Creative Process

What I learned about the creative process...

While formulating my workshop, I gathered inspiration from my education courses, as well as the workshop I was a student of as an Arts first-year student. My workshop format ran through a warm-up, lecture, discussion, activity, and reflection. The framework of this was similar to the workshop I completed, Alternative Art by Ren Gilmore (2024), as it was an easy-to-follow format that dove into the nature of our work. I then justified this format by reflecting on my education courses, such as TLPL251 and TLPL340, and implementing the skills learned through those in each section of my workshop period. This implemented effective learning since warm-ups were to get to know my students, lectures on nature art history/climate exigency educated students on topics, crafts based on the unit we were in gave students hands-on experience, and discussions of the lecture and how the activity went to connect and reflect moving forward.

In addition, my skills of being a workshop leader improved as I completed the CPSA260 course, which acts as a supplement course for workshop leaders on the topic of peer teaching. I studied the paper "The Room itself is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement," which is about how important the orientation of the classroom is for certain styles of learning. This includes student desks and an instructor position, determines the level of collaboration, individuality, and lecture-viewing that can happen in a classroom, teaching me to have my students sit in a semi-circle each week, with the open half being for me and the screen. This allowed for conversation, but also space to focus on the lecture and myself as the instructor. The workshop was very collaborative, allowing students to share ideas and resources to feel fulfilled with their artistic work.