Today our children had an amazing opportunity to work with Glen Anderson, a local artist specializing in mosaics. You can see his work at http://www.mosaicplanet.net. I met Glen last year at Urban Weavers Studio in Strathcona. I asked him many, many questions about mosaics, all of which he patiently answered with expertise. I was gearing up for an art project in our preschool class so I really wanted to get any pointers I could from him. The plan was to have our students make mosaic tiles to place along our fence at the garden plot at Terra Nova Farm. They worked out very well, thanks to Glen's great advice and it was a beautiful moment when child and parent hung the stones at the farm on our last day of school. It was a moment of great pride for all of us. The garden that they cared for with their own hands- tended to its needs in sunshine and in rain. They will always remain part of that space, that land and their stone will remind them of this connection. Even though they turned out absolutely lovely, I knew I wanted Glen to work directly with the students and share his knowledge with them first hand.

One year later... same project but this time with Glen guiding the children. Prior to his visit we told the children that a local artist would be coming to work with them and make their special piece. Several emails and phone calls later, Glen arrived with lots of interesting tile pieces, stones, and glass pieces.

Glen introduced himself and the children were immediately intrigued by this interesting man. He spoke about living on the water, his cats, his art and the project. They listened attentively, soaking in this new person and his energy. I loved the way he chatted with them... not to them but really with them.

The children choose their pieces, played with different designs and then worked with intent on their pieces. They were interested in the process- first laying the sand, then putting the pieces down (not too shallow, not too deep) then carefully putting it on the balcony where it waited to get filled with grout. And now we wait...one whole week...seven sleeps, until we can take them out of their molds and see how they turned out.









Last step...imprinting their names.. this is one example.


Although the project itself worked out very well, I really was most interested in the relationship they had with Glen. A brief and fleeting relationship but one that will become a small piece of who they are to become. By exposing our children to new people and new places we are offering them a gift. A gift of expanding their current knowledge base and extending their comfort zone. Each child will take something different from Glen. One mother reported to me that her son was most impressed by Glen's house boat and decided he, too, wants to live on the water. Other children might be interested in his cat story. Or his mosaics ( he showed a picture on his phone). Or the story he told about filming a movie in his house. Or the way he patiently taught them how to do the project. Each child took something away with them that day. I truly believe that each interaction we have in life has the potential to alter or change a small part of us. Or maybe a big part of us.

Think back on your day. Did someone or something affect you in a new way? As we shuffle around in our busy lives, it is hard to notice these moments, these opportunities. But I urge you to try to see them, feel them, hear them and let yourself be moved by them. This is true living. It takes mindful practice to live this way. I am trying, really hard. Try with me?

Emily

An insanely windy day brought delight to children and adults alike. Before heading out into the wind, fearful comments were made from various children. "I am scared of the wind." "What if the wind blows me away?" "The wind is too cold." "The wind hurts my ears." "The wind is too too windy!" These comments were a provocation for me as an educator. I felt that if we could just get the children out there they would learn to see, hear, and feel the wind in new ways. They could discover it's power without being harmed. They could find the music in the wind, the soft caresses of the wind.

So, coats on, hoods up, and nervous energy exploding, we ventured out to brave the element of wind. We marched along the cemented path, holding onto our jackets and fingers gripping our hoods, trying to keep every hair strand inside, until..... we came across a huge pile of beautiful pink, delicate cherry blossoms. The blossoms were waiting for us, like a friend who knows you need her. There they were ready and eager for the children to pick them up and toss them freely into the wind. They were magnificent! They blew wildly all around us, encircling us, landing on our shoulders, our heads. We all laughed and cried out with excitement. This was marvellous and we all forgot our fears and any feelings of trepidation. And, so began our friendship with wind.




We brought out various sizes, textures and colours of silk scarves. How would they move in the wind? Would children release them or want to hold onto them? Would children team up and play catch? Would the wind blow them far away? Children ran, danced, twirled, twisted, rolled, tripped, leaped, and tied them around themselves.

Having just been to a workshop on shadows and light, I was thrilled to bring attention to the shadows and watch the children play with their shadows. I stood back and refrained from jumping in and starting to 'teach' about shadows. I relaxed and let myself enjoy their delight in their own discovery, the most meaningful of all.








And, supporting the notion that as teachers we can let the children guide us into new places, I walked over to the fence only to see the children discovered that the wind would whisk their scarf away and throw it against the fence. A new art form emerged- Scarf Fence Art.  One child spearheaded this initiative and began designing the scarves and she solicited help in trying to control them along the fence to make her own design. I was overjoyed by this moment!


Later, free journal time included several drawings of their experiences.





I think we all left this windy Monday feeling like we had made a new kind of peace with an element. And, now we have a new friend named, Wind.

Emily

A few weeks ago, our buddy teacher and I got together to plan some activities around Earth Day. During one of his teaching practicums, Kevin was introduced to the Popcorn Project. It is an interesting exercise that sheds light on the idea of ecology,sustainability and reducing our ecological footprint. The group is divided into four generations; the first generation has only 2 people and then each subsequent generation has more and more people. There is a large mound of popcorn on a communal table. Each person is given a bag and instructed to take as much popcorn as they wish, providing it fits into their bag. The first generation begins helping themselves to popcorn and then the second and so on. Of course, the fourth generation was left with nothing. Some interesting moments occurred during this exercise:

• The first and second generations mostly filled their bags to the brim.
• Some people really stuffed their bags while others took barely any.
• The fourth generation had concerned looks on their faces as they watched the third generation finish of the pile. Chloe said " The number 3's are taking all the popcorn, there won't be anything left for us!".
• Nico, in the fourth generation, said "Oh no! None left for me."
• The older buddies could see what was happening and some of them started to take less as the pile diminished.
• Realizations occurred... Loreli said "We should have taken less so Nico and Chloe could have some." and Kayla said "Take less next time."
• Luca, trying to navigate through his complex thoughts, said " If everybody took this much or less then somebody will have enough popcorn."

Questions that arose for me...

Do the preschoolers understand the concept of using resources?
If I ask them tomorrow about the Popcorn Project, will they be able to recount their experience?
Will the big buddies take what they learnt and begin to apply it to their daily lives?
Why are some people so innately generous and others more concerned with their own well-being? Does this change over time?

All this hard thinking required....RECESS!!

We ran to the playground and ......hung...slid...jumped...leaped....ran....tripped....climbed....twirled. And then we went to see the Dixon Dragonfly garden plot and their mason bees! The big buddies did not realize their little buddies had made their mason bee houses so this became very exciting news indeed! It was lovely to listen to the children share information about mason bees.

Kevin and I also wanted the teams to create a 'gift' to the Earth. After discussing many ideas we decided to explore the concept of environmental art through the artist Andy Goldsworthy. The students watched a video on his art during lunch time and then we all went outside to collect items to create their own piece of non-permanent art. We talked about how the art can change either from natural elements like weather or from other children walking by and adding or taking away from it. Buddies, big and small, adored this activity and could have continued for much longer than our time allowed.

Happy Earth Day!

Emily

These images will tell tales of our day at Terra Nova....

















Emily

A week filled with adventure as we set out our mason bee cocoons at the farm, went to Ironwood library, visited Burnett Secondary to play games with Grade 12 psychology students and made homemade waffles. The waffles really were a vehicle for honey. We established we wanted to eat something with honey, in honour of all the honey bees, so we decided on waffles.

We ate our waffles outside on the balcony, with a slight drizzle of rain falling, misting our jackets and waffles! Comments made during waffle eating:

Little Emily: I love you bees!  The honey tastes like wax.
Nicholas: I love you bees but not when you sting me.
Loreli: Yummy honey!
Wayne: I like the waffle.
Cash: I don't like the honey.
Luca: I only like the honey.
Cole: I don't like the waffle but I like the honey.
Alexa: I like it because it is yummy.
Sidney: I like the honey the most.

Cracking eggs is tricky business!

Whisking is so much fun



Adding the dry ingredients

We had a lot of energy after we ate our waffles and honey so we went to the playground and ...

• danced in the rain
• played tag in the rain
• played soccer in the rain
• dug in the sandbox in the rain
• sang "grown up " songs in the rain
• played superheroes in the rain
• looked for bees in the rain

....until we were all so wet and cold that we had to come in to defrost! Wet pinnies were thrown off, jackets tossed on the floor, socks yanked off, wet pants stickily pulled off wet legs and then...ahhhhh, dry, warm cozy clothes.

After lunch we started to learn about bumblebees- very different from mason and honey bees which was very interesting. Emmett asked the children if they were a bee would they rather be a mason, honey or bumblebee.

The responses:

Colin: Mason, because they don't sting
Cyanna: Mason, because they don't sting
Bryn: Honey, cause they make honey
Loreli: Queen honey bee, cause they lay eggs
Alexa: Mason, because they don't sting
Nico: Honey, cause they make flowers
Zev: Honey, cause they collect stuff to make honey
Luca: Boy mason bee, because they don't sting
Kayla: Mason, because they don't sting
Emily: Bumblebee, cause them live in a family
Wayne: Mason, cause they don't sting
Chloe: Bumblebee, cause they are nice
Nicolas: honey and a bumblebee
Sidney: Bumblebee, cause they are cool, cause they hibernate
Cash: Drone Honey, cause they sting
Brooke: Mason, cause they don't sting
Cole: Honey, cause they get nectar.

And me... if I were a bee... I think I would want to be a female mason bee. They love to take of their eggs, providing them with food and lodging. An ECE bee- what could be better?

What continues to resound so strongly for me as an educator is how important place based, experiential learning is for our children. They legitimately care about bees now. They have developed a connection to them, just as I have. I lie in bed on rainy, windy nights worrying about the bees, wondering what they are doing.  Creating these relationships is vital for the growth of all of us. I see my role as an educator to support this learning and help to build these connections. That said, I am going to check on our bees!

Emily