My first year on the front lines of our public school system has been instructive...to me, especially. There are moments of extreme consternation, but also moments that I really treasure.
In all our ceramics classes we have tables instead of desks. About 6-8 students to a table. I noticed as weeks went on that each table developed it's own culture and rituals, and I came to think of them as "pods" (like schools of whales). One of my favorite tables is a group of gamers I call the "Knights of the Black Hood" (KoTBH) after the day they all came in wearing black hoodies with the hoods up. It's kind of a visual. Maybe I'll draw it sometime.
They're a loud but genial crew, often discussing WoW, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and of course, today, Spiderman 3. I haven't seen it yet, so I was kind of avoiding their area, because I could hear them talking about it. Eventually one of them came up to where I was to get help on the next stage of his project. (Lest you think me heartless and neglectful, it was for mortaring tile and had to be done at my workstation anyway...).
I asked the student how he had liked Spiderman 3, and he said he hadn't seen it yet either. I said "Oh no, I hear J. over there talking about it, too!" A. says, "Yeah, he keeps saying 'spoiler alert' and telling details anyway." I said "Well, I'm avoiding him today! I don't want to ruin the details." We joshed for a bit while making with the tile adhesive. After he was done, I put away the tile supplies while he put away his piece to set up. I was walking to the sink to wash up, which is behind the KoTBH table. A. was on his way back and saw me and said, urgently:
"Ms. Kern!! Perimeter alert! Perimeter alert! Do not approach J.!"
Awesome.
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Hi Michelle:
It's nice to connect with you via your blog. I've enjoyed reading it from time to time. You do some great travels and I like hearing about your class. You are often asked about at the RAC. How about coming back to do a workshop? I found one of your little books in the glaze room and have kinda been protecting it from the clean-outs hoping you'll stroll in someday. We now have a new raku kiln and that is becoming popular with teachers and students. I have been trying to find a recipe for that "Vegas Red" that was always a favorite of mine on Raku pieces. I understood that it was a low fire glaze that went wrong and works well on raku. Not I'm wondering if it is Tom Coleman's cone 9-10 Vegas Red that just goes green and dry in low fire. Any light you could shed on this would be great. You can write me at: mail@maryobrien.com or check out my blog at: maryobrienart.blogspot.com and I'll keep that little book for you.
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