Since I was returning on the red-eye, I anticipated that I would not be in any condition to teach a regular Nach class. So I scheduled my class for our second stage of our Yad Hayotzer Nach pottery project in which we would paint our creations in the art room.
The Yad Hayotzer Project
From its conception, I planned this project as a way for my students to match the experiences that Jeremiah went through in Jeremiah Chapter 18. Hashem told him to go to a Potter's house and watch how pottery is formed and reformed in order to understand God's process of creating and sometimes dismantling his people in order to rebuild. Like Jeremiah, we were privileged to visit our in house Potter, Ms. Ahuva Mantell, Director of Visual Arts at Frisch, and emulate God's creative process through our own pottery productions. As we worked on our pottery a few weeks back, one of the students was charged with photographing her classmates and composing an Instagram post which was then posted on The Frisch School Instagram account. See the post below.This became a fruitful lesson in its own right the next day when we debriefed in class. The post describes the pottery-making process as one-sided, with Hashem, the Potter in this metaphor, having the sole authority to change the pottery, i.e. prophecy concerning the House of Israel, as he sees fit. He can form and destroy, transforming the clay depending on his actions. This is the simple pshat of the verse:
However, upon further careful analysis of the verses that follow, see Jeremiah Chapter 18, Verses 7-10, and after a heated classroom discussion, we realized that God is not the sole actor in this vision. Rather Hashem changes the form of the pottery, his prophetic prediction for either destruction or construction, based on the actions of the people. The Potter does not independently form the clay into a pot, the clay has a "mind" of its own, determining through its interaction with the Potter, how it will be formed.
6As this potter can I not do to you, O house of Israel? says the Lord. Behold, as clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. והֲכַיּוֹצֵר הַזֶּה לֹא אוּכַל לַעֲשׂוֹת לָכֶם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל נְאֻם יְהֹוָה הִנֵּה כַחֹמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר כֵּן אַתֶּם בְּיָדִי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל:
The students discovered this based on their own experience molding the clay. Despite the fact that they were the Potter forming the clay, their creation was based at least in part on the properties of the clay as well. As Ms. Mantell connected this to the experience of Michelangelo when chiseling his sculptures out of stone:
Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. - Michelangelo, Source: BrainyquoteThe artist acts upon the art but is also acted upon by the medium in front of her. When designing washing cups out of clay, the students pushed against the clay but the clay also pushed against them and together they formed the new creation.
This lesson has an important application for Tefilla, Jewish prayer. Despite the fact that G-d is the ultimate Subject and we are the Object, G-d acts upon us, when we address him in prayer, he allows himself so to speak to be influenced by our words and deeds. This rich discussion and new understanding of Jeremiah's vision came to us only because of our experience in molding the clay. This was a profound example of experiential education.
Augmented Reality Using Aurasma
After the clay was formed, it had to be fired in the kiln which luckily for us has been installed in Frisch. Soon the pots were ready so on Tuesday upon my return from San Diego, I led my class in painting their pottery. The only requirement that I gave to my students was that they had to paint their cups in some way connected to a theme they learned from Jeremiah this year. This visceral, tactile medium allowed students, even those who are not normally Navi superstars, to make deep and personal connections with the text and bring up elements from the story they learned months earlier.
The painted cups were then fired a second time and on Thursday they were finished. Since we are planning to display them at next week's Evening of the Arts, I asked the students to come back to the art room to explain the significance of their work for the parents and other community members who will be coming next week to their art exhibit. They did this using Aurasma, an augmented reality app. Every student photographed their masterwork and then took a 30-60 second video using their phone of their reflections about the significance of their work, how it connects to the book of Jeremiah, and how it connects to their lives. I marveled at my students some who did not seem engaged in regular class as they talked on and on, off the cuff about Jeremiah and their personal connection to it.
Using Aurasma, they created what is called an Aura. The picture of their artwork was used as a trigger image. When this picture is scanned using the Aurasma app, their video description appears as an overlay. Below is a screenshot of what it looks like from the Aura that I created for my cup.
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| Video overlay of me describing the pottery that I created. |
You can see this for yourself. Download the Aurasma app for your iPhone or Android device and scan the picture below to watch my video explanation.
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| Scan the image above using the Aurasma app from your iPhone or Android device. |
We hope that by creating a physical work of art while augmenting the experience of viewing the art using Aurasma will greatly enhance the exhibition next week. Ms. Mantell is actually using the app to enhance many of her student's art. Each student in the Frisch Arts Track was required to take a time lapse video of herself creating the art. These were then connected to a trigger image thumbnail of the art. The visitor to the exhibition will be able to not only view the finished piece but will watch a video of the process of the student creating her design. I can hardly wait!
Zechariah Visions Gallery Walk
Another highlight of my week was a gallery walk for Morah Racheli Weiss’ Nach classes Zechariah visions projects. For the past month, students combined deep research, textual analysis, parshanut with various commentators, and art to describe one or more of Zechariah's eight visions. They presented their completed projects to their class. However, they wanted to present to a wider public audience so they set up an art gallery this week for teachers, administrators, and their fellow students to view their art. You can view a selection of projects from the gallery walk below. |
| Some students created dioramas incorporating 3d designs which they designed and printed themselves. |
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| Others created Photoshop images or stop motion videos. |
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| One group even created a virtual reality experience using Photoshop, a VR 360 Photo Viewer, and a Google Cardboard headset. |
Today, juniors in Morah Racheli’s Navi class presented a grand gallery walk for faculty and students that showcased...
Posted by The Frisch School on Tuesday, April 5, 2016
When you are a hammer, everything becomes a nail.
Our sophomore history students were also busy this week on their fourth quarter history projects researching an event, place, or person from the second half of the 20th century and designing a poster board, presentation, and other artifacts for a public display. Technology is an important component of their project so I presented to the classes on various possible project ideas using augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3d design.After my presentation, one student approached me who wanted to incorporate virtual reality into his presentation. I asked him what his topic was and he responded Nelson Mandela. I asked him why he wanted to use VR? His response was because it is cool. I then questioned how he could use virtual reality in a project about Nelson Mandela. He had no idea. I pointed out an important rule in technology and really every facet of life. When you are a hammer, everything becomes a nail. Just because you love a certain technology, virtual reality for example, does not mean that every project can lend itself to that technology. (Although in the case of Nelson Mandela, if he would expand his project vision to include the experience of Nelson Mandela and others under apartheid in South Africa, then virtual reality might become a compelling medium to express what life was like in the Apartheid Shanty Towns.)
I had a similar incident where a student approached me wanting to use 3D design for a 9th grade history project he is creating on Rav Ashi, the compiler of the Talmud Bavli. When I asked him why he chose 3d design, he responded that he likes 3d printing and his friend is 3d printing his history project (which is on medieval castles). When I then asked him what 3d printing had to do with authoring the Talmud, he had no response.
While technology can play an indispensable role in student learning, the content has to drive the technology, not the other way around. Augmented reality can greatly enhance and expand an art exhibition. 3D design can allow one to literally build a medieval castle and virtual reality can help a student recreate Zechariah's dream-like visions into something that can be seen and experienced. However, just like one would not choose a hammer if one wanted to paint a building, one needs to choose technology carefully. Technology is a tool to profoundly enhance and support student learning. As with any tool, it is best when used thoughtfully.
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