Around the World in 8 Days - Japan (6/18/19)

Around the World in 8 Days - Japan (6/18/19)

Today we stopped in Japan on our journey around the world! During our background knowledge discussion we decided we knew that: Japan has been involved in a lot of historical events that they know about, the religious views are prevalent (not sure what), we think about the samurai and anime, the music is peaceful, and nature is very important. In this group of kids, we even have a student has a cousin in Japan and another that knows quite a bit of the Japanese language! Although we were not able to answer ALL of their questions, we did address nature, cuisine (sushi), anime and aspects of the music of Japan in today's session!

We started the morning listening to music of Japan. The students were split on whether they liked the peaceful sounds of Japan or the drum performance of China better. We then started our language lesson. Students learned how to say hello, my name is________, nice to meet you, and goodbye in Japanese. They are doing a wonderful job practicing sounds and intonations in languages that they are unfamiliar with. Language is a powerful tool and if your toolbox is full, you can build so many things! #LanguagesBuildBridges

After our language lesson, students learned a little about the history of anime. About half of the group was familiar with what anime is, but they were unsure of its history. Anime is one kind of Japanese cartoon/animation. It was started in Japan in 1917, but didn't really make its debut as an art until the 1940s when it was used primarily as anti-American propaganda. The kids thought this was interesting. In the 1970s and 1980s Disney got ahold of anime for the west and decided that it would make it more friendly and accessible and in the 2000s several anime films earned awards at many feature film festivals!

Students had an opportunity to design their own anime character using a web-based computer program on today's adventure! The goal was to design an anime character that represented themselves, but several of them decided to go a different route! I love the creativity and artistic skills that are shown in many of these anime characters and it made for great discussion.

Although anime is very popular in Japan and elsewhere, so is another type of art that has been around even longer. The haiku (syllabic poetry with a 5:7:5 pattern) was originally from Japan. These haikus were originally about nature, but have sense been written about a wide variety of topics! Check out some of the haikus that were written by our students in the images below. They were given about 25 minutes to complete this activity!

After a lot of hard thinking and usage of our creativity skills, it was time to try our hand at Japanese cuisine! Throughout the morning students had smelled the scent of vinegar from sushi rice and stared at the plates of ingredients on the main table in the room. It was time! We discussed their experiences with sushi and whether or not they liked it. Although two-thirds of our students had tried sushi before, no one had ever made it (including all of our teachers)! After a demonstration and short video about the history and ingredients used to make sushi, they did it!

The following ingredients were used to make our sushi:
-Suishi Rice (Made pre-camp in my insta-pot)
-Ham
-Imitation Crab (This is a school activity...salmon was a little expensive!)
-Cream Cheese
-Cucumber
-Carrots
-Avocado
*Students had access to all of these ingredients, but they were able to choose what they wanted to put in their sushi!

I had a student ask me if I thought it would be a great after-school job to be a sushi-chef at a local restaurant! The interest is there and how yummy would that be!?!? This summer academy is all about sparking an interest in cultures and communities outside of their own. #MissionAccomplished! #StayPutTravel

They looked so professional and tasted delicious!

Last but not least, we ended the day with a lesson on the Japanese children's game Ohajiki! This is a game played with marbles that looks really easy...until you attempt to play it! We had a couple of students play today and due to time, we decided that we needed to travel back to Japan after our trip on another day to play this game even more. One of the things that stood out to me was the students' answers when I asked, "How many of you think that you could get really addicted to this game and have a lot of fun with it if you played it at home?". Over 75% of our students raised their hands. As a society I worry that we give too much power to technology. Our kids will want to do what they are exposed to...don't forget to expose them to the games from the past! They were VERY excited to play with non-digital marbles!

Thank you for traveling along with us! For now we are saying さようなら (Sayōnara) to Japan and hallo (hello) to Germany! See you tomorrow!

Around the World in 8 Days - China (6/17/19)

Around the World in 8 Days - China (6/17/19)

This past year Dr. Henry and Dr. Cannizzo (district leadership in Goddard) asked us what we would do if we could "dream big". When someone asks me to dream big, the sky is the limit! My mind went in a million different directions and I decided that I would want to focus on cultural education, all-year-round. After weeks of planning, I decided to start with a culture academy for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders that would take them on a journey into as many countries as possible. Due to the fact that I take kids abroad the first two weeks of June, and this camp needed to take place in June, that left the last two weeks of June, Monday through Thursday. Around the World in 8 Days was born! As you read the blog this week you will travel along with 50 kids, Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Inkelaar, Ms. Richards, and myself, to 8 different countries and regions of the world. Each day we will learn basic phrases in the language, complete an art activity, play a traditional children's game and explore the local cuisine. I hope you enjoy exploring with us!

Day 1 - China

We started the day at Eisenhower Middle School with a discussion about what they kids know about China. Kids mentioned leaders, fertility and population discussions, the Olympics, and types of music. We discussed the flag and learned several phrases in Chinese! We definitely have some language experts in the room!

After our opening discussion and language lesson, we learned about "slat books". Slat books were one of the first forms of book writing or record keeping in China. These books are traditionally made out of bamboo slats and tied together with vines in an accordion style. We didn't use bamboo or  vines, but the students used some of the most common Chinese symbols to create their own slat books from tongue depressors and string. They turned out amazing! It was a great way to incorporate art, history and language!

Our cuisine lesson for today was learning how to use chopsticks! We learned about the technical form and then had a challenge to see which group could sort and collect the items from their kit (legos, rice, fruit loops, and pieces of paper) using their skills. The kids were dedicated and had a blast! The rice was really difficult to pick up and it was great to see the various ideas that they had to help them!

Last but not least, we played a game called, "Hawks and Chicks". Hawks and chicks is very similar to tag, but involves a team. The hawk faces a single file line of around 6 chicks that are joined together at the shoulders. The goal of the hawk is to tag the final chick in the line, but the other chicks move back and forth to protect the chick. It was a lot of fun!

Thank you for reading and thank USD#265 for allowing me to culturally educate our youth!! #LearningNeverStops #EmpathyEducation #LoveMyJob #12MonthTeacher

Stay tuned for our adventure to Japan tomorrow!

NYC Leadership Conference - Day 5

Whew. Day 5 was over in a flash!
We started the day with The Summit's keynote speaker, Clint Smith. While we waited for Clint, we were given innovation guides. These guides have alot of good information in them- and will be a way for you to understand bits of what they expereinced.  We were seated in the row right behind Clint! When I went to take their photos before he spoke, I completely missed him sitting right there, oops! Clint does alot of advocating for diverse and impoverished communities. In addition, teaching incarcerated youth.  You can obviously read more about him online, but I think he made poetry reading look awfully cool. (I'm not even a poetry fan!) He ended his speech with a poem - The Danger of Silence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiKtZgImdlY.
   The kiddos then broke off into innovation groups and I was off to teacher training. Teachers were able to do a rough and quick (90 minutes) on the design-thinking process the kids are working through. We actually worked the process, to help understand how difficult this can be. Design-thinking has 6 sections: identify, empathize, define, prototype, and evolve. As of closing time today, 3 teams are in the define phase, 1 is in prototype. The kids should have also went to a breakout session. A couple attended a drawing session, with me! We learned alot of fun tips. After lunch, my 'kid lost, Mrs. Rush found' stash kept growing! Later, we were able to meet back up as a group for a reflection session before hitting the bus to head home. The kids took time to share the things that were impacting them so far in the trip. (Which I loved!) Then they were able to share some funny stories.
    We had a few brain break sessions today where the kids were all spread out with their new friends. Some played tennis, or basketball. Some made crafts or did yoga. On our bus ride back to campus, Skye, our tour director, opened the speakers up for suggestions for songs. The blog isn't very accepting of videos, so hopefully you were able to catch the Old Town Road rendition by bus 1 :) ! We came back to campus and went straight to a dance party! It was the absolute best. The students grabbed a set of headphones when they walked in, they had two song choices constantly, so they could switch between green or blue. While I was recording videos, I forgot that those without headphones, cant hear any music! The videos make much less sense if you can hear the jams that motivate them. The kids participated in dance offs, sing offs- they had their innovation teams face off (Let It Go! was the winning song of choice, thanks Frozen). We had ice cream, black light face paint, and glow sticks! The moments like these, I wish you all could be there to see how blissful they are, because that is what its allllll about!
Quotes from today:
- (On the bus, they've taken to singing Happy Birthday to random people, even though it isnt their birthday) - "OHHH, it was my birthday yesterday, too! And the day before?"
- "When you're doing something bad but being sorta quiet about it, Mrs. Rush is regular about it. But when we're being loud, she doesnt even say anything, she just glares at you. Its a look, and you can feel it and it worked, I was sleeping during the Clint Smith thing and I could feel the stare" #Teacherwin :)
- (The repeating of another persons story) "He said, dont ever let anyone sweep your feet"
Let me know if any of those sound like they came from your kid ;)

    They will continue working tomorrow, with more innovation sessions. We hear color finalists around 11, break for lunch, listen to Soledad O'Brien and handle the awards and crown a prototype winner at 1:30. Remember, we're headed home around 6, we should get into the ICT about midnight. See you all tomorrow!

                                                      Look who I found at the dance party.

                                               (My newly improved drawing, during reflection time)