Goodbyes

As you know, today was the last day of my internship. I stayed with Room 4 in the morning and we went to the art room to paint and have some more fun with mixing the colors into water. After that, I took my lunch break and then spent the afternoon with Room 5. At the end of the day, the kids and my mentor surprised me with a going away gift! As if yesterday's popsicle party wasn't enough, they got me a gift and made me a huge card! It was so thoughtful and sweet. I don't deserve such an amazing welcome as the one Phoebe Hearst has given me! The staff were so helpful and this has been an experience that will never be forgotten. It feels like a dream, and I'm so sad to be leaving! Thank you to Rachael, Susan, Alicia, Phuong, Irene, Andy, Courtney, and all the staff of PH (and of course the students)!

Popsicles

Today was very eventful. Foremost, it was my bittersweet last full day with Room 5. My fabulous, thoughtful mentor and the kids threw me a popsicle picnic party! It was so sweet and fun...we sat on the grassy park and tried to turn our tongues different colors (as documented in the pictures). In the morning the class went to Trapeze Arts, an 'elective' kind of like music. This class was so much fun to watch because the teacher is a real trapeze artist! The kids stretched and then lined up and the teacher lifted them into the air with his hands and feet. The kids also did somersaults and tricks and poses on a trapeze swing. This was such a unique class and it was so entertaining to watch! (Looking for SIG ideas, teachers?:) ) We also did some finishing touches to the map project! If you want to look at the whole thing, click the project tab. In the afternoon some of the kids went into the art room and used eyedroppers to mix food coloring into water. They called themselves 'mad scientists' and traded information about what mixes produced different colors. This is a perfect example of science integrated into art that I was talking about before!

Picture Day

Today Room 5 was a bit chaotic because it was picture day, and it didn't help that it was on the verge of raining. Taking pictures of kids is really hard because they don't always cooperate, and getting everybody to get into place, stay still, look at the camera, and smile proved a huge challenge. The photographer and I used puppets to make them smile. Another event that took place today was Music Class, which I had only been to once before. The teacher, Annette, began with a song about a robin, and had a stuffed toy robin as a visual. Then they explored more striking and shaking instruments including bongo drums, alligator-shaped clickers, lollipop drums, maracas, tambourines, and clapping with their own hands. I now also have quite the portfolio of art given to me by the kids; I'm really going to miss them!

Scraps and Colors

Today in Room 5, we continued the map-themed project. The kids were given maps cut into different shapes and sizes. The maps ranged from depicting part of the city to the entire world. The kids glued the pieces down any way they wished. Some lined up lines on the map, some used the shapes to create people, and some made collages of all the different colors of the maps. The two boys who I was working with were sorting the maps by color. They realized that they had two similar pieces that each had a bold letters. They recognized the similarities and lined up the pieces so that it read Mexico. We read quite a few books today, some that I had forgotten from my own childhood! Reading to kids is fun because of how responsive they are. They are always listening and enthralled no matter what book it is. When a picture of the characters comes up they always point to their favorite and go, “that one is me!”

Houses

Today I worked in Room 5. I am going to work in Room 5 exclusively this week (with the exception of Friday- they have school pictures!). I hope that the kids will be interested in continuing the project. Susan got together a lot of maps, and we are hopefully going to work and play with those tomorrow. (I have just as much to learn from the maps as they do! San Francisco is, although phenomenal, huge!)  I am realizing that my real project lies in the means, not the end. No matter the final result, as long as the kids have fun and learn it will be a success. I am confident that this is achievable! Today I also looked at a few past projects that had been done earlier in the year set up in the classroom. My favorites included: dipping toilet paper rolls into paint to make circles on paper, decorating fans from Japan Town (which is only a block from the school), painting using brush bottles filled with watercolors, making 3-D sculptures with paper on a canvass, and putting paint on bubble wrap and then rolling it over a paper. It's the last week of internship already, I can't believe how fast it has flown by! I definitely will never forget this experience.

Maps and Moods

Today marks the end of my second week of LINK! My mentor interview is up (click the link in the header)! Today I worked with Room 5! We made a lot of progress on the map project, we even got a few houses marked! The kids played in the sensory-motor room (pictures below) and played alphabet bingo. During bingo, the kids worked in teams of two. When it was over, a boy in one group began to clean up by dumping the bingo chips back into the box. This upset the other boy, and he was upset and crying. The teacher then asked him if that was a big problem (did somebody get hurt?) or a little problem. Once the kid had calmed down, he admitted that it was a little problem. The teacher then reminded him that little problems should have 'little' reactions, like talking to his partner or telling a teacher. She said that she understood that he felt sad, but it was a genuine accident and didn't cause damage. The kid responded by saying that he felt in the green zone, so he should calm down to the blue zone. This color mood system (picture) is a tool the teachers use to help the kids classify and control their emotions.
Today I found a cool article about the gender roles of young kids. Click Here to Read...

Sick!

Working with kids has its downfalls: I caught a bug and couldn't make it to the preschool today due to a migraine! I'm sad to miss working with my Room 5, but I'm excited to see the progress they've made on the project!

Lessons to Remember

Today I worked with Room 3. I knew the kids from working with them last Tuesday. They did the same activity as the twos yesterday involving painting on different textures and raised surfaces like egg cartons and paper towel rolls. We also read quite a few stories today.We read a very cute one about bullying that I think would be helpful required reading for some middle schoolers and high schoolers. It dawned on me how imperative pre-k education is. A study that we recently looked at in my Humanities class shows a strong correspondence between elementary school achievement and high school achievement. It would be interesting to analyze social characteristics in a similar study. The emotions of these kids I have noticed are very outer-personal, or cause/effect. They develop independence as they grow. I hope to continue the project with the 5's soon!

Hooray for Progressive Education!

Today I worked with the two year-olds. Its amazing to see the difference in ability even between twos and threes, both art-related and otherwise. In this class, the teachers who I worked with were named Rachel and Gladys. One thing I found interesting today was the culture that the teachers try to build. Unlike the other classes I worked in where the kids were spread across the classroom during playtime, all playing independently with different things, these kids all played together. If one strayed away from the others, the teacher would call them back. Also, this classroom didn't have any designated boy or girl toys. Even though there were typically masculine toys such as firetrucks as well as typically feminine such as Disney princess-themed purses, everybody was playing with the same toys at one time. Although they weren't told to, the boys all played with the dollhouse and all the girls played with the legos. This doesn't happen just in Room Two; when I was working with the five year-olds last week, one little girl told a boy that he was free to help her make a butterfly out of beads. To me, this culture created by such a progressive approach to teaching is great because it fosters acceptance and individuality, characteristics that AHS and myself hold in great importance. Although it doesn't seem like a big deal, it breaks down sexist barriers. As you can see in the pictures, today in art the kids explored painting on different surfaces, surfaces that weren't flat!

Walking from classroom to classroom on the safety train.

Getting Our Hands Dirty

The first week of LINK is over! Today I spent all day with Room 4 (the 4-year-olds; can you find the pattern?).because it was their day to visit the art room. The teacher gave me tips (he runs a blog, lucky me!) and  compared photographing kids to a safari, because you don't want to disturb them, or reinforce their silly behavior when they pose. He also told me to always try and get their hands in the picture. During the time in the art room, I started taking pictures of two girls painting side by side at the easels. As I watched them paint, I noticed that they used the same color scheme as each other. They complimented each other's work periodically and would mimic each other's techniques. The teacher pointed out to me that this was called "social painting." As you can see below, the pieces they produced were very similar, although unique! I found that I can connect this to my own life, which is super interesting. If I see a photographer or art style that I really like, I will try to 'recreate' it and subconciously use their techniques in my own work.
In another fascinating conversation, this teacher told me that it is his philosophy to encourage rather than praise the kids' work. For instance, say a child approaches you and says, "Look at this drawing I did!". Rather than saying, "Wow, that's beautiful! Good job", you should instead remark about observations. You could say, "Wow, those are very different colors," or, "That looks like it was fun to make!". The idea behind this philosophy is that praise from teachers fosters dependence on external rewards and what others think of them. By naming what you see happening instead of judging the art, you can nurture the artist's self-reflection.

Smoke and Mirrors

Today I worked with Room 5 all day again. We read a lot of books and the kids drew pictures of their families. After that, the kids explored the sensory-motor room. This room is very interesting; the walls are different textures, the ground is covered in a thick rug, and hammocks, pads, mats, and ropes are strewn across the area. I would like to learn more about why this room is beneficial to the progress of the students, but today it was exciting to just watch the kids play. An interesting thing I learned about today were the observation rooms. Each main classroom of the school has a room where parents can observe, unseen by their child, how their kid interacts with others, creates art, or learns. Below you can see pictures of the  observation room looking into the art room. In the art room it appears to be a regular mirror, but it is really a window!

Camera Adventures

I have survived the first two days of my internship! I am relieved to say that today was much less stressful than yesterday. This may in part be because I felt more comfortable with the kids (and vice-versa), but the probable cause is that I spent all of today in Room 5. This was much easier because I could actually establish relationships with the kids instead of only spending a few minutes with them before moving to a different classroom. Today the kids had music and we spent time learning about instruments like triangles, rain-sticks, and maracas! Susan and I thought of a great project idea that could turn out well. We are thinking that the kids in Room 5 can paint milk cartons or small boxes to resemble their houses, and then we can draw a map of the city and adhere their houses onto it. This is a fantastic possible project and I am excited to begin! Today I brought my camera and the kids were fascinated by it! Once I explained to them how to use it they caught on extremely fast and had a great time taking pictures of one another. Photo credit for this one goes to five-year-old Grace:

 Music Class:

 Sock Puppets:

 Lego Bin:

 Art Room: