Showing posts with label projects i'm proud of. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects i'm proud of. Show all posts
Saturday, January 26, 2013
catch-up time!
Dear people
I have neglected this space terribly! It's been almost a year since the people garden got an update. Well, I'll just tell you a little about what's been going on.
School was crazy, and my undergrad studies ended with a bang, not a whimper. I managed to work through a handful of courses and a seniour internship at a public alternative school, where I got to know a bit about the school system and how alternative schools work within the Toronto District School Board. I got to work long-distance with the AMAZING Donna Ridley-Burns from Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning in an international project contrasting different early childhood education contexts. I got accepted into the Master's of Early Childhood Studies program at Ryerson. I worked all summer on trying to figure out how to stabilize the methodological approach, data storage and access procedures and data analysis protocols for a research project at the EDGE Lab, which was a HUGE learning process. I then listened to 100s of hours of audio data, sifting through the information gathered in encounters with the child participants to find patterns and themes in a process called open coding. It took me weeks, and was excruciating, motivating, inspiring, mind-numbing and illuminating. It was a lot of hilarious kids and a lot of learning about research methods, which totally got me excited about that as an area of research - how do we listen to kids, how do we involve their voices in research? I decided to explore this area more in my grad research.
Then I started the Master's program.
hahahahahahhahaahah
I'm laughing because it's been a whirlwind since then. Grad school is really great, and has taken work and school to the next level. Last term I took three courses - Research Methods in Early Childhood Studies, Theoretical Frameworks of Early Childhood Studies and Social Justice in Education. I have never learned so much in such a compressed amount of time. I thought I was a good student - undergrad sure was fun, and I seemed to do well. Grad school put a whole new spin on my identity as a learner - we talk so much about lifelong learning, and here I was living it! The cognitive chaos has been a lot to deal with, but it's been amazingly fruitful. I worked hard, wrote some good papers, learned some good lessons, and when I accidentally backed up the wrong version of a final paper,erasing 7 hours of solid work, I stayed up all night to finish something for school for the first time ever as I re-wrote it from memory. I also got to TA for a course on Childhood in a Global Context with a prof that I love, and learned a tonne doing that.
Then, a couple of days before the winter break happened, Jason told me about a PhD program that he thought would be a great place for me. So instead of resting over the break, I applied to that. I'll find out by mid-April. It's kind of competitive, so we'll see. I have to ignore the overwhelming freak-out about whether I got in or not, and develop alternative plans in case I don't get in. AND I also have a couple of things to do before that anyways, like finish my Master's degree and stuff like that.
hahahahahahaha
Out of the busy break, this term started at a running pace. I'm trying to complete all my course-work this term, so that I have the whole spring and summer to work on my Major Research Paper (MRP), which is basically our thesis. My courses this term are all as amazing as last term's - Social Research with Children, Curriculum Design, and Families and Equity, as well as a Directed Study with Jason about autoethnography and critical reflective narrative research methods. I'm also TAing this term, for another prof that I love for a course called Assessment for Programming, and this time I have my own tutorial. The students are great and I'm having a good time - the only thing is that this makes for A LOT OF WORK.
My MRP IS focussing on how research is being conducted with children, how researchers perceive and position children in their research, and basically whether research is being conducted ON or ABOUT children or WITH and ALONGSIDE children. I've done a tonne of reading about kids' participation, children's rights, children's voices and "child-friendly" research methods, and it's all bubbling over in my mind. I'm looking forward to talking with researchers doing work in the field and hearing what they have to say.
So, suffice it to say, I'm a little busy. It's doubtful I'll post here on a regular basis, but I'll try to keep up with it a bit better than once a year! There are so many amazing tidbits and huge mind-altering things in grad school, I'll try to share a few every now and then.
NERD OUT for now...
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
gifts and wrestling
These days, I am consistently amazed and grateful at the wonderful incredible quality of my life. I am head-over-heels with my crazy, human situation.
First - school is awesome. I have 5 full-time fascinating courses, all with really engaging instructors and thoroughly interesting and challenging material. Second - my new job as a research assistant is kind of like the coolest amusement park ride, mixed with a collaborative project and some fabulous philosophy. The project that I'm involved with is part of a much larger one called the Experiential Design and Gaming Environments Lab, a cross-disciplinary collaboration involving folks from three different universities, from a whack of different sectors (technology, DIY, social economics, gaming, new media, early childhood ed & development, hacking, disabilities studies, etc, etc, etc). Everytime I go to work I hang out with exceedingly smart people and have wicked-cool, INSPIRING conversations. My work there is hilarious, and has so far involved learning to play Farmville (to explore social media), having in-depth conversations about co-construction and autonomous learning (to work out what our themes are for the project I was hired to work on), organizing cardboard (for the adaptive design lab and workshops), and playing with (learning how to use) an off-the-shelf brainwave monitoring device that Dr. Jason (the prof who hired me and a pretty awesome amazing guy) got off the internet to study biomapping. So many brackets in that last paragraph!
It feels like there are so many situations and conversations and people who are like gifts in my life right now! So, my brain and heart are being regularly kicked into overdrive, but in a good way. I have noticed that my critical thinking has picked up it's pace, too. I have started to wonder about school and teaching and the edu-crisis that is smacking North America upside the heads. I have thought about teaching styles and why I love direct instruction (it's like candy to me) but don't think it's an effective way of helping folks learn...and that's just it. I have started to think about helping people learn, instead of teaching people. That's a wonderful, fundamental change that feels really good.
Anyways - I wish I could post the gazillion things that are rushing around in my head right now - things like:
- how can we create learning environments that foster autonomous learning in a school system that is so authoritarian you have to ask to go to the bathroom?
- what is the role of technology in learning, now that technology is becoming more and more inseperable from everyday life for a lot of people on the planet?
- who has access to good educational opportunities, and what can we do about the folks who don't?
- do schools work? Teachers sure do - HARD! So what's creating the oncoming educational crisis?
- imagine teaching kids in early learning environments that asking questions was one of the most important things they could do - how would that change a lot of things about school, society, inequality etc?
- with technology becoming so prevalent - what are schools going to look like in the future?
- how can I make the greatest playground in the world?
- games and learning - bringing play back into education, don't just stop playing once school starts...
- does there have to be a struggle between 'natural' and 'technological'?
- authentic learning, collaborative innovation, asking questions - how do you inspire people do deeply engage with these things?
These and another million things are pummeling my brain. I feel so lucky to be wrestling with it all...
Nerd out for now
It feels like there are so many situations and conversations and people who are like gifts in my life right now! So, my brain and heart are being regularly kicked into overdrive, but in a good way. I have noticed that my critical thinking has picked up it's pace, too. I have started to wonder about school and teaching and the edu-crisis that is smacking North America upside the heads. I have thought about teaching styles and why I love direct instruction (it's like candy to me) but don't think it's an effective way of helping folks learn...and that's just it. I have started to think about helping people learn, instead of teaching people. That's a wonderful, fundamental change that feels really good.
Anyways - I wish I could post the gazillion things that are rushing around in my head right now - things like:
- how can we create learning environments that foster autonomous learning in a school system that is so authoritarian you have to ask to go to the bathroom?
- what is the role of technology in learning, now that technology is becoming more and more inseperable from everyday life for a lot of people on the planet?
- who has access to good educational opportunities, and what can we do about the folks who don't?- do schools work? Teachers sure do - HARD! So what's creating the oncoming educational crisis?
- imagine teaching kids in early learning environments that asking questions was one of the most important things they could do - how would that change a lot of things about school, society, inequality etc?
- with technology becoming so prevalent - what are schools going to look like in the future?
- how can I make the greatest playground in the world?
- games and learning - bringing play back into education, don't just stop playing once school starts...- does there have to be a struggle between 'natural' and 'technological'?
- authentic learning, collaborative innovation, asking questions - how do you inspire people do deeply engage with these things?
These and another million things are pummeling my brain. I feel so lucky to be wrestling with it all...
Nerd out for now
Friday, July 23, 2010
as promised, PHOTOS
I love this place, and pretty well all aspects of it, but this is the least favourite element of mine in the playground - the playstructure. It was installed a while ago by the powers that be, and is not that imaginative or inspiring. In fact, it takes up a lot of room that we could use for something else. So we use it for as many diverging uses as we can come up with, and it definitely makes a good anchor for construction projects.
A really great but not well used aspect of the playground is the hill. Because of the physical or cognitive involvement of a lot of our kids, not many venture up the incline. I'm trying to plan some activities that use it - and I'm pretty sure it makes an amazing tobogganing run in the wintertime.
Ok - here are some photos of the evolving water wall. We used an old roll-up vinyl blind as our backing, and started wiring on all kinds of funnels and plumbing and objects that can channel water. It is pretty popular with our kindergarten-aged kids, who spend a lot of time watering the grass, themselves and each other while keeping cool in our heatwave. We've got some serious pouring happening. So much in fact that it's having some great effects. One parent earlier this week asked if we'd been doing any pouring, and when I told her about the water wall she told me how her son had easily filled up his cup from the juice bottle. She told me she'd been so surprised, thinking "Holy moly! I didn't teach him that! Where he learn to do that?!" Say hello, AWESOMENESS.
This was the first version...
...and this is what it looks like now. Every few days, some of the kids and I will wire something else on there, and add a new adventure. Behind the fence that the water wall is hanging from is a bench that faces the sandbox, and kids can climb up there with jugs and bottles and fill and pour and direct water all over the place. You can see Max's waterfall made out of cut open sonotube on the right side of the water wall.
I found this firetruck with some very interesting firefighters when I was cleaning up on Wednesday.
Nerdy nerd nerd out.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
goodbye Inukjuak - hello down south
Well - if you can believe it, it's done.
I can't, and I was there.
My last days in Inukjuak were a whirlwind. AN AMAZING whirlwind.
The play was a fabulous success. We moved things into the gym, and did our best to have a rehearsal. It wasn't as smooth as we would've liked, but it was useful, and the show itself was fantastic. We had an audience of around 60-70 people - family members, kids from school, teachers and elders - and they laughed and clapped and seemed to have a great time.
Here are some photos -
Everything is set up in the workshop - ready to begin! Costumes, masks, and props.
Here is the Royal Family - the Queen, the Princesses and the Older Princesses dog.
While the Princesses are picking flowers and berries, two thieves steal their crowns. Here is one of them sneaking out into the audience.
Tracy was the youngest participant in our project - she played the cat.
The Queen, under the influence of the witches spell, is very mean to everyone in the castle.
After being banished and imprisoned, the bunny, the Older Princess and her dog make a plan to break the spell on the Queen.
They realize that LOVE will break the spell, and tell everyone in the castle their plan.
Everyone hugs the Queen!
Everyone hugs again, rejoicing that the Queen is back to her normal state.
The End - the Queen is nice again, the Younger Princess is freed, the spell is broken, the cat and dog hug, and the thieves are caught and put in the dungeon. The crowns are returned and there's nothing left to worry about - except maybe the Witch who at the end of the play runs across the stage laughing...The End?
As soon as we'd finished however, Pam scooted backstage to tell us that some parents had come in late, and should we do it again. I asked the audience if they wanted to see it again, and they responded positively, and the kids were game, so we put everything back in place as fast as possible and then DID THE SHOW AGAIN, immediately after the first. I don't think I've done a back-to-back show like that in a while! It was awesome, and everyone got a chance to see it, and be seen.
We all got pretty great feedback from the audience, and after everyone had gone we went to the kitchen to have a mega-feast.
Then there was the clean-up that had to happen. I spent a while Friday night organizing and cleaning, and then a chunk of Saturday packing everything up, labeling and cleaning and putting stuff away. We now have 19 rubbermaid bins and the big trunk full of costumes that belong to our project - chock full of useful tools, supplies and materials.
Sunday I cleaned the house I'd been staying in, went to a wonderful brunch and packed up all my stuff. My plane was only 3 1/2 hours late, which is pretty typical, and
so I went for a long walk - to the waterfall behind the airport and then out along the tundra. It was really beautiful, and I still feel really lucky to have been able to come up to this amazing place, work with these kids, participate in this community for a while. Here's a couple of photos from my last walk in Inukjuak.
I've spent the last few days in Montreal visiting with friends and loved ones, and replacing the clothes I'd blown out by hard wearing up north. Tonight I get on a train and go HOME. Ahhhhhhh, the sweetness of just thinking that! Awesomeness.
Ok folks - that's all for now - the adventure to Nunavik is pretty well done (I just need to write the report). Thanks for staying tuned in with me - I'll be relaxing for most of June, trying to save money and garden and visit with friends, before starting the next adventure, which is my job working with the Bloorview Summer Camp! More on that soon.
Nerd Out, my friends!
I can't, and I was there.
My last days in Inukjuak were a whirlwind. AN AMAZING whirlwind.
The play was a fabulous success. We moved things into the gym, and did our best to have a rehearsal. It wasn't as smooth as we would've liked, but it was useful, and the show itself was fantastic. We had an audience of around 60-70 people - family members, kids from school, teachers and elders - and they laughed and clapped and seemed to have a great time.
Here are some photos -
Everything is set up in the workshop - ready to begin! Costumes, masks, and props.
Here is the Royal Family - the Queen, the Princesses and the Older Princesses dog.
While the Princesses are picking flowers and berries, two thieves steal their crowns. Here is one of them sneaking out into the audience.
Tracy was the youngest participant in our project - she played the cat.
The Queen, under the influence of the witches spell, is very mean to everyone in the castle.
After being banished and imprisoned, the bunny, the Older Princess and her dog make a plan to break the spell on the Queen.
They realize that LOVE will break the spell, and tell everyone in the castle their plan.
Everyone hugs the Queen!
Everyone hugs again, rejoicing that the Queen is back to her normal state.
The End - the Queen is nice again, the Younger Princess is freed, the spell is broken, the cat and dog hug, and the thieves are caught and put in the dungeon. The crowns are returned and there's nothing left to worry about - except maybe the Witch who at the end of the play runs across the stage laughing...The End?
As soon as we'd finished however, Pam scooted backstage to tell us that some parents had come in late, and should we do it again. I asked the audience if they wanted to see it again, and they responded positively, and the kids were game, so we put everything back in place as fast as possible and then DID THE SHOW AGAIN, immediately after the first. I don't think I've done a back-to-back show like that in a while! It was awesome, and everyone got a chance to see it, and be seen.
We all got pretty great feedback from the audience, and after everyone had gone we went to the kitchen to have a mega-feast.
Then there was the clean-up that had to happen. I spent a while Friday night organizing and cleaning, and then a chunk of Saturday packing everything up, labeling and cleaning and putting stuff away. We now have 19 rubbermaid bins and the big trunk full of costumes that belong to our project - chock full of useful tools, supplies and materials.
Sunday I cleaned the house I'd been staying in, went to a wonderful brunch and packed up all my stuff. My plane was only 3 1/2 hours late, which is pretty typical, and
so I went for a long walk - to the waterfall behind the airport and then out along the tundra. It was really beautiful, and I still feel really lucky to have been able to come up to this amazing place, work with these kids, participate in this community for a while. Here's a couple of photos from my last walk in Inukjuak.
I've spent the last few days in Montreal visiting with friends and loved ones, and replacing the clothes I'd blown out by hard wearing up north. Tonight I get on a train and go HOME. Ahhhhhhh, the sweetness of just thinking that! Awesomeness.
Ok folks - that's all for now - the adventure to Nunavik is pretty well done (I just need to write the report). Thanks for staying tuned in with me - I'll be relaxing for most of June, trying to save money and garden and visit with friends, before starting the next adventure, which is my job working with the Bloorview Summer Camp! More on that soon.
Nerd Out, my friends!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
whooo! where I am pooped by the evil queen
Ok folks - it's the night before the big show! The kids are doing amazing things, the story has come together, we even have COSTUMES, and I am tired. I'm feeling really good, much better than I was at this time last week - there is hope, being are being real nice, things are in good shape (including myself). I am just pooped, that's all.
Here is an update on the Puppet Project - in the form of the script for the play and some photos from after rehearsal today. The script will be narrated in Inutittut and English, and maybe even French if I can pull it together tomorrow - but the beauty of this piece is that it's visual theatre, and therefore visual, and you can pretty much get the story even if you don't hear the words.
But anyway - here are the words, in English -
The Happy Ever After that Almost Never Was
One day, the Queen and everyone were out picking flowers and berries.
Two thieves found the princesses crowns and STOLE THEM.
A huge wind blew everyone away, except the Queen, and a witch appeared.
The witch cast a spell on the Queen.
The next day the maids tried to help the Queen.
The princesses discover that their crowns are missing.
The evil Queen sends the princess to the dungeon.
The bunny tries to help the princess escape.
The bunny meets the princess's dog.
They make a plan.
With LOVE we can break the spell!
The spell is broken.
Everyone lived happily ever after...maybe.
Thus, you have the bare bones of our story. Unfortunately for you all - you don't get to see the hilarious Samantha being the witch, or Savaana who can't stop laughing try to clean the windows, or just how funny the cat and the dog are as they chase each other around through the audience. It is a really strong piece of work made up by girls in a remote northern community ages 7 to 15, and I am so so so proud of them and of how it's come together. WOW!
No wonder we're all so tired!
And here are some photos - I'm going to try to take more tomorrow during the rehearsal, so we have a record of the action - but this'll whet your whistle.
So clearly, this is the evil Queen, complete with sparkly crown...
After I cleaned up the workshop, I had to take a photo of most of our set and the evil Queen just hanging out...ahhh, so restful!
This is a shot of the witch's spell from backstage - secrets revealed!!
Ok - I'm going to crawl home now and make something to eat. Tune in soon for more on the play, and wish us all merde and broken legs and wonderful times tomorrow!
nerdy outy!
Here is an update on the Puppet Project - in the form of the script for the play and some photos from after rehearsal today. The script will be narrated in Inutittut and English, and maybe even French if I can pull it together tomorrow - but the beauty of this piece is that it's visual theatre, and therefore visual, and you can pretty much get the story even if you don't hear the words.
But anyway - here are the words, in English -
The Happy Ever After that Almost Never Was
One day, the Queen and everyone were out picking flowers and berries.
Two thieves found the princesses crowns and STOLE THEM.
A huge wind blew everyone away, except the Queen, and a witch appeared.
The witch cast a spell on the Queen.
The next day the maids tried to help the Queen.
The princesses discover that their crowns are missing.
The evil Queen sends the princess to the dungeon.
The bunny tries to help the princess escape.
The bunny meets the princess's dog.
They make a plan.
With LOVE we can break the spell!
The spell is broken.
Everyone lived happily ever after...maybe.
Thus, you have the bare bones of our story. Unfortunately for you all - you don't get to see the hilarious Samantha being the witch, or Savaana who can't stop laughing try to clean the windows, or just how funny the cat and the dog are as they chase each other around through the audience. It is a really strong piece of work made up by girls in a remote northern community ages 7 to 15, and I am so so so proud of them and of how it's come together. WOW!
No wonder we're all so tired!
And here are some photos - I'm going to try to take more tomorrow during the rehearsal, so we have a record of the action - but this'll whet your whistle.
So clearly, this is the evil Queen, complete with sparkly crown...
After I cleaned up the workshop, I had to take a photo of most of our set and the evil Queen just hanging out...ahhh, so restful!
This is a shot of the witch's spell from backstage - secrets revealed!!
Ok - I'm going to crawl home now and make something to eat. Tune in soon for more on the play, and wish us all merde and broken legs and wonderful times tomorrow!
nerdy outy!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
wow! shadow puppets!
Today we finally got to playing around with some shadow puppets - the thing I was most excited about bringing up here! The kids ooohhhed and aaahhhed at the light and colour and I was deeply gratified by that.
Here are some photos - of all kinds of things...
Here we are making some shadow puppets for up against the screen, and on the overhead projector...
...and here's some beautiful playing around with shapes and colour.
Over the past few days we have really banged out the important points of the story of our play - and almost have a script. Here's a photo of me trying to map out the points and some of the action. As you can see, it's the age old story of good Queen turned bad by witch's evil spell, missing crowns, heroic bunnies and dogs and, of course, thieves and servants. Eat your heart out Disney - the kids at Innalik Public School are kicking your butt!
I have been through this process no few times, and I love it when the story grows organically out of the participants imaginations and art. Really, this story grew out of the masks the kids made - and all this reminded me of Teacher Tom's recent Pre K Play - although we've had a lot less role-switching than he did. A LOT of bunny masks were made (for some reason) and they all mutated into other things like villagers and castle workers, and the thieves just turned up out of nowhere one day, causing a huge and awesome plot twist.
Let's not forget the days (and days and days and days...) of effort spent on getting the handpuppets together. Here is a photo of a few in action - at some point in the play, all the villagers get blown away by a strong wind while out picking flowers - and I think we're going to do that with the hand puppets, as they all turned out to be pretty much regular looking people, with the odd dog and bunny thrown in to boot.
Yes! I love the stylish hair on all of them.
My dear friend Jane has run programs like this for year in Toronto, and has documented an amazing continuum of imaginary development in children. We have laughed and laughed at the regular re-occurrence of heroic animals and princesses wrongly accused. The kids of Inukjuak aren't any different, and it's a treat to see those common themes of childhood running so strongly across cultures.
Ok - enough for now, more shadowy goodness tomorrow - OH! Except for at the end of the session, because we'd spent so much time in the dark, the kids wanted to tell ghost stories instead of play games, and so we turned off the lights again and pretty well instantly had 24 kids screaming for the next 15 minutes. SOLID. Ha!
Shadowy nerdness out!
Here are some photos - of all kinds of things...
Here we are making some shadow puppets for up against the screen, and on the overhead projector...
...and here's some beautiful playing around with shapes and colour.
Over the past few days we have really banged out the important points of the story of our play - and almost have a script. Here's a photo of me trying to map out the points and some of the action. As you can see, it's the age old story of good Queen turned bad by witch's evil spell, missing crowns, heroic bunnies and dogs and, of course, thieves and servants. Eat your heart out Disney - the kids at Innalik Public School are kicking your butt!
I have been through this process no few times, and I love it when the story grows organically out of the participants imaginations and art. Really, this story grew out of the masks the kids made - and all this reminded me of Teacher Tom's recent Pre K Play - although we've had a lot less role-switching than he did. A LOT of bunny masks were made (for some reason) and they all mutated into other things like villagers and castle workers, and the thieves just turned up out of nowhere one day, causing a huge and awesome plot twist.
Let's not forget the days (and days and days and days...) of effort spent on getting the handpuppets together. Here is a photo of a few in action - at some point in the play, all the villagers get blown away by a strong wind while out picking flowers - and I think we're going to do that with the hand puppets, as they all turned out to be pretty much regular looking people, with the odd dog and bunny thrown in to boot.
Yes! I love the stylish hair on all of them.
My dear friend Jane has run programs like this for year in Toronto, and has documented an amazing continuum of imaginary development in children. We have laughed and laughed at the regular re-occurrence of heroic animals and princesses wrongly accused. The kids of Inukjuak aren't any different, and it's a treat to see those common themes of childhood running so strongly across cultures.
Ok - enough for now, more shadowy goodness tomorrow - OH! Except for at the end of the session, because we'd spent so much time in the dark, the kids wanted to tell ghost stories instead of play games, and so we turned off the lights again and pretty well instantly had 24 kids screaming for the next 15 minutes. SOLID. Ha!
Shadowy nerdness out!
Friday, April 9, 2010
sweet-sad endings and the next adventure...whoa.
My school year ends, in fits and starts, over the next two weeks. I can hardly believe that this year has come and gone, slid through my living like water. My History and Philosophy course is over, which is a tragedy as I wanted to keep taking that class forever; my interpersonal class has ended, and it was maybe the MOST RELEVANT educational experience of my life. This semester rocked hard - my courses were deep and influential, and there was SO MUCH WORK.
And on Wednesday, I had my last placement day at the High Park Bloorview Nursery School. It was a sweet day, where we planted bean seeds and sang songs, and as I led my last goodbye music circle, each child said "Goodbye, Noah!" and smiled and waved, which they'd never done with me before, not every single one! I was really touched...it is such a special thing to create relationships with kids. It is a truly powerful thing. I'll miss them a lot there. My placement was really spectacular - I felt welcomed by the educators I worked and learned with, and learned so much with the kids too. The power of integrated classrooms, emergent curriculum, reflective practice, interdisciplinary support teams...the list goes on and on.
And now - just a couple of other things to do...presentations, final interviews, and two exams. And then...it's off to the next adventure.
I can't remember if I've talked about this yet on the blog. I've barely had a chance to think about it, with the end-of-the-year push, and when it was being conceived and organized it was still too far away for it to percolate into these pages. Soooo...here's what's happening next. When you hear about what the heck I'm doing, you'll wonder how I managed to NOT think about it for so long.
I'm flying to the Arctic to teach art for five weeks.
WHAT!!!!!!!!!
I know. I can hardly believe it myself.
Lisa, an amazing artist and friend of mine, has been running an arts and theatre program in Inukjuak, a remote fly-in community in Nunavik for the last 6 years. Last year, she had a baby, and now being up North away from her family would be too much. So she asked me to go up instead. She is also expanding the program to another community, and so another friend of ours Natasha, will be starting a similar project in Kangirsuk.
I can hardly believe that I'm going to have this opportunity. I hardly know what it's all about. I've dreamed of the North in different ways for a long time, and now I'm going to experience it, and get to work with real kids and a real community. Because Natasha and I are both in school, and Lisa's been doing it for so long, she's been organizing it all, and I only have the vaguest notions of this whole thing. The next two weeks are going to be a bit of a crash course. I'll write more about it as I find things out.
So --- spring is here, and the school year's almost done, and I'm starting to get ready to go to an amazing place where there will still be blizzards, you have to fly to get there, fierce beauty and let's not forget the turbulent history of colonialism and general awfulness that our government has smacked the Inuit people with. Whooooo, nelly.
I hope I can do all this justice. Lisa thinks I can, and she's done it and knows. It's gonna be a crazy ride!!!
More soon -
Nerd out.
And on Wednesday, I had my last placement day at the High Park Bloorview Nursery School. It was a sweet day, where we planted bean seeds and sang songs, and as I led my last goodbye music circle, each child said "Goodbye, Noah!" and smiled and waved, which they'd never done with me before, not every single one! I was really touched...it is such a special thing to create relationships with kids. It is a truly powerful thing. I'll miss them a lot there. My placement was really spectacular - I felt welcomed by the educators I worked and learned with, and learned so much with the kids too. The power of integrated classrooms, emergent curriculum, reflective practice, interdisciplinary support teams...the list goes on and on.
And now - just a couple of other things to do...presentations, final interviews, and two exams. And then...it's off to the next adventure.
I can't remember if I've talked about this yet on the blog. I've barely had a chance to think about it, with the end-of-the-year push, and when it was being conceived and organized it was still too far away for it to percolate into these pages. Soooo...here's what's happening next. When you hear about what the heck I'm doing, you'll wonder how I managed to NOT think about it for so long.
I'm flying to the Arctic to teach art for five weeks.
WHAT!!!!!!!!!
I know. I can hardly believe it myself.
Lisa, an amazing artist and friend of mine, has been running an arts and theatre program in Inukjuak, a remote fly-in community in Nunavik for the last 6 years. Last year, she had a baby, and now being up North away from her family would be too much. So she asked me to go up instead. She is also expanding the program to another community, and so another friend of ours Natasha, will be starting a similar project in Kangirsuk.
I can hardly believe that I'm going to have this opportunity. I hardly know what it's all about. I've dreamed of the North in different ways for a long time, and now I'm going to experience it, and get to work with real kids and a real community. Because Natasha and I are both in school, and Lisa's been doing it for so long, she's been organizing it all, and I only have the vaguest notions of this whole thing. The next two weeks are going to be a bit of a crash course. I'll write more about it as I find things out.
So --- spring is here, and the school year's almost done, and I'm starting to get ready to go to an amazing place where there will still be blizzards, you have to fly to get there, fierce beauty and let's not forget the turbulent history of colonialism and general awfulness that our government has smacked the Inuit people with. Whooooo, nelly.
I hope I can do all this justice. Lisa thinks I can, and she's done it and knows. It's gonna be a crazy ride!!!
More soon -
Nerd out.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
oh yes...
Almost there.
I am nerding out quite hardcoredly - papers are coming together, the semester is ending, I am feeling more peaceful, in a frantic, panic-flavoured way.
Oh yes.
And spring seems to be here. It's so good to get outside, especially with some kids, and feel the sun warm us! Hooray!
Onwards, friends.
PS - anyone want to read my History and Philosophy paper for me? Har har har...
Nerd out.
Friday, March 19, 2010
end of the japanese visit
Well - our Japanese guests have gone home. This is a picture of the origami jumping frogs they taught us to make, in presentation to the students of the Ryerson School of ECE, on Monday.
It was an amazing experience. Wednesday was the biggest day of all with visits to the Gerrard Resource Centre in the morning, and Invest in Kids in the afternoon. The Gerrard Resource Centre is a family resource centre operated out of Ryerson University, and we went to see their site in a local school. Invest in Kids is a national charitable organization, dedicated to improving life for children in Canada by supporting parents. Both visits were pretty interesting, and I felt really lucky tagging along - I learned so much!
When we got back from Invest in Kids in the afternoon (which is a terrible story, but all worked out in the end) the faculty and students split up to do their own things. While the Ryerson faculty were going to have a serious dinner with the faculty from Urawa, we got to take the students out for dinner and to the ROM. We asked them what they wanted to eat and they requested that we go for POUTINE!!!! So we did. This is what we ate.
We took the subway to the ROM, which is free on Wednesday nights so that was pretty wonderful considering how large a group we were. In the short time that we had we passed through the dinosaurs, explored the Bat Cave and the interactive biosphere exhibit, and dropped them off at the hotel at the end of the night having had a really great time. I am totally wiped out however. I'm still sick, and after the intense push of mid-terms and projects and this - being responsible for folks all day with whom you don't share a verbal language, even with interpreters, is surprisingly exhausting - well, today I'm staying home. RELAXING. And probably doing some readings for school. WOW! What a week!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
hmmmm...
I don't know about switching my blog hosting - it's so friendly over here and the blog would have a real different feel. maybe, maybe not - but I guess not for now...
I am totally wiped out - been working on a project that I haven't mentioned yet. Since it's March Break here in Toronto, and placement schools are closed, instead of taking a break and resting and getting a jump on things, I decided to add a pinch of crazy to my week.
A group of visitors from Urawa University in Japan, with which Ryerson has an ongoing connection, is visiting and I got hired on to coordinate our shenanigans and hang out with them. I've been organizing my face off for the last four weeks, on top of school and placement and being sick and everything else. They arrived on Sunday after a 13 hour flight, and we've had a jammed packed educational visit with them. Not that I had anything else to do.
Yesterday it was mostly exploring Ryerson and our ECE program, as well as our lab school the Early Learning Centre. Today it was more exploration of whats going on in our program, and then for a special treat, we went up to Bloorview Kids Rehab, the hospital, school and resource centre for children with extra support needs that my placement Nursery school just happens to be affiliated with. It helps that I worked there, and have many dear friends who have and still do. The folks there treated us supremely well, and gave us a great tour. We are LUCKY!!!
Tomorrow, more site visits and then dinner and the ROM - and then I get to fall exhausted into a puddle of jelly, sleep for twelve hours, and get back to my real life. We're giving a real whirlwind tour, since they're here for such a short amount of time, and it's making my head spin.
Speaking of heads however, I managed to do some fun homework today, in the middle of everything, and when I say fun I'm not even being sarcastic. An assignment in our History and Philosophy of ECE class (LOVE.IT.)is to make links between historical philosophers and everyday life, by examining TV programming for preschoolers and connect it to one of the educational philosophers we've been studying. Did you know that Sesame Street - our beloved Sesame Street - was designed as a televised Head Start program?!?!?!?!? Did you even?!?
Awesome. The idea grew out of a silly little cultural race, when the USSR beat the USA into space and North America FREAKED. Educators were blamed, who then blamed each other. College profs blamed high school teachers who blamed elementary school teachers - all the way down the line to preschool teachers and parents. The US government went ape, invested a ton of money in educational reform, and as part of the War on Poverty Head Start was born, and gave us Sesame Street. That's the nutshell - research away.
Anyway, today we got to analyze Sesame Street, and wow was it ever great. Apparently it is the most heavily researched educational program (not just TV program, but ed. program of any kind) EVER. And here we grew up thinking it was about Jim Henson and sharing and singing and spelling, with counting and stories and imaginary (but not really) wooly mammoths thrown in for good measure. Again, AWESOMENESS.
So, in my little Japanese whirlwind, I got to go to the awesomest rehab hospital for kids and visit their totally RAD Centre for the Arts AND watch TV (and admittedly think about it, and then write it all down). How cool is that? And all I have to do is turn into a puddle of goo after.
I am totally wiped out - been working on a project that I haven't mentioned yet. Since it's March Break here in Toronto, and placement schools are closed, instead of taking a break and resting and getting a jump on things, I decided to add a pinch of crazy to my week.
A group of visitors from Urawa University in Japan, with which Ryerson has an ongoing connection, is visiting and I got hired on to coordinate our shenanigans and hang out with them. I've been organizing my face off for the last four weeks, on top of school and placement and being sick and everything else. They arrived on Sunday after a 13 hour flight, and we've had a jammed packed educational visit with them. Not that I had anything else to do.
Yesterday it was mostly exploring Ryerson and our ECE program, as well as our lab school the Early Learning Centre. Today it was more exploration of whats going on in our program, and then for a special treat, we went up to Bloorview Kids Rehab, the hospital, school and resource centre for children with extra support needs that my placement Nursery school just happens to be affiliated with. It helps that I worked there, and have many dear friends who have and still do. The folks there treated us supremely well, and gave us a great tour. We are LUCKY!!!
Tomorrow, more site visits and then dinner and the ROM - and then I get to fall exhausted into a puddle of jelly, sleep for twelve hours, and get back to my real life. We're giving a real whirlwind tour, since they're here for such a short amount of time, and it's making my head spin.
Speaking of heads however, I managed to do some fun homework today, in the middle of everything, and when I say fun I'm not even being sarcastic. An assignment in our History and Philosophy of ECE class (LOVE.IT.)is to make links between historical philosophers and everyday life, by examining TV programming for preschoolers and connect it to one of the educational philosophers we've been studying. Did you know that Sesame Street - our beloved Sesame Street - was designed as a televised Head Start program?!?!?!?!? Did you even?!?
Awesome. The idea grew out of a silly little cultural race, when the USSR beat the USA into space and North America FREAKED. Educators were blamed, who then blamed each other. College profs blamed high school teachers who blamed elementary school teachers - all the way down the line to preschool teachers and parents. The US government went ape, invested a ton of money in educational reform, and as part of the War on Poverty Head Start was born, and gave us Sesame Street. That's the nutshell - research away.
Anyway, today we got to analyze Sesame Street, and wow was it ever great. Apparently it is the most heavily researched educational program (not just TV program, but ed. program of any kind) EVER. And here we grew up thinking it was about Jim Henson and sharing and singing and spelling, with counting and stories and imaginary (but not really) wooly mammoths thrown in for good measure. Again, AWESOMENESS.
So, in my little Japanese whirlwind, I got to go to the awesomest rehab hospital for kids and visit their totally RAD Centre for the Arts AND watch TV (and admittedly think about it, and then write it all down). How cool is that? And all I have to do is turn into a puddle of goo after.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
chalk murals
wella wella wella -
These are some photos of the chalk murals I did in the classrooms at my placement at Bloorview Nursery School - High Park. I'm real happy with them, particularly when we were discussing the new tiger one and one of the girls in our class said "What happened to the boat?" Well, sweetheart, don't worry. It's still in the other classroom...all chalkboards are not the same chalkboard.
This is the Tiger I did for Chinese New Year - I peeled away the blue corro-tint to find a green chalkboard wreckage beneath. It was covered in tape and the sticky remnants of some teacher's great idea. It took the better part of an hour, a scraper, goo-gone, two steel-wool pads and a shit-load of elbow grease to get the gummy residue off, and leave an easily chalkable surface. I'm happy to say I feel like it was worth it.
Because sidewalk chalk is so light, and doesn't come really in black, I had to get inventive -- and erasing the tiger's stripes worked really well.
This other mural I did in the classroom we were in at the time, when the kids were captivated by pirates and treasure. It was pretty gratifying to hear the kids talking about mermaids and islands a couple of weeks after it was up - amazing what enters the kids' stories.
I was a bit more aware of my language today - that is going to be an ongoing thing. Good thing it's so worth it, and awesome, and I'm into it. It's a challenging thing, though, and being aware in that way of how I'm speaking and framing things takes a lot of effort. I talked about it with Isabel, who said she'd be happy to back me up if I'll do the same for her. She framed it as having an inside voice and an outside voice, and letting your inside voice say what it needs to -- "NO!" "Don't do that!" or "Hey, buster, don't sit on the table!" -- IN YOUR HEAD -- and translate it into your outside voice saying "Hey, friend, it looks to me like you're thinking of sitting down. Let's go get a chair or a beanbag instead." Awesome. Demanding. Fake-sounding? A little, but I think that's just the constructed clarity and intensified intent that grates on my ear. Practice that for say, ten years or so, and it oughta come out more naturally. It's a good goal to point towards, anyway.
Always learning, even when it feels against my will! Positive attitude, check. Sense of humour, check. Loads of stuff to do, check. Groan!
Nerd.OUT!
These are some photos of the chalk murals I did in the classrooms at my placement at Bloorview Nursery School - High Park. I'm real happy with them, particularly when we were discussing the new tiger one and one of the girls in our class said "What happened to the boat?" Well, sweetheart, don't worry. It's still in the other classroom...all chalkboards are not the same chalkboard.
This is the Tiger I did for Chinese New Year - I peeled away the blue corro-tint to find a green chalkboard wreckage beneath. It was covered in tape and the sticky remnants of some teacher's great idea. It took the better part of an hour, a scraper, goo-gone, two steel-wool pads and a shit-load of elbow grease to get the gummy residue off, and leave an easily chalkable surface. I'm happy to say I feel like it was worth it.
Because sidewalk chalk is so light, and doesn't come really in black, I had to get inventive -- and erasing the tiger's stripes worked really well.
This other mural I did in the classroom we were in at the time, when the kids were captivated by pirates and treasure. It was pretty gratifying to hear the kids talking about mermaids and islands a couple of weeks after it was up - amazing what enters the kids' stories.
I was a bit more aware of my language today - that is going to be an ongoing thing. Good thing it's so worth it, and awesome, and I'm into it. It's a challenging thing, though, and being aware in that way of how I'm speaking and framing things takes a lot of effort. I talked about it with Isabel, who said she'd be happy to back me up if I'll do the same for her. She framed it as having an inside voice and an outside voice, and letting your inside voice say what it needs to -- "NO!" "Don't do that!" or "Hey, buster, don't sit on the table!" -- IN YOUR HEAD -- and translate it into your outside voice saying "Hey, friend, it looks to me like you're thinking of sitting down. Let's go get a chair or a beanbag instead." Awesome. Demanding. Fake-sounding? A little, but I think that's just the constructed clarity and intensified intent that grates on my ear. Practice that for say, ten years or so, and it oughta come out more naturally. It's a good goal to point towards, anyway.
Always learning, even when it feels against my will! Positive attitude, check. Sense of humour, check. Loads of stuff to do, check. Groan!
Nerd.OUT!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
the book tree
I'm in placement this semester at Bloorview Nursery School, it's High Park site. It's an integrated classroom, meeting the requirements of our second year Children with Special Needs placement - there are about half and half kids with extra support needs and kids with typical needs. I am lucky - it's a really great school, and I'm learning tons.
My field educator Isabel is really great, and encourages me to 'be artistic' in the classroom. We laugh about it, as her background is in performance, and so we're a good match of artistic temperaments.
So...we're decorating the book-nook. I am into this - DEEPLY. I've already done a chalk mural of a pirate ship, following some of the kids fascination with pirates from a couple of weeks ago. But this project feels a little bit more integrated. Anyway, Isabel and i were jamming ideas about how to pull documentation, the kids' art and beautifying the classroom all together, when we realized that making a 'book tree' on the wall above the book area was the way to do it.
I sketched and cut out the bare bones of a tree (one of my favourite motifs) and stuck it up on the wall last week, on my first day of placement for the week. Then, on the second, we started a collage project with the kids, getting them gluing and cutting with different colours of cellophane paper and glue to make leaves to add to the tree.
The kids got right into it, glopping glue on and layering the clear colours on top of each other in a totally unexpected (why didn't i see that coming?) way. A couple of random objects also made their way into it, as well as the inevitable bits of glitter. Isabel and her team-teacher Tatiana continued it with the kids while i was gone, and i got back today to an interesting, still drying (after 5 days, that's how much glue) layered piece of work.
After all the kids left, i got to it with the scissors, chopping up the bigger collage into vaguely leaf shaped pieces, and this is what resulted.
The idea is to start with these leaves, all different colours of the imagination, and slowly add photos of the kids reading, pictures of favourite books and characters, and maybe even letter or words to the tree, tying it all together into a living documentation of creation and literacy in the classroom.
I feel real good about how we documented this too - the only thing is I forgot to take a picture of the bare-branched tree and the collage before i started cutting it up - but I'm a learner, it's ok.
I am proud of this. It feels great to merge two of my worlds, and felt great to put it together like this. I can't wait to see what the kids say tomorrow...
Nerd Out!
My field educator Isabel is really great, and encourages me to 'be artistic' in the classroom. We laugh about it, as her background is in performance, and so we're a good match of artistic temperaments.
So...we're decorating the book-nook. I am into this - DEEPLY. I've already done a chalk mural of a pirate ship, following some of the kids fascination with pirates from a couple of weeks ago. But this project feels a little bit more integrated. Anyway, Isabel and i were jamming ideas about how to pull documentation, the kids' art and beautifying the classroom all together, when we realized that making a 'book tree' on the wall above the book area was the way to do it.
I sketched and cut out the bare bones of a tree (one of my favourite motifs) and stuck it up on the wall last week, on my first day of placement for the week. Then, on the second, we started a collage project with the kids, getting them gluing and cutting with different colours of cellophane paper and glue to make leaves to add to the tree.
The kids got right into it, glopping glue on and layering the clear colours on top of each other in a totally unexpected (why didn't i see that coming?) way. A couple of random objects also made their way into it, as well as the inevitable bits of glitter. Isabel and her team-teacher Tatiana continued it with the kids while i was gone, and i got back today to an interesting, still drying (after 5 days, that's how much glue) layered piece of work.
After all the kids left, i got to it with the scissors, chopping up the bigger collage into vaguely leaf shaped pieces, and this is what resulted.
The idea is to start with these leaves, all different colours of the imagination, and slowly add photos of the kids reading, pictures of favourite books and characters, and maybe even letter or words to the tree, tying it all together into a living documentation of creation and literacy in the classroom.
I feel real good about how we documented this too - the only thing is I forgot to take a picture of the bare-branched tree and the collage before i started cutting it up - but I'm a learner, it's ok.
I am proud of this. It feels great to merge two of my worlds, and felt great to put it together like this. I can't wait to see what the kids say tomorrow...
Nerd Out!
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