Happy New Year & CURRENTLY for January

Well, as time does, it marched on and it is now January 2015. Wow!

This is the first time I have sat down at this computer since school got out over a week ago. And, I can't really say as I've missed it (or work!)

It's that time again when I link up with Farley for this month's CURRENTLY. Seems like I just wrote the one for last month but that seems to be the way of it these days!!!!

listening...I've got an "Easy Listening" playlist (does that make me sound old or what?!?!) on my iTunes and I have it on right now. It has lots of The Script, Carly Rae Jepson (before she asked for a call maybe), Amy Grant, Mary Chapin Carpenter etc. 

loving...I have been putting together my journal/dayplanner for this year. My friend, Carol, told me about this book called No Excuses Art Journaling: Making Time for Creativity by Gina Rossi Armfield. I was curious and went and bought it. So much fun!!!

I went and bought a dayplanner and have been busy this past week adding in watercolour paper, quotes, monthly prompts etc. I have high hopes for this book. I haven't been as creative lately as I would like and I am hoping that this book will help me to get back to that part of me.

thinking...it is back to work thinking for me. I am meeting with my student teacher tomorrow to plan out this next term. She starts Monday and has to be teaching 80% of the time by the second week or so. I like having a student teacher because it offers me a chance to work differently with students but, I have to say, it is not easy giving my class over to someone else. I spend soooo long getting the class running in a way that works for me and then have to hand it over. It is not always easy but it is always rewarding for me and the students to have another adult working with us.

wanting...as per usual, I got sick once I was on vacation. Typical!!! I have had a head cold for a week or so. It started with a migraine which has finally subsided (thank goodness!) and has meant many days spent sleeping and lots of kleenex (wish I had stock in that company!)

needing...okay, so this doesn't really sound like a need. I mean, I don't need to sew. But, if you were to see the clothes piled up everywhere from my foray to the Sally Anne during their 50% off sale, you would see what I am talking about. I bought shirts, skirts, blazers, t-shirts, all with the goal of being upcycled into something else. I need to do something with them all before they bury me alive!!!!

yes...to sticking with journaling daily. It is only a small box in a dayplanner and easily accomplished so long as I make the 15 minutes to do it a priority. 

maybe...to going to Portland (finally!) with my hubby. I have wanted to go for years. Every time I get some money saved something comes up and the money goes again. I am hoping that this year is THE year!!!!

I wish...One of the benefits of having a student teacher is that I get university class credits in appreciation for the work I do with that student teacher. I have been waiting (impatiently) for SFU to offer the graduate program I want to take on Arts in Education. If they offer it this coming year, I'll sign up. Fingers crossed!!!

And, there you have it! Me, currently, on January 1, 2015!! 

Cheers!

Olwyn

Community Art

Every Thursday morning we do art with the whole community. That means that we have roughly 72 students all working on the same art project at the same time. It can get a little bit crazy!

I love it because 9 times out of 10 I get to come up with and teach the lesson. If you haven't figured out that art and creativity are my favourite things to teach, then I guess you haven't been reading very carefully!

Anywho, last week I wanted to do a project that was simple, small and made a big impact. I found this wonderful project done at a school with an artist in residence and it looked pretty amazing. 

from here

I took this amazing installation piece as my inspiration and we did a lesson on symmetry, colour and shape. The final result is a beautiful bulletin board outside of our community. It makes me happy each and every time I walk by.

And the quote is something I think that we could all bear to hear more often...

Happy Flying!

Olwyn

Getting Crafty...

I have been running a weekly Craft Club at my school since this past Fall. The PAC gave me a bit of money to get it started but that is long since spent. Had a pretty strong feeling that $100 wasn't going to take us far and it didn't. Not when I have upwards of 20 kids each week wanting to make the different crafts!!!

So, now I've had to get creative. What can we make with things I already own or that can be easily found within the school? I've delved into some of our community supplies and we've been sewing Spring birds. These have been a big hit! This group really likes anything that has to do with sewing (which is my first love when it comes to crafting, too!) 

The kids have been working on these for a couple of lunch hours and are just now starting to finish some. Thought I'd share a few here. 

I am going to try to keep the club going best I can what with having already spent the funds for this school year. I might need to do a parent appeal for supplies or something. I'll have to see how it goes after Spring Break.

I just know that for the kids who come regularly it is something they really enjoy. And for a few of those kids, it is something that they NEED. Some of them don't have tons of friends or activities to keep them busy over long lunch hours and the craft club gives them a safe place to come. So, fingers crossed that I can keep coming up with ideas and supplies!!!!

Happy Crafting!

Olwyn 

Through the Eyes of a Child

You see an ordinary empty seaweed container...

But the kids see...

A bird house...

Another bird house...

A box for an ornament...

And a person or two...

How cool are the lovelies in my class who thought these up?!?!

Ms. Hughes

A Quiz

Question: When are dominoes not really dominoes?

Answer: When they are in the hands of a grade 1 boy!!!!

 

Then they become kings defending their castles and battling it out with the knights from the opposing kingdom.

Question: When is a box not really a box?

Answer: When it is in the hands of a grade 1 girl!!!!

 

 

Then it becomes a close to life size friend to play with!

Question: When is an alphabet puzzle not really an alphabet puzzle?

Answer: When it is in the hands of TWO grade 1 girls!!!!

 

Then it becomes a house for the stuffie puppy dog.

Question: When is paper and ribbon not just paper and ribbon?

Answer: When it is in the hands of a child who sees potential in everything!

Then it becomes a lovely notebook to give to a friend.

Question: When are adults not really adults?

Answer: When they tap into the creativity and imagination of their childhood!

Ms. Hughes

STOP for a TED talk

If you have 21 or so minutes to spend (or, for that matter, even if you don't) stop and watch a TED talk. Any TED talk will do. You will learn something. I promise. 

Here are a few of my favourites. This one by Sir Ken Robinson. I was fortunate enough to get to hear him in person last year. He is charming, personable and speaks with conviction about his beliefs on creativity and education. His words resonate with me.

This one by Simon Sinek about leadership.

And this talk featuring Sugata Mitra about his Hole in the Wall project on self teaching.

And the amazing Sarah Kay, spoken word poet extraordinaire. Who says "I use poetry to help me work through what I don’t understand, but I show up to each new poem with a backpack full of everywhere else that I’ve been.”

And one of my all time favourites (and only 3 minutes long so you have no real excuse not to watch it!) by Talor Mali called What Teachers Make.

When we are 100...

One of the things that we did for our 100 day celebration back in February was to complete self-portraits of ourselves at age 100. These turned out so great! I have had pix of them on my camera forever and it is time to show them off. In the days following 100 Day, we worked on poems about when we are old. I have been trying to encourage students to use really descriptive, "juicy" words in their writing and they did not disappoint! In fact, I have been blown away by some of the poetry written over the last 4 weeks and am thinking we might need to publish them!

Well, after being away from school for close to two weeks, I am back teaching again. I hope and pray that I never, ever get bronchitis ever again! I am still a little under the weather and definitely feel more fatigued than usual but I am glad to be back at work.

Yesterday I taught the grade 1's Science. We are working on force and motion right now. I did an experiment about friction. We were all surprised to discover that an ice cube did not move very quickly down a laminated surface and stopped completely on construction paper! I was so happy to hear that one of the grade 1's went back to his class and gave a very clear and correct description of friction. Mission accomplished!

Today we had a professional day. We went to visit at a school that was built a couple of years ago. It is not quite the same floor plan idea of our new school (that is currently being built) but the teachers there do a lot of team teaching and collaboration. It was really informative and gave me some really good ideas about what we can do in the coming months to prepare us for our new building next year.

We got to take a tour of the school and, of course, I found some neat ideas and just had to take pictures! I would like to do some of these things in our classroom!

I enjoy teaching everything (except gym!) but some days, when I look at all the cool ideas I have for art projects, I wish that all I taught was art. Being creative is such a HUGE part of me and I want to find more ways to bring that passion into our classroom. Recently, I have been re-reading a book I bought a year ago called The Power of Pictures - Creating Pathways to Literacy Through Art and I am finding it really inspiring. Don't be surprised if you see some photos on here with student writing inspired by their art!

Exercises in Frustration

This past week was a long one. Too many long hours at work, not enough sleep and a migraine sandwiched in the middle. It was one of those weeks when the activities that usually run smoothly felt like they were covered in speed bumps. Everything seemed to take longer, the kids seemed to talk more, nothing seemed to get done quite the way I intended or envisioned.

This was especially true with two of the lessons we did. One was an art lesson on illusion that all of the students in Divisions 13, 14 and 15 did. The task was to draw 7 pumpkins so that they look like they are sitting in a v shape. Sounds easy enough, right?

We had the lesson together as one big group and then went off to our individual rooms to do the actual art. It quickly became apparent that this lesson would have turned out better (for my sanity!) if I had done it as a teacher directed step by step activity. The class had a lot of trouble remembering all of the instructions and, while the samples did not look difficult, the actual creating of the illusion was tricky for a lot of them. I felt very frazzled by the end of the activity. Lesson learned. Even with all the frustration I was pleased with the finished results; the class should be proud of them, too. It was not an easy activity! Here are some examples:

The second activity that felt like it was not going AT ALL as I had anticipated was a math activity that involved following step by step instructions. The whole group was having some major issues with talking on the day that we did this. It was the morning after I had been away due to my migraine (note to self: never, ever, ever try to do a teacher directed lesson the day after having an EOC teaching my class). The lesson I thought would take about 25 minutes took nearly an hour. Can you say frustration?!?! However, the final result are some pretty cute shape monsters. Check them out...

And some close ups...

 I am hoping for a calmer week next week - although I am really not sure that calm and Halloween are possible!!!! Regardless of how the week rolls out, I know that I will be more rested with all the sleeping I am getting in this weekend!

As promised, a few pictures of the totems that the grade 1's in Division 13, 14 & 15 created in Social Studies. I love all the colours and individuality that came out in their work!

This afternoon my class did hand print Autumn trees. I wanted to do a really simple art project because so many of the kids had work they still need to finish before they could go to choosing time. (Don't know if it was a full moon this week or what but there was not a single kid in the class that got all their work done in the assigned time. And I know that they had plenty of time to finish if they spent the time working and not chatting!!)

I just think that there is just something about art made with a child's hands, you know? When I look at the things my daughter made at this age it is hard to believe that she now has hands as big as mine! These will definitely go into the students' scrapbooks!



Ms. Hughes