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My Fashion Jewlery journey

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I have chosen to learn how to construct a beaded necklace for my Kltuz project. I have always been fascinated with the original handmade designs and find them unique and attractive. This is a skill that takes time to master at each level. It requires patience and determination, and I feel this will give me an idea of what students with special needs go through daily. I have chosen someone who I have known for some years. She has become a very good friend and has been making crafts for years. She has incorporated crochet and beading into her sewing and has made beautiful items over the years for family members and friends. I will be stepping out of my comfort zone to partake on this journey but hope I will be able to learn the skills needed to complete this project.

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Student: Latoya Willocks

Teacher: Valrie

Goals: By following verbal and visual instructions, the student should create a unique jewelry made from beads and other materials such as beading cord and metals.

Objectives: Latoya should be able to-

Create a necklace using simple beading techniques.

Create a set of earrings using simple beading techniques.

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Goal Statement
By December 2nd, 2024

Latoya Willocks will perform simple jewelry making in a calm environment (room with adequate light) as measured by trials with 100% accuracy with instructional support.

Optional baseline statement

Latoya Willocks will increase her jewelry making skill from the baseline of beginning learner to intermediate.

Goal statement with baseline

By December 2,2024 Latoya Willocks will increase her jewelry making skill from a baseline of intermediate to expert in a location that provides adequate lighting and limited distractions, as measured by student work sample with 100% accuracy with instructional support

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This Journal is about my experiences learning to make a female jewelry set. I have always admired fashion jewelry made from beads and believed it holds some level of genuinity, creativity and expressions. My past landowner Miss Valrie who is now my friend has been doing crafts for years and on multiple occasions tried to get me to learn some of her craft. I could never find the time to learn the skill because it is time consuming and I think it would be easier to buy instead of making my own. I believe this project will be a challenge but I think it will give me a glimpse of what students with IEPs face on a daily basis. I drafted a design and showed it to my teacher. She advised me to start small and if I feel comfortable enough then I could look at another option, and work on a more difficult item. She will not have much time to teach me in person because we live in different cities, but she will video call me whenever she is available on the weekend and instruct me on what to do. Whenever possible, I will visit her at her house to get a better understanding of any hiccups I may encounter so she can correct my mistakes. While she will be facilitating me on this journey, she prefers to be behind the scenes. She was assured of her privacy and that I will only take pictures of the items. I am grateful that she is willing to use her resources to help me with this project because I am unemployed at the moment.

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Individualized Educational Goal Plan

Student: Latoya Willocks

Instructor/teacher: Miss Valery

By November 20th, 2024Latoya Willocks will be able to master simple jewelry making, as measured by trials. Latoya Willocks will be able to construct and master simple jewelry making. (Necklace and earring set) With 100% accuracy Latoya Willocks will be observed thrice by the teacher with 3 out of 4 trials. In a room with adequate light where distractions are limited. With direct instructional support and scaffolding from teacher

Goal Statement -

By December 2nd, 2024, Latoya Willocks will perform simple jewelry making in a calm environment (room with adequate light) as measured by trials with 100% accuracy with instructional support.

By December 2nd, 2024, Latoya Willocks will gain the patience needed to successfully construct a fashion jewelry and be able to advance in her skill to be able to teach it to others

Optional baseline statement.

Latoya Willocks will increase her jewelry making skill from the baseline of beginning learner to intermediate.

Goal statement with baseline

By December 20,2024 Latoya Willocks will increase her jewelry making skill from a baseline of intermediate to expert in a location that provides adequate lighting and limited distractions, as measured by student work sample with 100% accuracy with instructional support.

Goal statement

Latoya Willocks will be able to construct a simple jewelry item (choice: necklace or necklace and earrings) made of beads, using basic skills to develop her motor skills. She should be in a calm environment to keep her focused. A room with adequate light where distractions are limited. As measured by trials. Latoya Willocks will have a 4-trial period to show what she observed from her teacher’s demonstration. Latoya Willocks will be observed thrice by the teacher, 3 out of 4 trials to see her understanding of the project requirements for completion. With directed instructions Latoya Willocks will be able to follow the guidance of the teacher to correctly construct a well fitted jewelry item.

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Heading into this project I was optimistic, but now I am having mixed feelings because my trainer is going through a personal issue that I feel will set me back a bit.

I collected the tools and equipment from my instructor and because of her lack of availability I was given a paper with a few instructions on which items I was allowed to use because I have to return them once I have completed my project. Once I got home I tried to familiarize myself with the items that were in the bag. There were some tools that I was knowledgeable about and several variations of beads. I began playing with the beads because some of them were coupled together and attached to a tag, which showed they were new. I ended my observation and play and read the instructions that were left for me.

The instructions did not tell me how to start the beading. It mainly identified the items in the bag. I have to wait until I see my teacher over the weekend.

I was able to start my first lesson and spend a couple hours with my instructor to learn the basic skill needed for beading. In the beginning I just watched her while she did a few beading. There was no scaffolding because she had to be on her phone and she had some work to do around the house so I spent less than 2 hours with her. I knew she was a very busy woman so I think I will only see her for 30 minutes. While she was showing me what to do, she went really fast and I was trying to catch up with what she was saying. She kept saying “it's easy, you just have to practice it.” I thanked her for her time and spent a few seconds trying to measure the length of the cord. She said “you don't need to measure it, all you need to do is wrap it around like this and you will know how long you want it to be.” I followed her instructions and found out it was actually really easy to measure it this way. I tried to make a knot at one end of the cord to prevent the beads from falling off but she said not to do it. I thought to myself “does she know that there can be more than one way to do something” i acknowledged her instructions and did what she said.

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I am in my second lesson and the beads kept falling. At one point I was starting to get a little annoyed. I was losing interest, and I started to lose count of the pattern and the number of beads I needed on each end. She did not like the fact that I kept messing up and starting over. “At this paste you will not finish until tonight” she said. She got up a few times to tend to other things that she needed to do, her words kept repeating in my head, so I took a few minutes to take some deep breaths and reminded myself that this is only a project and that I don't need to be skillful at it. I started to wonder if this is how the students in a special class feel. I was determined to keep trying and was able to complete my first trial. I left my instructors home with a better understanding of how to begin my work and decided to practice at home and show my teacher that I was determined to complete the project.

Journal #4

In this lesson I was beginning to understand the reason why patience was an important skill in jewelry making. The method used to lock the ends of the cord, uses a special technique called the triple overhand knot. I was taught this technique by my instructor, after I made several errors. She said, “it's good to learn from your mistakes.”

I had trouble tying the knot so that the beads could hold together. The heads kept falling off and I had to start over. This was not like the issue I had when I just started using the beads. Initially, I had a few beads that were loose but were easy to correct, but using the incorrect tying method caused me to lose the majority of my beads. I had to start over a couple times then decided to use a longer cord which was very helpful but took me a bit longer to bead and finish one section. It was a drag to keep removing and replacing the beads, because of the incorrect initial placement.  Closing the ends was the most difficult thing to do on the necklace. Having the beads fall off the cord was making me really angry because it always falls off when I have a lot of beads already on the cord. I went to see my instructor who saw my progress and corrected me on how to tie the knot. I had to make several of the knots for the beads to hold.

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While working on my design I encountered a few hiccup.Counting the beads for the correct design and size was sometimes frustrating because I kept missing a bead or the correct size. I was happy that I chose one color else I would be having a lot more errors, because getting the right design on both sides of the cord was difficult. I was able to follow my teachers instructions and complete the necklace and I felt accomplished. My design was not perfect, to many people it is considered simple or even “cheap” but I felt happy with my product. My teacher was proud of my progress and felt that I should try a more complex item. She assured me that it was not difficult. “If you can make the necklace then you can make the earrings to go with them. I know that you can do it.”she also said “this is a bit more challenging but it takes less time to make”

She wanted to push me further, maybe to love this new found talent that I was starting to admire and respect. I was a little  reluctant only because of time constraints but I said ok, let's do it! Even though I wasn't paying her for her time, she  was more involved in teaching and I liked that. She showed me how to make a simple earring using the tools she provided. I was able to choose the copper design bottom and I paid close attention to how she used the pliers. She showed me how to bend the needle and close the endings. It was interesting and informative to see how the items were constructed to give the final product.

Journal #6

This was my final piece, and I felt confident; I did not consider myself as a professional, but I did acquire the skills needed to complete a simple project. I carefully followed my teachers' instructions and was able to complete the earrings. It did not take much time to complete, but I did have a bit of a hard time with the bending of the needle. I did a few trials until I got the desired size and was able to attach the loop to the opening then successfully closed it. I informed my teacher of my progress, and she was satisfied with the product. She said, “If you really want to be good at this you will need to practice more, very soon you will be able to crochet alongside beading and attaching it to clothing.” I felt pleased with myself and happy that I did not give up when I was faced with the obstacles I encountered during this process.

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Construction of the earrings.

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I found it interesting, watching Miss Valeri making her crafts. My initial thought was “wow, why would people do this? It takes forever.” I guess when you truly love something and have a passion for it, time is not a problem. I had somewhat of a mixed feeling entering into this project, mainly because of personal reasons but I try not to make it interfere with me completing this project. I was determined to complete it even if I did not acquire the skill that I needed to. It started off a bit rocky and I was a bit unsure of my teacher's ability to follow through with helping me. I had to do the majority of the work on my one, but I managed. I got frustrated many times and had to take a break when the cord slipped from my fingers and the beads fell. Now I am thinking that a solution to that problem could have been taping one side of the cord to something and only working from one end of the cord. That would have saved me some time. I think my teacher was a bit hard on me in the beginning and I was also annoyed that she kept doing other stuff while teaching me, but I did not say anything because she was doing it for free in her home. I was grateful for the help and used that to motivate me to complete the project.

The process involved in making my project was difficult and time consuming. I got frustrated every time the beads fell from the cord, but my teacher assured me that it was ok, and it would happen many times. I kept doing my best and I was able to correct my mistakes and finish my project. I felt really good looking at my final piece, knowing that I had made something that was strong, durable and beautiful.

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Teacher reflection

Latoya came to me and said that she wanted to learn how to make beaded jewelry, she had always admired my products but never had the time to learn. I was happy when she told me that she wanted to learn so I tried to create a schedule for her. It was difficult because of work conflict but she was happy to come to my home to learn the art of jewelry making. She wanted to try something that was so difficult to do but I told her to start with something simple then make her way up to a more complex task. From her work, I believe she listened to my instructions and tried her best, even when she was having trouble with the initial steps of using different size beads. In the beginning she showed confidence but realized that because of the complexity of the design she will have to pay attention to the size and design of each individual bead and the positions in which they should be. I could see the confusion and sadness on her face so I tried to explain to her that beautiful things take time and patience, and that she will be able to look at the finished product and be happy that she was able to make something unique and beautiful. I know Latoya will continue to the end. I have faith that she will try her best.

Teacher reflection

Latoya kept having problems with the beads falling so I pointed out the measurements and she changed the length of her cord. I believe she thought that if the cord was the size of her neck, the necklace would be finished with time to spare but that was a major problem that she faced. She eventually adjusted the length and was able to have a better hold of the beading cord. Her next challenge was the locking of the ends. I could see that this angered her because she made a few mistakes and had to start over. When she called me about it, I had to explain to her that there is a technique to lock the ends. She was able to follow the instructions and with this, her first necklace was complete. I was satisfied with her progress and even though it showed a little stiffness due to the hard pulling of the cords, she was able to make a wearable product.

Teacher reflection

I was so happy with Latoya’s progress and her determination to finish the necklace that I convinced her to complete her design by making a pair of earrings to go with the necklace. She was not eager to do it, but she knew that this was a good opportunity to sharpen her new skill. I explained how to construct the earring and how to use the tools. I knew that the bending of the needle would be the most challenging part of this but once she got the loop in and closed the end that she would have successfully completed the task. I had confidence that she would complete the item, and she was able to. She did express her feelings at the end, and I saw how happy she was with her items and that she made it herself. I am happy that I got the chance to teach her something that I enjoy doing and I hope she will be able to teach this skill to someone else.