That's all folks!

I tried to find the classic porky pig one but I couldn't so this one will have to do. The porky pig one up above is kinda funny though.

I really enjoyed the field trip to the art gallery on Tuesday. It was a great experience in that this time we were able to interact with the art more and I got some good ideas on how to ask some good art questions to students. We also came up with some interesting barriers that we may face as a teacher dealing with nudity in art. I would make sure I talked about this with the kids before so they would not be surprised and wouldn't get all giggly or anything. Of course I was the one to go beyond the recommended painting of the hands and ended up painting my face and head but hey with a shorn noggin why wouldn't you. This is a great field trip opportunity for kids to enjoy and would give great ideas for lesson plans.

More Potluck Pictures!

A very special thanks to Sherri for giving me the pictures.

Potluck 2008

Wednesday's potluck was a lot of fun. I was really impressed with how much hard work everyone did especially pulling together at the end of the semester when we are all stressed and very much in overload mode. Being Santa was actually a lot of fun (even though the damn costume was hot). Seeing everyone singing together and having a lot of fun was really nice and made the day very enjoyable. A special thanks to Kristen for M.C.'ing the event with all the impromptu singing and videos. It all pulled together quite well in the end and I think all of the other cohorts enjoyed/were scared of what happened. I showed up early to help set up with Sara W., Judy, Rikki, and Shauna and it was a very relaxed good time trying to organise and set up tables, chairs, and firing up the Christmas lights for the event. I think that most people in our class had a lot of fun singing and performing in front of the other classes. This will do wonders for when we have to organise and perform in front of schools that we get hired in.

GOOD JOB EVERYONE!!!

I actually like winter!

I've had quite a few people ask me where I got this picture from. I was looking at google images for winter theme pictures for my desktop because I usually like to have seasonal pictures that match each season we are in. This painting is by Keith Adams and I just randomly came across it and liked it. It really reminds me of good winter times and having a cozy house when it is cold out. I have always liked winter mostly because I try to do fun stuff during the winter like snowboarding, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. It is important to do winter activities so you don't get all grouchy during the winter. I think this picture brings out the good in winter and gives a good feeling of comfort and beauty.

Peter and the Wolf

On the weekend my wife, son, mother in law, and I went and watched Peter and the Wolf at exploration place. This was a wonderful experience in that the PGSO was there to perform the music while a narrator read the story. At the beginning the narrator explained that each instrument represented a different character (French Horns for the wolf, flute for the birds etc.). It was a free family event and there were about 200 people there to watch. After the show the kids were allowed to go up to the musicians and touch and look at the instruments.

Having a show like this that uses live music and live narration was great to watch and the length was perfect for kids (it was less than an hour). My son was right into it and was very curious about what instrument was making each sound.

I have some pictures of the event but the video camera on my phone lied to me and took a sideways video so forgive me for the funny view.

Well I was hoping to get some pictures of the Hoja group that came to Harwin when I was there but it seems that I won't get them anytime soon. It was a lot of fun to see the performance with the acapella group but it was also a lot of fun to be a part of it as well. I ended up doing the hammer dance with the group in front of the entire school. This, needless to say, was not a planned situation but rather I was pulled out of the crowd (it was a conspiracy) and did this little fun activity. Janine was also part of this and was quite a hit as well after receiving a number of inquiries about her marriage status after the show.
I did really enjoy doing this and it was very fun. It is also a great way to get a little extra rapport in the school.

I really enjoyed helping set up the art show last week. Unfortunately I wasn't able to teach any art classes but seeing the art that other classes produced was quite amazing. I found it very enjoyable to ask people while they were setting up or while I was helping them to find out what they taught. I was very impressed with Linda's class project of mixing science with art and having student draw pictures of water molecules. I would have never have thought of doing something like that. Great Job Linda!!!

I was also fortunate enough to see Janine in action during the practicum and her making papier mache mask with her students. It was a fun learning experience for me in that I could listen to Janine telling me about the difficulties with doing this project and with how the students reacted. I would never have guessed that the boys would be as against being messy as they were.

I am hoping to have a lot of fun next practicum with art as everyone did during this one.

I guess it has been a while since I blogged here. Unfortunately I wasn't able to teach art class during my practicum but I was able to incorporate some art into my poetry class in language arts. I was teaching descriptive language and poetry so I used art pictures to help students get a grasp of how to describe certain things in a poem or a story. I used Emily Carr and Monet as objects that they had to describe. This worked quite well and students learned to use descriptive language when writing. I used this Monet picture for them to describe as I thought it would be more of a challenge for them. It is a simple painting but it allows for a large amount of description for students.

Emily Carr is very nice!

I will have to admit I have never seen any of Emily Carr's artwork before today. I had heard of her but never really got into looking up any of her artwork. After class today I immediately googled her and found this picture right away that very much represents this time of year. I found her artwork to be very engaging and I can see why she is a very important Canadian artist. her work is very beautiful and quite wonderful to work at. Now I actually feel quite ashamed that I have never looked at any of her artwork. This drawing in particular actually reminds me of some of Monet's work with the use of colour and almost blurred scenery. I think now I may have to look up more of her art and maybe even put it as a background to my laptop screen.

Manah Manah Muppets rule!!!

I loved the muppets when I was a kid and I still get a good laugh at them now. I always remember them having fun songs and musical guests on the show that always made it interesting to watch. Just having pink puppets and a little sillyness is always a good thing. This is also one of those songs that gets stuck in your head simply because it is so simple and funny. This goes in with our minstrals section of the tuesday music class simply because even I can repeat this song. Music can do so much in our lives including changing moods and cheering people up so when you are feeling down just watch this and sing along. Music is something I would love to incorporate into my classroom on a daily basis even if it is just listening to it during a quite reading time with classical music or other music at lunch. This may help students concentrate, relax, or just simply enjoy themselves in school.

Space: The Artists Frontier!

If one cannot find beauty on Earth they simply have to look up.

One interest of mine was always space. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to own a telescope but never had the opportunity. I think that nature provides us with beauty everywhere we look and not just on earth. I am hoping to still someday own a telescope and be able to share with my classroom some of my interest in space.

Monet is my favourite artist, I love his use of colour while still having an almost blurry effect in his paintings. His use of colour also remind me of fall with the different colours you see everywhere.

Now I'm not sure if this worked, it took me a while to get to this point but we will see if it works. Amazingly enought it was easier to play a song on the recorder then to do this blog.