(as submitted by a student teacher)
My name is Kyrstyn and I am a student studying to become an elementary school teacher. I recently took Melissa Cameron?s workshop. I had such a great time. I learned new skills, a new hobby, and meet new interesting people. When I signed up for the workshop I never thought that I would be able to solder, saw, and design a piece of jewelry.
My favorite part of the workshop was the meaning behind it. Melissa Cameron does not just create new pieces of jewelry; she takes recycled things and turns them into something new and beautiful. I myself enjoy antiques so I brought an old-fashioned makeup compact to the workshop. My finished product was a necklace. The coolest part to me was that nothing from my compact was thrown away. That to me says a lot, it is a concept that can be applied to life. You shouldn?t look at something or someone as disposable and invaluable. Everyone and everything has value. This is an important lesson for me to bring to light as a future educator.
Overall the workshop was fantastic. I learned a lot about myself and about how to make jewelry. I would recommend this experience to all future teachers and anyone who has an interest in learning something new.
Curriculum Idea:
I think that Melissa?s work could be used in the classroom. By showing some of her work to students you may open their minds to new and interesting ideas. One aspect of her work that I think could lend itself well to the classroom is her holistic approach to her recycled pieces. I think the lesson of being holistic can flow through many parts of life. An extended essay prompt could be to ask your students to write about an aspect of their life that they would like to approach holistically, another idea may be to have them look at her art and then expressively write about the emotions that it evokes for them.
| image: Melissa Cameron |
