Arts, Environment and the Child: Walking the Wheel of the Seasons

Week 2 Jan 20

New Market Skills Center

I contacted Mr. Holliday about participating in his classroom again this quarter. I am excited to work learn more from this veteran of education.

Week 2 Jan 21

The Evergreen State College

I met with Allyson at lunch and again with her, Ben, and Staci regarding future plans of the longhouse group (LHG). Plans are to meet in Marja's office at 3:30 on Wednesday for goal setting.

Week 2 Jan 22

Home

One of our focuses of the LHG is composting, so I have begun researching the matter. I found a children's book titled Compost! Growing Gardens from Your Garbage by Linda Glaser that approaches composting in a fun, rhythmic way for kids. Her text is beautifully supported by awesome watercolor illustrations by an artist named Arica Hariton. My favorite part of the book was the young girl explaining to her mother that she was not wasting her lima beans by not eating them, rather she was composting. Parents not only will enjoy reading this to their youngsters, but they may prosper from the information and suggestions at the end of the book regarding how to get a project started with the family.

Week 3 Jan 25

Evergreen - Marja's Office

Our meeting today consisted of Marja, Allyson, Ben and myself. I felt this meeting was very productive, and I left feeling a sense of excitement to get started. We discussed long term garden plans that would not only encompass this quarter and the next but also a program to be offered next year. I have taken on the responsibility of our official to do list that will be handed to members in hard copy on Wednesday nights with updates emailed as needed. It is my hope that this will allow members to work independently within their hectic schedules without feelings of being overwhelmed in the garden. I hope to break activities down into baby steps, so over the quarter we can accomplish great things with little stress. We set up an evening meeting at Vick's Pizza for Friday at 7 pm.

Week 3 Jan 26

New Market Skills Center

Today marked my first classroom observation in Mr. Holliday's class this quarter. I was so touched that the students seemed genuinely excited about my return to their class. They made me feel very welcome. I mostly worked with Mr. Holliday this time. He is thrilled with the new texts that have been ordered for his students, and he proudly showed them to me. I am very impressed with these reading/writing materials. They are straightforward and are brightly colored to hold a student's attention. I cannot wait to see these texts in use and get feedback from the students.

Week 3 Jan 27

Vick's Pizza in West Olympia

Attendance at our first off campus meeting was outstanding. In attendance were Jenee and her son, Barry, Mylee and her husband, Ben, Allyson, and myself. Although the environment was loud and the restaurant was packed with patrons, the meeting was very helpful in formulating ideas of how we would like to procede. The most exciting aspect of this meeting for me was the plan to integrate LHG with HEAT. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with children in the garden on an upcoming Sunday. Mylee has an outstanding program and incorporating her project with ours will be so rewarding for us as well for the youngsters that attend HEAT. We have scheduled our first garden party at the longhouse for tomorrow at 3 pm, but many of us will be showing up early to get our hands dirty!

Week 3 Jan 28

Evergreen Longhouse Garden

Today was a blast!! The group slowly trickled into the garden, and before I knew it, we had quite a group. We focused mostly on the oyster shell bed pulling all the weeds that were there until the entire area was complete. Once our large group assembled, we took time to give a garden tour and brainstorm ideas for tasks to work on over the quarter. It felt good to complete a task before leaving for the day. Good job, group!

Week 4 Feb 2

New Market Skills Center

Today was a very busy day. My classroom observation and participation was quite fun. Mr. Holliday is reading aloud the book Hoot. The students seem to be having a great time with the characters in this book. When Mr. Holliday had to step away for a moment, I was put in charge of reading. Reading out loud is still such a challenge for me, but the students are great, and I must thank Mr. Holliday for the opportunity to venture outside of my normal comfort zone.

Later in the evening I observed students participating in a SkillsUSA computer competition. I was one judge of the final work and watched as the winners were announced. It was very exciting for both the student and adult participants.

Finally, after the Skills competition, Mr. Holliday and I had a great conversation regarding the appropriate place for computers in education. We both agree that the human element is still very important in the educating of children. Not all students can truly relate to a computer and the information it contains.

Week 4 Feb 4

Evergreen Longhouse

Today was our programs liberal arts forum and Lunar New Year Celebration. What fun it was. The liberal arts forum was excellent. I greatly enjoyed how our small discussion groups were able to share with all attendants as a whole. I felt that it lent itself to a more cohesive morning. The aspect of the day that was my favorite was the lecture regarding poets from China. This culture fascinates me and makes me yearn for more information. I could have listened to the stories all day.

Week 5 Feb 8

Evergreen

After class, the LHG group met to work on some time frames for upcoming events. Our integration of HEAT and LHG is scheduled for Feb 26 at 2:30 in the garden. I cannot wait for the fun we will all have together. I may try to catch Barry's lesson on water bugs at 1:00. That sounds fun and fascinating.

Week 5 Feb 9

New Market Skills Center

Mr. Holliday gave me the student handout for the week and the text pages that referred to this packet. I spent most of my time reading through these materials and getting some ideas for my upcoming lesson on writing.

Week 6 Feb 16

New Market Skills Center

Today was one the most rewarding classroom participation days for me. The students were working on the parts of speech. I had forgotten how difficult these seemingly simple concepts can be for some. One particular student was struggling and becoming very frustrated, so she and I moved to a quiet corner of the room to work one-on-one. I flashed back to all the hours I spent with my fellow high school classmates tutoring them on nouns, verbs, adjective, and adverbs in English, German, Spanish, and French. As with them, my student today questioned the need to know such mundane information. Although I did not know exactly how to explain the importance of such knowledge, I approached the questioning with the response that confidence in grammar can really open doors to future learning. I recalled how learning a foreign language is so much easier when you truly know your own. I was encouraged to find that I gave her the answer that her mother had given only days earlier, and she seemed to be more diligent in trying to make progress in this area. We worked slowly and deliberately until my time was up for the day. Although she has yet to master the skills, she felt surer of herself when labeling the words within her worksheet sentences. It felt so good to be able to focus on a single student and her learning challenges. This was a rewarding day!

Week 7 Feb 23

New Market Skills Center

In all the lessons I have taught and in all the times I have substituted I have always taught up to the bell usually running out of time to get my information across to my students. Today was different. For the first time, my lesson ran much shorter than I had expected. What I practiced to take up my thirty minutes in reality only took me fifteen. Oh, my. What to do then. Well, I look at this as an important learning experience. Today was one of those lessons that did not go as planned, and I found myself fumbling to fill the final fifteen minutes of teaching time. Mr. Holliday is so supportive and took the time to suggest some strategies he has gained over his many years of experience. The theme of today's learning for me was to be over prepared more than I normally am. If I had it to do over again, I would have created some "just in case" worksheets for the students to work on following my discussion. As Mr. Holliday explained, it is always a good idea to have filler lessons for those times when teaching doesn't go quite as planned. Am I sad or discouraged with the results? NO. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to stumble as a student teacher knowing that it will make a better teacher when I finally have a class of my own. Failure is a treasured part of learning. It is what truly brings the message home. My sincere thanks to Mr. Holliday for his continued support and encouragement. He is truly a wonderful mentor.

Week 7 Feb 26

Evergreen Longhouse Garden

I arrived at the garden ready to reclaim the sidewalks overgrown with ferns and other plant material. Allyson and Joe joined me in my efforts, and together, we accomplished quite a bit. Today marked our integration of the HEAT children in the garden, but unfortunately it began raining shortly before they arrived, so they did not stay too long with us. Their main focus was on the stream to look for water bugs they had learned about earlier in the day. As the air became cooler, we cleaned up our trimmings and tools. Allyson and I met after gardening to discuss the Archive portion of the project. She enlisted me with a box of CDs to review, label, and catalogue. I can't wait to get started on this. This aspect of the project could seem daunting, but I will work on it both this quarter and next. I look forward to putting my organizational skills to good use.

Week 8 Mar 4

Seattle

I arrived at the Seattle Asian Art Museum with no logistical issues. I entered the museum with no expectations for what I might experience, but I felt excitement as I opened my mind and heart to the works I was going to witness. Three works spoke to me, enveloping me in the messages within their images and writing.

The wall of snuff bottles was first to entice me to pause for a lengthy spell. I was mesmerized by the intricate details projecting the artists' passions for perfection. My favorite was a glass bottle illustrated by fine line painting. A dancing crane near a graceful tree lured me for a second and third gaze.

Many scrolls draped the walls of the museum, and one in particular took my breath. The painting on silk, Landscape , was created by Chen Guan in 1637. His work best illustrated the layered detail Hirsch spoke of during our Wednesday evening class.

Against an empty sky, distant mountains are background to a rolling and rocky peak. Cutting through a high plateau, waterways converge into a rushing waterfall. Closer to the viewer, a forest interrupted by clouds houses what I interpreted to be a palace. Near the bottom of the painting, the artist depicted a valley surrounded by trees and other plant life. Nestled in the valley, buildings set on stilts overlooking a lush meadow, and a scholar with his attendant journeys up a hillside.

I found this piece awe inspiring. I wondered how the artist fit in every detail yet kept each vista to scale and proportion. The heavy clouds gently moved through the needled pines, and I imagined the fine, cool mist that must be drifting to the under story. The shelters in the valley spurred in me the question of if the meadow flooded during pouring rains. Chen Guan captured every detail, and I found his work most beautiful.

At the end of my museum journey, my quiet solitude in the serious atmosphere of art was broken by my unexpected, exuberant giggle. Small Album of Painting and Calligraphy is a collection of Jou Lee created in 1985. Documented on a long strip of sturdy paper folded accordion-style, it stands only five or six inches high. The interesting book reinforces the show's theme of the “three perfections” of poetry, painting, and calligraphy.

I sat near the Jou Lee's display and wrote, “I find myself smiling while reading this series of Small Garden poems. They remind me of entries into a nature journal. My silence is broken by the words that evoke a vision of the envious neighbor peering over the fence at the crop of gourds.”

My experience at the Seattle Asian Art Museum is one that I will cherish for many years. I was humbled by the treasures on display. Each told a story rich in tradition and history, and I felt as if those artists who lived so long ago had shared a moment of their lives with me. I was honored.

Week 8 Mar 5

Seattle

From the museum through Volunteer Park , I strolled a distance to large green houses reflecting the warm sun off of their panes of glass and white metal trim. I had anticipated falling in love with these buildings and their contents, but instead I found myself hurrying through the narrow, congested paths.

Stopping only to witness those plants viewed in my eyes as awe-inspiring, I felt very claustrophobic within the three garden rooms. Inhospitable to passing travelers, the concrete paths were less than two feet wide and were bordered on all sides by strips of raised stone. Cautious of my awkward footing, I found myself simply yielding to on-lookers and continuing forth once the traffic had passed.

Three plants drew my attention and enabled me to feel comfortable in this unfamiliar environment. Calling me from its open perch upon the wall, the Staghorn Fern looked like the great headdress of a jungle king. While reading the placard describing this plant, I discovered that Platycerium grande usually lives on the trunks and branches of trees but exists as a separate, non-parasitic entity. I was amazed that with its great weight in size, it remained on the stone wall content in its world.

With its dark purple stems and bright green foliage, a simple Southern Maiden-hair Fern enticed me to pause and take notice. I have seen Adiantum capillus-veneris many times in stores, but until I viewed these lush plants in the surroundings of other lush plants, I did not appreciate their graceful beauty. I intend to add a specimen to my own indoor garden at home.

Finally, I moved slowly toward a plant overshadowed by the chaos of leaves outstretched around it. Its plump green leaves with red outer edges paled in size to the girth of its branches and trunk. This huge jade plant spoke so softly compared the laminated, pink sign that hung by string from its branch like a tacky, rhinestone purse with a strap held together by a giant safety pin. The bold label identified the plant as Crassula argentea and described its propagation from a cutting in 1906. The noble plant before me was ninety years old, and like the fine creations in the museum, I was honored to share its space and a moment in its slow-paced life.

My claustrophobia was not only caused by the number of people in the space but also the growth habits of the plants. I felt crowded at all latitudes of my body. Tall fronds created a close canopy over my head while branches of the under story stretched to grab my clothing. Securely jailed behind chrome-plated fencing, the blooming orchids in the front windows added to my feeling of being caged, trapped in a glass bubble. I persevered through each house, but I felt relieved after leaving those confined garden spaces and returning to the expansive public park.

During my visit to this green land surrounded by the big city, a passing stranger caught my eye, and I smiled and asked, “It's a beautiful day, isn't it?” In an instant, I am left wondering what response my greeting might elicit. Many times I find myself in Seattle with people who do not smile but look strangely at someone who does. Big city folks seem annoyed almost intimidated by my positive outlook and joyful demeanor, so I am left to wonder “Will I get the quick look to the ground followed by the brisker walk?” or “Will the stranger snap back a nasty or negative remark?”

To my amazement, the woman gently raised her hands to the heavens and with a gleam in her eyes and a smile on her face, she replied. Her voice resonated through my mind and heart as I embraced the many facets of her speech. Time seemed to momentarily stand still while I breathed in the cool winter air and absorbed warm rays of the sun. All around me was beauty, and I could see, smell, and taste hints of spring while still hearing the songs of winter. Like a Chinese calligraphy beautifully painted on the wind, the reply from the stranger evoked deep meaning and emotions. She passionately resounded, “GLORIOUS!”

Week 9 Mar 14

Home

My project presentation and recent web postings have been quite a struggle this past week. I am glad to have the opportunity to learn more about the programs of Powerpoint and Dreamweaver, but recently I have had difficulty with strange error messages and unfamiliar questions. No worries, though, since I have sought help and advice, and I have finally overcome these relentless obstacles.