{"id":5670,"date":"2026-02-05T12:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/02\/05\/wheel-throwing-week-4-plates-kind-of\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T12:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:26:08","slug":"wheel-throwing-week-4-plates-kind-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/02\/05\/wheel-throwing-week-4-plates-kind-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheel Throwing Week 4: Plates\u2026 Kind of"},"content":{"rendered":"
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No Plates Were Made This Week<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Next week is another trimming session followed up by a final class dedicated to glazing our final pieces, so today was our last day on the wheel. It was another humbling day. Today was meant to be a day for plates \/ doing any final projects we really wanted to try. The instructor did a demonstration for throwing plates (very different from pots) and then we were on our own! <\/p>\n

Making plates involves using the knife edge of your hand to flatten out your clay into a thing even disk, compacting the base, lifting the edge for a rim, then shaping that rim to the desired design. Here\u2019s a video<\/a> of the process. Easy right? Nope. Again another centering issue. I couldn\u2019t get it centered enough, which caused the edges of the plate to be all wonky. On top of the wonky edges, I pulled my hand out too quickly when flattening the clay (which could have knocked it off centered even more)and the base wasn\u2019t flat. At this point I\u2019m just going through the motions, knowing the piece will never see the inside of a kiln, but practicing anyway. I unenthusiastically, and quickly, raised the lip and created a plate-bowl shape (plowl? blate?). The plate was janky, but it was done. As I tried to wire the plate off the bat I cut the piece right in half! Now I know to take the bat off the wheel pan before wiring off plates. Honestly that learning moment was more valuable than the plate would have been! <\/p>\n

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Proof of The Struggle<\/h2>\n

This piece will hopefully be a big coffee mug (if I don\u2019t trim a hole through it next week). You can see at one point the instructor steps in to give me a hand. My biggest issue today was pulling up the walls too quickly, causing the whole thing to \u201ctornado\u201d \u2013 a term I have proudly coined. You can see how the whole pot gets lopsided when I stop the wheel. Luckily, with help from my instructor we were able to cut off the wonky top and salvage the mug! <\/p>\n

This pot is also the pot where I think centering finally clicked! I was having troubles again, when the instructor suggested that I might not be applying enough pressure. I really pushed at it and boom, centered. The \u201ceasing on and easing off\u201d tip really had me feather light on the clay. Still something that will take practice but a good first step! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Third and Final Piece<\/h2>\n

This was also supposed to be a big mug. The picture doesn\u2019t do the size justice. It is tiny. I envision it will be a much better mini vase than a mug. I started off with the same amount of class as the previous mug, but kept tornado-ing the piece and having to trim the top. I must have done it three times before I accepted its fate. Anyway, a tiny vase, or an espresso cup. Another piece that probably won\u2019t see the inside of the kiln, but will be great to practice trimming on next week! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lessons for Learning<\/h2>\n

Today was another day that put me in the shoes of a learner. Continuous struggling can be frustrating. I feel like my next steps is practicing on my own for a bit. It is so helpful having an instructor there, and classmates to lean on, but sometimes there is value in just putting your head down and practicing. With introductions, demonstrations and clean up, the 2.5 hour class just doesn\u2019t feel long enough. I need time on my own to struggle, continue struggling and eventually breakthrough the other side. The same applies to our learners in the classroom. Sometimes practice is more informative than instruction for our students. It is our jobs as teachers to know when to give instructions and when to provide opportunities to practice. <\/p>\n

Final Thoughts <\/h2>\n

It just wasn\u2019t my week, yet again. I think too much time had lapsed since the last time I had thrown that I had forgotten the feel of it. I also seemed to be impatient today, with many of my problems resulting from moving too quickly. It can be frustrating when you feel like you\u2019ve taken a step back in your progress. I tried not to let it get to me too much. The other students in the class were also having their own troubles today, I was not alone! <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been meaning to reach out to the studio at Ceader Hill Rec centre to inquire about memberships to use their space. This week was the kick in the but I needed to reach out and nail down a place to practice! The only way to get better at something is to practice and continue pushing forward on that learning rollercoaster. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No Plates Were Made This Week Next week is another trimming session followed up by a final class dedicated to glazing our final pieces, so today was our last day on the wheel. It was another humbling day. Today was… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}