Lesson Plan Ideas/Reflection

My partner, Nick and I have been trying to conjure an idea based off our "Representations of Home" presentation that we gave to our class a few weeks ago. We focused on the amazing art of Pepon Osorio and Gregory Crewdson and talked about how they represent a feeling of home in their works. Osorio usually uses concepts linked to nationality and feelings of displacement. Whether this be having to live in a culture different from one's own, or having to move out due to a fire... his themes of displacement can be reckoned (as seen below in "Tina's House").

Pepon Osorio's "Tina's House"

On the other hand, Gregory Crewdon's work has a dramatic and cinematic view of everyday American small towns. He photographs images on a huge large-scale set that he plans out very carefully to capture the desired image.

Gregory Crewdon's "Ophelia"

 
After briefly discussing what the feeling of "home" could mean without being in a space of continuous living, we got the feeling that this would be a great idea for a lesson. By talking about what the "home" feeling is to some students, we could translate that same feeling into a different space.
We were originally going to use a mixed media/collage/drawing on a flat sheet of paper... but this idea was pretty lame and after discussing it with our teacher, he challenged us to make it 3-d. What we ended up making was a small 3-d box with a writing exercise that got the students' juices flowing. By having them write about the feeling and memories they have of this place, students can easily reference their writing to compose a meaningful 3-d box. It was really hard to think of something that could be done in 45 minutes, but in the end, the students really had fun with it.

Here is Rachel D.'s example...

I even enjoyed making the teacher examples, which is always a good sign.

I think the lesson itself went pretty well. Though Nick and I planned what each of us was gonna say, I found myself unable to get a word in. After I finished what I was explaining, Nick would take over and just kinda keep talking. I know this isn't really his fault... and it wasn't on purpose... but our teaching styles are just too different which makes it hard to teach in pairs. I figure when it comes time to student teach, I should be able to really take control of my classroom (or let's hope).