Now to figure out how to use it without driving me nuts!
Apparently,
Random thoughts and reflections of a lifelong learner & educator, retired public school teacher, dog mom and single parent. Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday Update: No major side effects, a little sore arm.
I delivered materials to each of my students.
My TAs and I carefully filled them with materials
we will use in class.
We put them all in a backpack just their size.
Donors blessed us with a variety of art and sensory materials.
All my students got these materials,
and more.
But not all of them will have the materials
when we need them for class.
Today, I introduced the art of Brian Pinkney.
Before we ended our day,
three more students managed to locate
those pieces of scratch paper.
G was one of them.
Mondays are always long.
This Monday was no different.
My work space keeps getting more cluttered,
but I need stuff
and my students need stuff.
I need to keep them engaged as we move towards are last trimester.
(BTW: Mug and spoon was part of my instructional materials today... think syllables😙)
After professional development and staff meeting,Friday Highlights:
And using construction paper (most everyone found their packet of color construction paper),
we created buildings in small groups.
So colorful and beautiful!
Love shapes, color, and lines! #elementsofart
after our Family Chat,
but on Friday,
I got the feeling some students weren't ready,
I wasn't ready either,
so I stayed on.
N wanted to talk.
She always wants to talk
and I love to hear her talk,
even if it's off topic,
which it is most of the time.
We cleared up the fact that the dog she was talking about today
was NOT the dog I usually see guarding her home.
Then, J and I played virtual filter challenge.
He laughed and talked with me.
He usually isn't very engaged in class,
but he loves his newly discovered filters!
I don't get the chance to play or chat with N and J during class time.
My buddies and I have been talking a lotabout when and where we can get our
covid vaccines.
Some teachers in other districts have already
completed their two shots.
We are waiting.
As schools, districts, teachers, and parents
begin to think about the possibility
of returning to face to face instruction
or not,
I want to focus on what I miss most.
I discovered from mom that he draws and draws at home.
He told me that he can draw all the characters
and learned it by watching his cousins draw.
I told him to keep watching and practicing
because he could be an artist when he grows up.
We had a nice conversation about something we both love,
art.
Making connections.
I dropped off an extra sketch pad I had lying around in the house
later in the afternoon.
Every artist needs a sketch pad.
As we were dancing to that sunflower song from Spiderman,
the Miles Morales one,
David yelled out to me that he had fun today.
That was huge.
David is a hard cookie to impress.
He participates in class most of the time,
but tends to wander off to grab a toy
or do his own thing.
Today he had fun.
What did we do today?
We danced,
We sang,
We made a book,
We looked for things that started with the letter Ll
We danced,
We counted,
We made paper balls,
We talked about a story,
We danced,
We formed letters with playdough, popsicle sticks,
and slime.
And we danced some more.
Daniel's room was to be a guest room when he moved into his apartment.
Then it was to become Bryce's work space for school.
It ended up being my classroom this year.
Even though it's small,
I still can't find things when I am teaching.
It's hard to fit a classroom into a small room in your house.
If you're not having fun, the kids won't have fun.
Have them watch you do it first, then have them do it.
Make your brain work. Kids need brain breaks every 15 minutes.
Kids learn by doing.
You don't need to buy anything, you can use whatever you have to teach.
Young children need to have experiences crossing the midline.
Just sing!
I do sing.
I will keep singing.
And I have a lot of fun everyday.
Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day, and Presidents' Day
all fell within 4 days of each other this year.
And 100th Day was two days before.
Sometimes less is more.
Since I signed us up for my local district's Lunar New Year Art Festival
LD East Virtual Lunar New Year Festival
I wanted to focus on that more.
Virtual teaching time limits what you can do
but I still want my students to experience as much as they can.
We did not give out Valentine's this year.
But we did dance, sing, and eat noodles.
The students learned a little about another culture,
my culture.
Once I taught a class with 11 different languages
and many cultures.
It was wonderful,
and we shared and celebrated each other.
I teach at a school where this is mainly one,
maybe two cultures.
We celebrate our students' families
and traditions,
but I also want my students
to know and appreciate cultures outside
of their community.
One year,
as we were learning about Dr. King,
an African American visitor walked passed our playground,
a few of our students ran to the fence
and greeted him by calling him Martin Luther King.
The man was not amused.
Our students were not being rude,
for them,
he was someone who looked like Dr. King
and there were no other African American
men or women in our school community.
I am the only Asian teacher at my school,
so I don't mind representing and sharing
myself, my family, and my culture.
It's important,
especially in today's climate.
Diversity doesn't always exists in neighborhoods,
but they do in our world.
So we ate noodles for long life and health.
We wore red to celebrate the new year.
We ate oranges in hopes of bringing us more wealth,
And we also celebrate Valentine's Day too.
Happy New Year! May it be filled with peace, joy, luck, and good health.
I love watching my students play.
I love watching them learn, create, and make discoveries while they play.
Today we used playdough again.
I'd use it everyday if we had the time on Zoom.
Luckily, they each have cans of playdough at home now
so they can use it whenever they want.
We are making progress people!
It was the 100th Day of School today.
No big 100th Day projects.
No Zero the Hero Assembly or visit.
No 100 snack baggies.
No day filled with rotations to visit other classrooms.
But we did celebrate our 100th Day.
We did sing 100th Day songs.
We did count, dance, and exercise to 100.
We did make silly 100th day hats.
We did listen to a 100th Day story.
We did laugh, sing, dance, create, and shared 100 things.
We did make it through 100 days of virtual instruction.
We did make friends,
learn our teachers' names,
and know what routines are.
We did have a nice day.
Happy 100th Day of School!
It's the 99th day of school
things are coming along
and then you get the news that there will be
a plus one next week.
We are not full this year so there's space for more students
but when you have been "prohibited" to enter your classroom
and your DonorsChoose grants have funded for 21
and now there is a plus one.
I look around my house and I am not sure I can gather all the materials my new student needs.
Furthermore,
I don't remember all the stuff I have given out this year to my students
so...
I begged to go into my classroom for 5 minutes
before class Friday morning
to gather all I can find
for him to feel welcome and included in our activities.
His parent is picking up his Chromebook,
so I hope to at least make contact and say hello,
from 6 feet apart of course.
Until then,You can ask any of my students from White House Place and beyond
and they will concur that I like signing my classes up for presentations.
Whenever there was an opportunity to perform in front of an audience,
I would sign up my class to participate.
I think deep down I am a director.
I love watching kids perform.
I love watching them overcome their fear of public speaking
because I had to overcome my fear of public speaking.
So maybe,
if they had the chance to feel successful
and comfortable performing in front of others,
they will feel confident enough to express their thoughts and feelings in other aspects of their lives.
I was a shy kid.
But I was thrust out on the stage to recite text for our Black History Program when I was 10.
I never forgot that experience.
So I want my students to have lots of experiences they won't forget either.
Our local district's art branch was looking for submissions for a virtual
Lunar New Year theme gallery.
Bringing Chinese New Year into the classroom has been one of the highlights
of the year for me.
So to challenge myself,
I signed up,
for both visual and performing arts.
It's not that I couldn't teach students about CNY,
it was how to coordinate a performance when we are virtual.
I had grand visions,
like I do in the classroom,
but this year will be different.
So after stressing out the week as the deadline approached
I decided to just use what I had and do the best that I could
to put together something that would not only allow my students a chance to shine
but that would teach them and others
a little more about what CNY means to those that celebrate it.
It was a busy day.
Lots of things to do.
Uploading art work for a district art show.
Creating and directing a short presentation.
I love when students perform
but virtually will be a whole new ball game!
We are going to celebrate Chinese New Year a week early.So many traditions to carry out,
but it's important students know that people celebrate in different ways.
Made a resource slide deck.
So many more to add.
One day at a time.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSAWpk3CGWg5xgP1DA87O6sIBWbVPNbEyq-rVIa_pVKOY_95AtBAiJAxA_LWLKGp5atuZbBMXUz9oBO/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000
For nearly a decade, I have had my students paint on canvases.
I wanted them to have that experience of creating on something different.I don't remember ever painting on a canvas until I went to a Paint Party,
There is just something special about it
and I want my students to have that same feeling
of creating something beautiful
on something special,
just like artists do.
It was a long process,