Wacky Wearables

When Trash Turns Trendy

Description/Analysis:

I had the most fun teaching this lesson. Every single student was engaged. The classroom felt alive with productive energetic students. I taught this lesson to two cycles of art classes. The first time I taught this lesson, we only had one 7th grade class and I had soloed a lesson with that class prior to teaching “Wacky Wearables”. The students were engaged and excited. The second round of soloing with “Wacky Wearables” the students were highly creative and the projects were more sophisticated and unique then the class before. There was an incredible about of freedom to this project. Due to this independence, everyone was engaged in completely different activities with various tools. It was not unusual to have one student hammering a circuit board, while another student was sewing, while another student riveting metal parts together. All of this commotion created a sense of chaos in the classroom, and I had to learn how to balance chaos with safety. The fashion show at the end was the most fun I had student teaching all year. The students were proud of their work and strutted down the runway with confidence. Celebrating the completion of “Wacky Wearables” was so successful because students got to show off what they made. If a student decided they did not want to model, a friend could wear their work and the work could still be celebrated. Everyone was able to participate as an audience member, model, and/ or DJ.

Reflection/ Modifications:

I was inspired to create this lesson from the artist Cyrus Kabiru, a self-taught Kenyan artist best known for making sculptural eyewear out of recycled materials. I wanted students to push themselves to look at objects differently. To see everything as an opportunity to transform any material into something completely different and unique. The goal of this lesson was to play, explore, and create. Students went above and beyond this expectation and researched methods of construction and pushed the boundaries of what was anticipated. Students held themselves to a higher standard because they had the opportunity to create without any set of directions.

At times the classroom had so much going on that I had to give in to trying to control what was going on and trust that students were being safely independent. In the future, I would try and create a more organized classroom so that students doing similar activities were in a designated part of the classroom. It was difficult to calm the momentum of the students, but in the future I would add a few days for written reflection that could promote a calmer learning environment.

I saw the students as artists, and they saw themselves as designers, creators, and artists. Since the lesson had a tremendous amount of freedom, it truly accommodated all types of learners and students. Every student found success in this project, and every student was engaged regardless of ability and skill level.