is learning to embrace "happy" mistakes, problem solve, and strengthen the way they see the world around them through different art processes. I believe art is more about the process rather than the product, therefore I am allowing my students to discover new materials, techniques, and tools in an open-ended way that encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative learning.
My Project
This is my first year as the K-12 art teacher. I absolutely love my art classroom, but the reusable materials that it contains are beginning to show their age. At the moment the kiln used to fire clay has one shelf with a crack halfway up the middle, chips all over the shelf due to glaze runoff, and broken and unstable posts to hold the shelf in place. This poses a problem, and high stress levels, every time I load precious artwork my students worked so hard on because of fear it will become unstable and collapse, wrecking havoc inside.
Receiving an upgraded furniture kit for our kiln will allow more projects to be fired at one time, save time and money, and put our minds at ease.
My students, of ALL ages, get very excited and a little impatient when waiting for their pieces to be fired for the first time, so time is very important during our clay unit. In the future I hope to see those excited smiles much sooner and see the joy in their eyes when they see their fired pieces.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Holmes and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
