SURPRISE!!!
Well my project certainly did not go as planned when it came to timing or the students involved which thus pretty much threw everything out of whack! But it was fun it was crazy and though I didn't have time to trial-and-error my project I learned so much and the project seemed to be a hit!
So as you can see there are two kids in this picture. The taller child is Declan he is my seven year old cousin for whom I made this project and behind him is his younger brother Rylan who is three. Needless to say I was extremely surprised when my cousin Shay who is their mom called me to say that due to a family emergency they would be coming over a week early and the surprise was made a we bit more extreme when I noticed Rylan was in tow. There is no way that I could leave him out so I tried to involve him in the project.
You have probably also noticed the ponchos. This was an ordeal to say the least. Declan was so sure that they weren't cool so I had to think up exciting ways to try to get him to wear them because I know he hates messes and to be honest I had no idea how much splatter would be caused from the slap shot of the balloons because I had only thrown two to test that dynamic. At this point I had to decide on my teaching personae because I really just wanted to pull the bossy teacher attitude but I knew this wouldn't work with Declan because he is testing his limits with me and I knew that if I didn't act like "Cousin Alli" he may loose respect for me or he may just check out of the experience. I decided to play around like it was a cape and by getting Rylan and Shay to wear one he thought it may be okay. Moments like these are also inspired by this developmental level where at age 7 students are trying to see how they relate to peole in their family/friend/authority relationships.
The first thing that I would say is that next time I really need to test out the balloons before we try to make this project because it took me ages to figure out how to fill them up because the two pumps that I had wouldn't work due to the viscosity of the paint and also because when the boys went to break them Declan got them to break extremely well with his hockey stick but when they threw them we had problems. It was exciting because Declan noticed that even though the balloons wouldn't burst the first few times, they would actually leave interesting prints on the tri-folds and he also discovered that if you squish the balloon lot's of times before throwing them they will actually burst way faster. I quickly told him that he was making the little parts that make up the balloon warmer and when particles get warm they move around so it is easier to separate them. I know this is science from grade three and he is in grade 2 and his brother is only three but at least this way the ideas will be in their heads. Rylan had a tough time with the balloons he didn't have a hockey stick so in my project I let the boys throw them as well. Declan did offer his stick to Rylan but Rylan could only just move the balloon on the ground and Rylan couldn't aim like Declan or break the balloons by throwing them so we got Declan to stand back (he hates messes) so that Rylan and I could smash them by jumping on them. Speaking of messes I lucked out by using a ton of plastic to cover my garage but if I had had more time I would have set up a spot outside because it took 2 hours at least to get the plastic up and to take it down.
After we made two tri-folds one for my house and one for their house to work on, I put my cousins in the living room where I had pre-set out the craft materials for them to work on but I had doughnuts and chocolate milk ready to go for them. I know that these are favorites and because I know that it can be a too much to keep working on one project. I also wanted to mention that before we started either parts of the project I kept explaining the different parts of the project such as what we would be working on because then that way the two boys would know what we would be doing next and they could consider the things that we were working on.
Then we went for a swing in my backyard because Declan is a fun and active kid so I wanted him to get some of his highly kinesthetic energy out because I didn't want him to get too bored with the next portion of the project. *Note if I did this in a class or if I could have had the two days that I was supposed to have to work on this I would have ended there but talked to the boys about the next part of the project. So we went into my living room and I gave the boys a picture of themselves and I took one of myself and I told them we were going to make ourselves into superheroes using the craft materials that I had gathered and pre-cut shapes. Declan started right away and he seemed to know exactly what it was that he wanted to do. He cut out his head and started to draw an orange rectangle that he wanted to cut out and he got some red pipe cleaner. I kept asking him what he was up to and he knew he wanted the rectangle as it is his favorite color and that it would be easier for him to pre-draw the shape to cut it out and also that he needed a frame for his head. He is so impressive because he was planning everything and he never once used the pre-cut shapes because he wanted to make them himself so I felt kind of badly about underestimating him which is something I need to evaluate for next time. The pre cut shapes were great for Rylan though as he used them though the whole time he was not very involved and as I mentioned earlier I knew this would happen because he withdrew over the project difficulty. He required so much attention in the sense of idea, provocation, and help with the tools which I loved to help him with as long as he was willing to take part. Declan knew he wanted to make a pterodactyl superhero and he needed help with wing shapes, we looked some up and I drew an idea for him so he drew and cut his own, he then helped Rylan cut out his face as Rylan said he couldn't do it. YAY PEER TEACHING AND THE FEELING OF CONNECTION IN THE CLASSROOM! I was so excited and happy to see this. Next I asked what Rylan wanted to make and he had no idea. I tried robot, animal, dragon, dinosaur and he didn't know. I asked if he knew shapes of animals he knew snake but he didn't want to be so his could like with Declan's an mine (mine was a bird) I was excited because Rylan was using his own logic. I wanted to keep the boys engaged so I joked around and put a big yellow beak on my face to tell them I was a real bird superhero and they didn't believe me so I said look even the picture of me has one and I put a beak on it. Declan started to get restless so we went for another swing outside where he talked to me about his sports and about a new Transformer that he got. I then told him we did have to get this project done and so I asked him if he would he said he wasn't sure so I offered that we could swing for a bit then we could finish and then the next hour was all ours. He agreed. Thank God. Rylan was always off and playing with us. He followed where his brother went. SO we went in and I could tell Declan was no into it so I suggested I will glue everything can you please just tell me where you would like to put them. He agreed and I was excited because he made the picture balance!! Yay a great concept of space!! I left the other tri-fold for Declan to work with Rylan on at home and they were supposed to make their parents into characters. Right after this Declan sat down and calmly made an impressive paper airplane and Rylan coloured....so though they were done with the projects because the materials were available they still wanted to keep working with art supplies. I loved this so much. This showed me a huge difference with Rylan and Declan because Declan separated the page into even thirds and coloured it while Rylan made experimental marks all over his page.
Ultimately:
Work on time limits!
Sometimes you don't know about the motor skills of students or their ability to understand concepts so sometimes projects have to be changed.
Sometimes the energy levels of students are unpredictable at young ages so working with students to get into the right frame of mind or by compromising with students a project may have to put on hold or altered.
Though I had to help Declan he was still willing to finish the project and I was able to see the type of spatial relations skills that he had and he still stayed engaged with the materials which is inspirational.
If a student is perhaps bellow the developmental level of a project there is no need to give up on them because they can still consider aspects of the piece such as Rylan with the bird idea and he received assistance from his brother and I so he was still connected and not forced to withdraw from the project....HAVE FAITH!
So as you can see there are two kids in this picture. The taller child is Declan he is my seven year old cousin for whom I made this project and behind him is his younger brother Rylan who is three. Needless to say I was extremely surprised when my cousin Shay who is their mom called me to say that due to a family emergency they would be coming over a week early and the surprise was made a we bit more extreme when I noticed Rylan was in tow. There is no way that I could leave him out so I tried to involve him in the project.
You have probably also noticed the ponchos. This was an ordeal to say the least. Declan was so sure that they weren't cool so I had to think up exciting ways to try to get him to wear them because I know he hates messes and to be honest I had no idea how much splatter would be caused from the slap shot of the balloons because I had only thrown two to test that dynamic. At this point I had to decide on my teaching personae because I really just wanted to pull the bossy teacher attitude but I knew this wouldn't work with Declan because he is testing his limits with me and I knew that if I didn't act like "Cousin Alli" he may loose respect for me or he may just check out of the experience. I decided to play around like it was a cape and by getting Rylan and Shay to wear one he thought it may be okay. Moments like these are also inspired by this developmental level where at age 7 students are trying to see how they relate to peole in their family/friend/authority relationships.
The first thing that I would say is that next time I really need to test out the balloons before we try to make this project because it took me ages to figure out how to fill them up because the two pumps that I had wouldn't work due to the viscosity of the paint and also because when the boys went to break them Declan got them to break extremely well with his hockey stick but when they threw them we had problems. It was exciting because Declan noticed that even though the balloons wouldn't burst the first few times, they would actually leave interesting prints on the tri-folds and he also discovered that if you squish the balloon lot's of times before throwing them they will actually burst way faster. I quickly told him that he was making the little parts that make up the balloon warmer and when particles get warm they move around so it is easier to separate them. I know this is science from grade three and he is in grade 2 and his brother is only three but at least this way the ideas will be in their heads. Rylan had a tough time with the balloons he didn't have a hockey stick so in my project I let the boys throw them as well. Declan did offer his stick to Rylan but Rylan could only just move the balloon on the ground and Rylan couldn't aim like Declan or break the balloons by throwing them so we got Declan to stand back (he hates messes) so that Rylan and I could smash them by jumping on them. Speaking of messes I lucked out by using a ton of plastic to cover my garage but if I had had more time I would have set up a spot outside because it took 2 hours at least to get the plastic up and to take it down.
After we made two tri-folds one for my house and one for their house to work on, I put my cousins in the living room where I had pre-set out the craft materials for them to work on but I had doughnuts and chocolate milk ready to go for them. I know that these are favorites and because I know that it can be a too much to keep working on one project. I also wanted to mention that before we started either parts of the project I kept explaining the different parts of the project such as what we would be working on because then that way the two boys would know what we would be doing next and they could consider the things that we were working on.
Then we went for a swing in my backyard because Declan is a fun and active kid so I wanted him to get some of his highly kinesthetic energy out because I didn't want him to get too bored with the next portion of the project. *Note if I did this in a class or if I could have had the two days that I was supposed to have to work on this I would have ended there but talked to the boys about the next part of the project. So we went into my living room and I gave the boys a picture of themselves and I took one of myself and I told them we were going to make ourselves into superheroes using the craft materials that I had gathered and pre-cut shapes. Declan started right away and he seemed to know exactly what it was that he wanted to do. He cut out his head and started to draw an orange rectangle that he wanted to cut out and he got some red pipe cleaner. I kept asking him what he was up to and he knew he wanted the rectangle as it is his favorite color and that it would be easier for him to pre-draw the shape to cut it out and also that he needed a frame for his head. He is so impressive because he was planning everything and he never once used the pre-cut shapes because he wanted to make them himself so I felt kind of badly about underestimating him which is something I need to evaluate for next time. The pre cut shapes were great for Rylan though as he used them though the whole time he was not very involved and as I mentioned earlier I knew this would happen because he withdrew over the project difficulty. He required so much attention in the sense of idea, provocation, and help with the tools which I loved to help him with as long as he was willing to take part. Declan knew he wanted to make a pterodactyl superhero and he needed help with wing shapes, we looked some up and I drew an idea for him so he drew and cut his own, he then helped Rylan cut out his face as Rylan said he couldn't do it. YAY PEER TEACHING AND THE FEELING OF CONNECTION IN THE CLASSROOM! I was so excited and happy to see this. Next I asked what Rylan wanted to make and he had no idea. I tried robot, animal, dragon, dinosaur and he didn't know. I asked if he knew shapes of animals he knew snake but he didn't want to be so his could like with Declan's an mine (mine was a bird) I was excited because Rylan was using his own logic. I wanted to keep the boys engaged so I joked around and put a big yellow beak on my face to tell them I was a real bird superhero and they didn't believe me so I said look even the picture of me has one and I put a beak on it. Declan started to get restless so we went for another swing outside where he talked to me about his sports and about a new Transformer that he got. I then told him we did have to get this project done and so I asked him if he would he said he wasn't sure so I offered that we could swing for a bit then we could finish and then the next hour was all ours. He agreed. Thank God. Rylan was always off and playing with us. He followed where his brother went. SO we went in and I could tell Declan was no into it so I suggested I will glue everything can you please just tell me where you would like to put them. He agreed and I was excited because he made the picture balance!! Yay a great concept of space!! I left the other tri-fold for Declan to work with Rylan on at home and they were supposed to make their parents into characters. Right after this Declan sat down and calmly made an impressive paper airplane and Rylan coloured....so though they were done with the projects because the materials were available they still wanted to keep working with art supplies. I loved this so much. This showed me a huge difference with Rylan and Declan because Declan separated the page into even thirds and coloured it while Rylan made experimental marks all over his page.
Ultimately:
Work on time limits!
Sometimes you don't know about the motor skills of students or their ability to understand concepts so sometimes projects have to be changed.
Sometimes the energy levels of students are unpredictable at young ages so working with students to get into the right frame of mind or by compromising with students a project may have to put on hold or altered.
Though I had to help Declan he was still willing to finish the project and I was able to see the type of spatial relations skills that he had and he still stayed engaged with the materials which is inspirational.
If a student is perhaps bellow the developmental level of a project there is no need to give up on them because they can still consider aspects of the piece such as Rylan with the bird idea and he received assistance from his brother and I so he was still connected and not forced to withdraw from the project....HAVE FAITH!
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