Bieber Fever!

Our group did our Canadian Artist Presentation on Justin Bieber! Yes I know Justin Bieber, you are probably gagging a little bit... but there was a motive behind it! All of us mentioned that we have heard Justin Bieber's name in our practicum classrooms, and he is a very popular Canadian artist so it seemed perfect. If you are not making some sort of connection to your students when you teach... why are you doing it? As new teachers, we cannot drive our students a certain direction, so why not embrace where they are going?? We have all said it a million times... meaningful learning will be much more successful. If Justin Bieber is important to our students and his music will help them in their academics, why not include it into lessons? We will not always get to choose what we teach, and there will be times where we do not like it, or are uncomfortable teaching it but we must keep the students' learning at the top of our priority list. 

Not a creature was stirring…. not even a mouse!

Christmas is my favourite time of year and I cannot wait to teach during the holidays! I hope to bring as many elements of Christmas and the season into my classroom as I can. The Grinch is a common story that most of your students will be familiar with, and what a great idea to post this little poem by your desk for the students. Every student will have those days where they are grumpy, and giving them the okay to feel that way if a good way to build rapport. I think I would ensure to take a Grinch Pill (green tic tac) every now and then too so my students were comfortable with going to grab one when they felt grumpy themselves! 

Two Rivers Gallery

I really enjoyed our visit to the Two Rivers Art Gallery last Thursday. We went in our first year as well, although this time the lesson planning component was really neat! I liked going in our first year, but it was hard to imagine it being really useful because it was in our first couple weeks and we were all pretty oblivious I think... It is much more effective going later in the Education program because we have all had a chance to teach art and can get a better idea for what each grade level is capable of. 

I worked at CNC during the summer with international students and took them to the Art Gallery for a field trip. It was really cool to see how the students reacted to the art. My students were Korean, so there was a big language barrier, but art has its own language that doesn't necessarily need to be verbal which is great! The lady that took us through the gallery for our tour mentioned this too, that the artwork can be displayed for any grade level. If the real meaning behind the artwork is a little vulgar or aggressive for a younger audience, you don't need to go into the nitty gritty detail. 

I think field trips can be so beneficial if they are planned and organized well. There are many companies and organizations around Prince George who are more than willing to do tours with students. 

Just Dance!

While I was on my practicum I got ahold of a really great resource! One of the teachers in my school had the entire Just Dance game on a USB stick. Just Dance is a dancing video game where you are meant to mimic the dancing moves on the TV. I took my class along with the grade 1 and 2 classes to the gym and put the video up on the big screen so everyone could see it easily. I would turn off the lights and ask the kids to spread out to make sure they could dance with all the space they needed! It was a great PE activity to keep them all engaged and it ended up being a great work out for them! It was easy to tell when the students were getting anxious or losing interest, we usually lasted for about 5 or 6 songs maximum. I was a little uneasy using the game at first because of the clothing and dancing moves in the videos, but the other teachers informed me this is what these kids have grown up around and it is what they know. 

Below is a link for one of the many songs I used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkc62sOdmDk

Delilah the Spider!

Here is my sample I created to show my students for one of our Halloween art projects, Delilah the Spider. Prior to doing the lesson with my class, I cut out the circle templates for the body and strips of paper for the legs for each student. The skills I wanted the students to work on for this lesson was folding, colouring and glueing so it was not necessary for them to create the templates themselves... and there would not be enough time in a day for that in a kindergarten class! I gave the students the freedom to put however many legs and eyes they wanted on their spider, it was really neat to see the individuality come out in each students' final project. Before I sent the students out on their own with the task, I modelled how to fold the legs because it was a new skill for the class. They picked up on it very quickly and I only had to help a couple students as I walked around the room during their independent work. 

We Will Always Remember

The Art Show was a great success! There were so many wonderful art projects created by the entire cohort, with a variety of ideas. I was in a kindergarten class for practicum and I was unable to get a whole class set of art projects due to the little time given with the permission forms, so my teacher and I decided it was the best to do a collaborative sample as a class and submit that for the Art Show. We created a poppy and named it We Will Always Remember to honour all the people who fought in the war for Canada. I introduced the idea of Remembrance Day with a child-friendly book and a class discussion to see where my students' understanding was, and it turned into a great discussion with complete engagement and lots of questions. The actual poppy was created with the use of crepe paper, construction paper and water. It was age-appropriate and I would do it in another kindergarten class if the opportunity arose. In my original art lesson plans I had it as a finger painting activity, although my CT and I decided that the students weren't at the skill level to use the paint so crepe paper was used as an alternative.

Importance of Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is a very significant day in my home. My brother is currently in the military, my dad was in the RCMP for 35 years and my uncle was in the Navy for 22 years. Each year on Remembrance Day our family attends the ceremony and march that happens in downtown Prince George. My dad is retired from the RCMP as of this year and no longer marches in the parade, but he did every year previous. My brother used to march in it along with my dad before he moved to Ontario to join the Royal Military College for a career as a fighter pilot. I think it's really important that we all take the time to respect the people who fought in the war for Canada, as well as respect the people who are currently in the military. It is a little closer to home attending the ceremony each year now, knowing that my little brother could potentially have to go overseas one day himself. There are a few small elements of art included in the ceremony and march each year such as the musical instruments played, poetry and letters read, traditional dances and the march itself.