Blog 19

Blog 19

1. What does learning in a community-based setting afford children?

2. What are they able to learn in a community-based setting that they would not be able to learn in a school setting?

3. What does teaching in a community-based setting afford the educator?

4. What can one do in a community-based setting that one could not do in a school?

1. Learning in a community setting provides children with a hegemony to fall back upon to support their learning. Not only will they have instruction, but in a community setting they will have the chance to observe others, and pick up things intrinsically from their environment.

2. A community setting offers the children self placement, whereas a classroom cannot. In a community the child has the opportunity to experiment with groups and roles. In a community the child has many places and roles to play. In the classroom the child is predominantly just the student.

3. Teaching to a ca community gives the educator the reward of impacting a diverse group, working with many personalities and developmental levels. It also impacts the educator’s understanding of negotiated instruction and the group leaders.

4. A community setting has the potential for a greater sense of self discipline. With community leaders and an established hierarchy present, the educator may have the freedom of not concerning her/himself with the discipline of the group. ( this is not always the case)

blog 17 (Boruqe's jersey #!)

Blog 17:

· Describe your most meaningful learning experience in a museum or art gallery.
· What elements made it so?
· Relate this experience to Dewey’s notion of a “good” experience.


My most meaningful learning experience in a museum was when I was a little boy. My mother had taken my brother and I to Banff for a weekend, and besides visiting the hotsprings, we went to a native cultural centre. There were mannequins set up in dioramas. The figures were dressed in various clothing styles according to the creed they were depicting, and they were set up to perform various celebrations. The mannequins looked so life-like to me I thought they were about to start moving and dancing before my eyes. I have been enchanted with native arts and culture ever since.
The clothing and costumes were exciting and so foreign to me. Some of the acts depicted were shocking, particularly the sun dance of the plains people. A male dancer would revolve around a tall pole that was tied to the piercings on his body by long cords of sinew. I thought it was so cool.



I believe that Dewey would consider this a very good experience, because the content was totally new and rewarding to me, it was presented in a manner I found interesting and was easy to absorb, and it left a strong impression upon me in a cultural and artistic sense.

blog 16

Blog 16:
1. What issues arose as you tested your lesson plans?
2. Why did these issues arise?
3. Can you ever fully anticipate every detail of the situation you will be working in?
4. What role does planning play in a responsive teaching approach?
5. After reading Chapter 19, do you need to modify your plans to address safety issues?

1. The biggest problem I had with my plan was to keep the students engaged and excited about the parts of the ‘lesson’ that were not games. I should have kept the ‘lecture’ short to match their attention spans.
2. These issues arose because 10,11,12 year olds don’t have the patience to sit in the floor and describe the good and bad features of 13 of their peers’ drawings.
3. Fully anticipation is unreal. There are far too many variables in real life to be prepared for every possibility. However, thematic reactions to a situation can be anticipated.
4. Planning is essential in any teaching environment. Without a general plan there would be no guarantees about what topics are discussed and what the students are actually subjected to. Although it may be beneficial to deviate from the plan once and a while in order to facilitate the students’ own initiative, walking into a teaching situation without a proposed outcome or intended process can lead, quickly, to pandemonium.
5. I believe my plans were totally safe. There was no serious risk of physical injury, as for emotional injury, my activities were not embarrassing in nature or beyond the children’s grasp developmentally.

Cub documenting 2 & 3 INCOMPLETE

Wednesday March 17

Today I met the children and had the opportunity to talk with them about road signs and why we have them.
The cubs were baffled that I knew their names before I had met them. Which was fun
It was really hard to get them to answer the questions one at a time, but they got the basic understanding of the signs we had to show them.
I tied up the road safety lesson with a quick talk about traffic lights, making sure the kids knew what the different colours meant. this was a good transition into our new game!

I taught them the very basic rules to the red light green light game. red is go green is stop, and I decided to throw in yellow, which meant slow(even though technically that is not what it means on the traffic light-oh well!)
We had a deaf boy in the cub group so I had to change the game from how I learned it as a child. Instead of calling out the colours, I had to flash coloured paper. It worked to our advantage actually, because as we quickly learned, once the cubs had ran passed me they could no longer see the colours and ran all the way to the finish. ( somewhat more accurately representing cars in an intersection)
So we changed the game so that the cubs had to run passed me no matter where I stood in the room. the kids had to be more aware and alert, because I would run across the room and they`d have to chase me!

Unfortunately, replicating the fundamentals in their own signs was almost a complete failure, with the exception of 2 or 3.



Wednesday March 24

Today was the big day: the Finale And it couldn't have gone any better! It was cold outside, so Rob's plans for an outdoor game were scrapped. In his plan, Rob structured it so that he and I would be almost working as a pair with the children. It was structured so much better than last week, and I was much more comfortable in this set up. I had a few minutes to chat with the kids and get them thinking about colour symbols and how we use colour in language to describe feelings. They nailed it. Stella ( the outspoken 11 year old girl) brought up the expression green with envy, Justin tried to turn his face red when I had mentioned how in cartoons the character's face will turn red when they're angry. Other children mentioned things like feeling blue when they're sad, and it went well the kids were digging it. Because we kept the pace up and keep the kids moving around I had a much more successful outing.


Wednesday March 31 2010

SOOO.. today was the presentations day, and I relayed my experience to the class.
I need not explain what happened, you were there!
I did get some interesting feedback today though. Thank you for the strategies,
for playing the games, and being patient with my lack of pictures.

Documenting isn't just about taking notes about what we did,
to document with a purpose there ought to be a central question.

So I have to ask: To what degree should Kinetic learning/teaching be embraced and incorporated in a community learning experience?

I have to say, getting those kids to pay attention was very difficult. Unlike high school kids, with whom I have experience coaching, the 10-12 year olds' attention is primarily concerned with figitting and only God knows what they chatter about. Some of the techniques I use with the rugby players are very inappropriate for children that age, for example yelling at them to get them to listen, or making off colour remarks or sexual innuendo when they do something well.

With the incredible level of energy in the 10-ish year old group, I would argue that Kinetic learning should be the equal if not superior to dictation or reading. I witnessed firsthand how the children would pick up on underlying concepts in games, for example, the necessity of rules and the consistency of those rules in society. Compared to their general unwillingness or inability to sit still for 10 minutes to participate in a show and tell type of work, hitching onto their energetic behaviour is pretty much the only way to get through to them.
It is not as though they are incapable of listening to an adult, because like I mentioned in class, the most apparently disconnected outsider of the group had absorbed and reflected the most from the discussion about traffic signs.

Looking back I wish I had employed a more ‘game-like’ method for displaying and discussing the road-signs they had drawn. I was pleased with how the games went well and their eagerness to talk about colour symbols.

With a university audience I noticed that the kinetics wasn’t accepted as wholly. This could be for several reasons,
· It was the end of class and people wanted to go
· At our age the linguistic and abstract thinking centres are dominant, not kinetic thinking
I’ll let you decide which is the most likely. ;)

build up to Child Workshop

WRITE OUT THE QUESTIONS YOU WILL ASK YOUR PARENT (CUB LEADER) ABOUT THE CHILDREN’S LEARNING CHARACTERISTICS.

I asked Rob, the cub leader, about what themes they are covering with the cubs; if there was a timeline they had to follow and what supplies they had. Rob was very upfront with the details about his cub pack. Without even asking he told me that of the fourteen cubs, 12 were boys, 8 were at least 10 years old, 4 were hi-energy and perhaps coded, 1 was deaf, and that most were third year cubs. The hi-energy of the group simultaneously excited and intimidated me. I knew that I could have alot of fun with a hi-energy group, but at the same time I became nervous about getting them to pay attention. I tried to make a plan that utilised their hi energy in the provocation.

Because I didn’t expect Rob to know what each child liked to draw or was interested in on an artistic level, I never asked. I may be mistaken, he could know what each kid likes to draw, but regardless, I believe that in order to create a general assignment relevant to all the children a good provocation and strong link to the cub scout curriculum would work better than trying to congeal all the children’s specific art-interests.

I intend on providing an expanse of materials for the final project, and a somewhat diverse list of materials for the first warm-up project. This should ensure that each child finds a media they enjoy, and also that each child has the opportunity to grow their media repertoire.

My take on this assignment has somewhat fundamentally changed the nature of it. I have reduced the number of visits, and increased the number of children, meaning that I have one chance to create a project that provides a pertinent and interesting art experience for them and myself, rather than a series of one on one visits with a particular child that would make me adamantly aware of his/her needs, interests, and abilities.

THE AREAS THAT I MIGHT LIKE PARENTS TO EXPLORE

It would be really heart-warming if the parents would build on the lesson I give about colour symbolism and provide an outlet for the kids to express themselves with art. Whether it be art lessons for the kids or as simple as providing art supplies and enthusiasm for their child’s work, it would be very rewarding to find that the kids and their parents took a renewed interest in art following my meetings with the cubs.

Cub doumenting 1

Wednesday March 10

Today I went to the first cub meeting. I met with the Pack leader, his name is Rob. Rob has a son, Sebastien, in the cub pack. Rob was basically the only one running the show, if you can say that there was any sort of order to the night. Those kids have a lot of energy. It was rather intimidating to see.

They began with the grand howl, a recital of the cub motto, and inspection of the uniforms. The uniforms, the mottos and laws, they are all ways of instilling a sense of belonging among the kids, because really, the uniforms are unnecessary and the laws are common sense, good manners, or derivations of the ‘golden rule’. At this age though, it would help them to feel like they are really a part of something special, or that they are fulfilling some greater calling by tucking in the tacky brown shirts.

They played a game that involved a fair bit of running and not any strategy whatsoever. This game didn’t really target any sort of developmental needs of the children. It was sheer fun, and an excuse to get them to blow off some energy. The Leader did a good job of incorporating this game into the night’s topic. They play this game all the time, but tonight Rob decided to adapt the rules a bit, then afterwards brought up how even in simple games rules have to be constant and understood and followed by everyone in order for games to work.

This was a well executed transition to the next activity. They broke into 3 teams and invented their own games. Each group was given an assorted bag of objects, balls, hula hoops, bells, cups and other assorted random things. Given only 5 minutes to design a game, the rules were full of holes. The children spent a fair amount of time creatively experimenting with the game’s equipment, but when it came to the flow of the game, specifics were left out. This was a great example of their developmental stage. They were able to follow the instructions, and throw together a ramshackle list of rules, but finer details and higher logic were not evident. The final group to share their game, also the only group with a girl, did a better job of explaining the background elements of the game, and their game actually worked.

Then they had a talk about the importance of rules and a bit about the blue star. The blue star encompasses all badges relating to community and hegemony.

For this first visit, I was just a spectator. I did not introduce myself to the kids nor did I participate in their games. I watched from the kitchen, observed and took notes. I tried to come up with ideas that could link to the themes they were working with, and I think that I came up with a fairly relevant and effective plan.

The kids were named, Kody, Arianna, Brandon, Alexander, Damien, Sebastien, Max, Diamond,

The other leader was named Ryan. Ryan has a moustache and very hairy ears, He has a kind of mullet, and a pot belly, not terribly unlike my father. Very much unlike my father however, Ryan did not say much, but he could sign, which allowed him to interact with the deaf cub. Which was cool.

cubs Art project guide

Cub’s art project guide

Wednesday 17^th

Introduction to children

· Tell them who am, and what I want to do with them

New game: Red Light, Green Light

· Green means go, red means stop. Simple rules. Change it up a bit by using coloured paper instead of words, and reversing the colours.

Tie into traffic laws and proper use of crosswalks.

· Talk about the importance of traffic rules

· Talk about pedestrian rules & crosswalks

Creative break:

· Kids design new & interesting ways to incorporate colour with the laws about traffic/pedestrian safety. Inventing their own laws and ways of implementing those laws, ie) brightly coloured signs, lights, or lines on the ground etc.

· Supplies include: coloured paper, markers, safety scissors, glue sticks,

Wednesday 24^th

Start with Red Light, Green Light

Begin talk about colour symbolism

· Ask ‘Why red and green?’

· Discuss examples of colours in figures of speech ie) feeling blue, green with envy, yellow bellied, etc.

· Reveal the relationship of Colours & Emotions – possibly a slideshow or video that the kids could ‘play along’ with.

Colour Charades

· Children divide into 2 teams. Each player takes a turn describing a colour through movement and emotional representation. His/her team has to guess the colour before the 30 second time limit expires. The 2 teams compete to guess the most acts correctly.

Culminating project

· Students will make a colourful piece of art that describes how they feel about cubs.

· Materials will include: coloured paper, markers, pencil crayons, glue sticks, plastesine, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, glitter glue

blog 14

Blog 14

1. What is your drawing history?

2. Where have your notions of the role of drawing in art come from?

3. How do you manage your drawing anxiety?

4. How might you mentor an anxious drawer into the joy of making art?

1. I have always liked drawing. In preschool, when the other children were sent to nap, I stayed up and doodled. I would take a sketchbook around with me everywhere I went until I was about 13 years old. I most often drew heroic muscular figures, dragons and various exotic creatures. I dabbled with cartooning and anime. But I hardly ever dealt with the grounding relationships of these figures, they usually just floated on the page in blank space. Apart from the ‘realistic’ drawings I have always made marks. I scribble and wobble and tap the pencil or pen on the paper, just to see what marks it will make. It is a refreshing and cathartic experience.

2. Drawing has always been, for me, a marriage between realistic and symbolic representation. I doodle frequently. My doodles don’t achieve a high degree of realism or technical superiority, but they offer me an escape. When I doodle, I have an outlet for my excess energy, other than figiting. That is why I have an expressionist streak in my drawing. I have seen how drawing can reveal emotions for my entire life. Realistic representation came later on and never displaced that belief. In secondary and post secondary school, the realistic element in my drawing has been under the main spotlight and has grown significantly. Drawing’s role in art has changed for me most profoundly from the input of my professors at the University of Calgary. Their beliefs about drawing in the art world, and their techniques have impacted me a great deal.

3. I fully realize that there is a disconnect between my hands and my brain. I know that I may never draw exactly what I envision, but I have made peace with that. I accept that the process of drawing still has an element of randomness; that it, like all art can be an outcome unknown experience. If I am drawing a model or still life, or other realistically representative form, and it doesn’t look the way it ‘should’, I will either attempt to correct the problems, start over, or have a laugh at my mistakes and let it go.

4. I think that if I had a student who was upset about their drawings, or frustrated with their perceived lack of skill, I would show them some artworks by some of the most highly regarded artists of the modern era, who deal with surrealism and non-representational work. If those great artists can make great art without the precise realistic representation that the anxious student wants, than the student should realize that it is unnecessary.

blog 13

Blog 13

1. What were the benefits of the peer teaching events?

2. How would I incorporate peer teaching in an elementary classroom?

1. Peer teaching gave us the opportunity to try out some of our teaching strategies and have a little creativity with our assignment. This is a valuable experience because the peer teacher can get constructive feedback from the students, because we are competent of their aims and what they are trying to impart. As her peers, we are aware of the responsibilities and challenges they have, and we can offer some input during the lesson to help her. Whereas in a school environment, the children wouldn’t know what the teacher’s goals are and could make it very hard for the teacher to direct the class.

2. In an elementary classroom I would incorporate peer teaching by having the class divided into groups for a research project. Each group would research a different topic, and then each group would teach the rest of the class about their topic. It is a tried & true method, as it tests the students’ cooperative skills, and fosters a respect for all students in the class.

April Fools was a month early today (blog 12)

1. Discuss the importance of documentation to teaching and to a child's learning.

2. What are the challenges of documentation to the classroom teacher?

3. What are some strategies that would help address these challenges?

1. Documenting is important to teaching because it reinforces the teacher’s ideas and can help debunk some misconceptions and biases. Often times when there is a chaotic environment or a lot of activity in the classroom, minor details will be left out and the impression of the class is not an accurate representation of what was actually learned. Documenting can reveal the actual progress, beyond the overall impression which can be misleading. Teachers will learn to be better ‘listeners’ and will then become better teachers. Communication is made easier between the students and the teachers, because although their thinking may never behave the same, they will have the opportunity to witness how a child thinks and will then have a better understanding of what the children are trying to communicate. The students will benefit (BEING MORE PREPARED TO RESPOND TO FUTURE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES)

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2. Understanding documenting is difficult for teachers who were not brought up with it. Appreciating its efficacy is foreign to the conservatives. Incorporating it into the daily schedule is a challenge, because a teacher’s time is already stretched in many directions. Selecting the best means of documentation is also a great challenge, because there are so many variables to consider. The activity being documented, the goals for the students and the teacher, the detail required in the documentation and the permissions regarding the type of documentation and the abilities of the documentor must all be taken into consideration.

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3. Strategies to effectively document are essential. In order to avoid unnecessary burdening of the teacher and permit the most pertinent documenting, each activity being documented should have a customized documenting system. Different modes of documentation accomplish different things, as we discussed in class today. For example, an acting or dance performance will not be done justice with a few notes on a notepad, a documentation mode that reflects the media, such as a video recording would be most applicable. However, documenting a student’s thought organization for an essay question would not be well documented with a video recorder, but in this case written notes are effective. In order to avoid begrudging the documentation process because of the time pressures, a teacher would be better off to incorporate documentation into the daily routines of the classroom and the students. If it is a music class, leave a tape recorder running during everyday rehearsals. An Art teacher could set time out once a week to critique the students’ progress in their projects as a class.

P.S

I found that today was more useful in building my understanding of documenting. Having an intellectual and balanced discussion about how to use documentation to resolve issues in the classroom was much more stimulating and impactful than "reading" the assignment. Kaitlyn and I were able to address differing points and form a stronger sense between us of what documenting can accomplish.

P.S.S

that april fool's remark is in reference to the fact that HARDLY ANYONE showed up to class. Was this a joke?! I don't know if they all had 'golden hangovers' or if they were absent for honest reasons. But the fact that there were only 4 of us, and only one of us had completed the reading assignment was incredibly disrespectful to Jen and was a bad showing on all our parts, myself included, with the exception of Kaitlyn who actually came to class on time and prepared.