Play Again

We just said goodbye to our new friend Sarah, who chose to spend a month on the island for her final practicum placement.  It was so wonderful having her here, and she will be missed.  Here is a link to a trailer for a film called Play Again that she shared with me.  The film explores the consequences that society faces when children are completely detached from the natural world.  Watching the preview served as a sobering reminder of what is happening with the vast majority of children in the western world, and made me appreciate the connection that the island's children have to their surroundings.  Here is a link to the film's website and hopefully some food for thought.  Enjoy the rest of your Easter weekend!  xo

Felting Workshop

At the Living and Learning School, we are blessed to be invited to some very special events in our community.  Kiki, a very talented artist, welcomed our students to a felting workshop that she hosted at the Kaay Centre.  She sent us a short story to read to the children in advance that told of a young boy who became lost in the woods.  Here is a brief synopsis of the story that she told.  While the boy was wandering, he met a small gnome who asked him why he looked so sad.  The boy explained that he was lonely and lost to which the gnome replied that he should not feel lonely because he was surrounded by the trees, rocks, streams and animals of the forest.  The gnome took a small stone out of his pocket and smashed it in half to reveal a beautiful rainbow centre.  He gave half of the geode to the boy so that he would be reminded that he is never alone.  Kiki told the story to the children using wonderful handmade dolls and they proceeded to make their very own rainbow rocks.  I had never experienced felting before, and I found it to be so tactile and soothing.  We all worked on our rocks, selecting one colour at a time from gorgeous loops of highly pigmented braided wool. We gently squeezed and rolled our grey felt 'rocks' in soapy water, rinsed them, then finally were given the option to cut them to reveal rainbow-y layers or keep them hidden.  I could not resist, and quickly cut mine in half and found turquoise, fuchsia and yellow rings.  We had a lovely day at the gallery and were lucky enough to have a guided tour of Kiki's gallery exhibit featuring felted works as well as paintings and installations.  Thank you for your hard work Kiki!  The kids really enjoyed themselves and learned a lot.

Lemonade Stand

It has been ages since I have updated my teaching blog, and so much has happened over the past few months.  Spring has sprung on Haida Gwaii, although we do have the occasional snow fall that melts away by the morning.  Crocuses have begun sprouting and there are tiny buds on the salmonberry bushes around our school.  Last month, when it was still fairly cold, my students came up with an idea to sell lemonade to help raise money for the World Wildlife Fund.  They decided that the lemonade stand should be on wheels so that we could push it around the fishing docks, because "fisherman would be the most thirsty".  The children were very excited to bake cookies and try making lemonade from scratch.  The following afternoon, we baked oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies, whipped shortbread and coconut mango muffins, and made two large batches of lemonade.  We added mint leaves to the first jug, and frozen blackberries to the second, which to our surprise, turned the lemonade a beautiful shade of pink!  We picked some berries and branches from trees in the yard, blew up some balloons, made some signs advertising our goodies, and packed up our wagon.  The sun was shining and the sky was bright as we headed over to set up shop outside the grocery store after some thought and discussion.  Our first generous customer, the wonderful Jo, stopped us on her bicycle before we had even set up our wagon, and donated $5 for a cookie!  Some of the children took initiative with the cash box and really enjoyed making change, while others preferred to draw pictures in the sunshine.  By the end of the afternoon, everyone took turns helping and we had lots of friendly visitors stop by and say hello.  We counted our funds when we returned to the school and were very pleased to find out that we raised $72 for our cause!  The following week we learned that a 15 year old girl from our community had fallen ill and the children decided to donate the lemonade stand money to her instead.  I was so proud of them for taking initiative and also recognizing that you need to be flexible when someone in our community is in need.  

Trip to Gray Bay and Surfing on North Beach

November 12th
A lot has happened since my last post, including me dropping my trusty phone/camera in water.  Sadly, I have not been taking as many photographs lately, and feel as if I have missed the ability to document some pretty exciting events here at school.  I did have my camera on a recent trip to Gray Bay and will share a few photos and stories with you.  Our day began with a ferry ride to Sandspit, and a rather bumpy drive down a logging road.  The children were surprised to see a large flock of seagulls in the woods rather than by the ocean.  The birds were feasting on dying salmon in the river as was a startled bear that ran along the roadside until it managed to find an escape route.  It is clear that our kids feel at home on the beach, and although it was October, I know many of them would have been willing to swim without question.  As soon as we arrived they took off running, digging, building, collecting and exploring.  A group of students worked together to create a range of impressively smooth and contemporary-looking sand castles and challenged each other with math questions written in the sand.   At one point, Bobbi-Lee gathered the group together for a Geology lesson.  She handed them each a small bag and asked them to collect a range of rocks that were as different as possible.  When they had gathered their bags of treasures, we drew circles in the sand, and worked together to sort them into a number of groups.  

During the afternoon, two of my Kindergarten students noticed a rainbow in the sky when the sun shone between bursts of misty rain.  One little girl waved goodbye and said, "See you tomorrow if it rains and suns!"  It is always gratifying to see your students making connections between what they learn in school and outside of the classroom.  

At one point, a little girl found what looked like a piece of kelp on the beach.  One of our older student recognized two hooks along the side, and explained that it was likely a shark egg case, sometimes called a 'Mermaid's Purse'.  The kids who live here, particularly those who grew up on the island, have an vast amount of knowledge in regards to their environment.  I feel so grateful to share these experiences with such an amazing group of children and I am grateful for their teachings.  

Last week we travelled up to North Beach for the third annual 'Expression Session', an event that celebrates surfing on island.  It was a cold morning, and the longhouse was pretty icy when we arrived.  We huddled by the wood stove as the children were organized into groups according to their age and height.  I waited until the very end of the day to try surfing (for the first time), and spent most of the day walking in the woods and playing on the beach with a small group of five year olds.  Beaches and forests are the best playgrounds for children, and we are fortunate to have access to so many interesting outdoor spaces here.  Finally it was our turn to hit the waves.  We squeezed into our wetsuits and paraded off to the water with our tired but enthusiastic instructors.  A few of the kids were nervous, while others grinned from ear to ear as the waves pushed their boards along.  I tried to be brave and stand up before I knew what I was doing and ended up with a face full of salt water, but otherwise had an incredible time.  I can see why surfing is such an addictive sport, and it didn't take me very long to experience the rush that surfers get that keeps them coming back for more.  

I am off now to plan for the next week at school.  See you again when it rains and suns!

Noticing the Details

October 17th
For me, drawing has always been a meditative experience.  As a shy child, most of my 'choice' time in Kindergarten was spent at the painting easel.  My dad used to bring my brothers and I stacks of one-sided paper from work, and we would spend hours drawing together.  When I was a teenager, my mom pulled garbage bags of old drawings that I thought had long since disappeared out of our crawl space upstairs.  For me, drawing was a way of exploring my inner self.  It calmed me and allowed me to be quiet and reflective.

Obviously not all children feel the same way about drawing and painting, and many would rather dance, build structures or play soccer.  These days, I view drawing as a way for young children to communicate their ideas, when written language is still somewhat limited.  Currently, most of my students choose to draw in their sketch books during quiet time.  Some are beginning to play collaborative games on paper,  while others spend their time diligently working on observation drawings of the beach, shelves in the classroom or interesting objects from our Science corner.  We have been running an after-school club, and I lead an art class on Wednesdays.  Last week, I took the children outside with view-finders to draw alone in an outdoor space.  One little boy chose the plum tree to sit in, while others sat on the rocky beach and drew the islands in the distance.  Another lay in the grass and carefully drew a row of trees in magnificent detail.  One little girl discovered that she could use a leaf as carbon paper and another child worked on an observation drawing of all his friends.   The following week, we warmed up with free line drawings using graphite sticks.  I challenged the children to use only their fingers to draw with, then their wrists, elbows and whole arms.  Once they had warmed up, I took out mirrors and asked the kids to look closely at their faces.  I asked them to tell me what they noticed, and the answers ranged from the colour of their eyes, to the tiny pores on their cheeks.  One Kindergarten student spent a good portion of the afternoon drawing tiny pores in pencil, as well as a small scar that he noticed under his left eye.  Another chose to do a separate portrait of his body with a sword down the centre.  The energy that young children can achieve in their drawings is impressive, and it saddens me that this freedom often gets lost along the way as we begin striving for perfection.  For me, true beauty lies in odd angles, and bold strokes.  

Trip to the Salmon Hatchery

October 5th

I tried my hand at salmon fishing this summer and came home with enough coho and chinook to last the winter.  Catching the salmon was easy enough, but when it came to clubbing and gutting, I passed the job on to either the boat-owner or my seven year old friend, Roan.  Roan was born and raised on Haida Gwaii, and is accustomed to fishing, hunting and gathering food.  When there was a lot of blood, he was thoughtful enough to suggest that I look away, and when a near-dead salmon thrashed around inside the hatch, he gently told me that it was "just the nerves".  This week at school, we headed over to the Salmon Hatchery to learn about spawning.  Pat and Roger demonstrated how to catch and, sadly, kill the female salmon in order to take her eggs, and how to milk the males.  A few brave kids volunteered to club the salmon while others shielded their faces or watched with curiosity.  I tried to appear stoic, and ended up learning quite a lot about salmon.  I learned that it takes only ninety seconds for the eggs to become fertilized, and we watched the rejected sperm rise to the surface of the water.  I also learned that salmon spawned at the Hatchery have a ninety percent chance of survival, as opposed to in the wild where they only stand a ten percent chance.  When the eggs hatch, our school will be given a tank of salmon fry to look after over the winter, and I'm sure the children will have a clear understanding of where they came from.  When they are strong enough, we will release them into the wild to begin the cycle over again.  As I biked home from school, past the creek that is full of female salmon slowly dying, I realize that I am becoming more and more accustomed to living here, even though it can feel like a sensory overload at times. 

Kaleidoscopes and a Crow Funeral

September 30th

As the days grow shorter, and the rain continues to fall, a little sunshine is appreciated here on Haida Gwaii. Today was stunningly beautiful, and my walk to school began with a brilliant pink sunrise.  I knew that I wanted to take the children outside this afternoon, and we planned a beach walk and a trip to the library.  As the older students took their turn visiting the library, we finished making kaleidoscopes out of papier-mached toilet paper rolls, glitter, beads, and sheets of mylar.  To demonstrate how they work, I taped three mirrors together and placed them over a sparkly piece of plastic so that the kids could observe and document the repeated patterns they created.  They were mesmerized, and one of them exclaimed "It looks like a hundreds of rooms!" and also decided that the repetition of cubes and triangles reminded him of a city.  One little boy took the mirrored triangle over to a wall mirror and pressed his face against it.  Another boy began laying pencils inside the triangular prism and noted the patterns they created.  The kaleidoscopes turned out amazingly, and we figured out just how many pinches of beads and glitter to add to create the most interesting designs.  As we finished up, we went outside with sheets of construction paper and a variety of interesting objects, including scissors and pattern blocks.  We arranged them on the construction paper in the brightest patch of sunshine we could find and waited to see if the sun would bleach the paper.  I was unsure whether it would work, and thought that the wind might blow out papers away, but we were pretty excited to see the results happening very quickly.  As we waited, we grabbed buckets and walked down the beach  to collect crabs.  We have been talking about 'gentleness' and the children had to be reminded to be gentle with their crabby friends.  We returned them to their rocks and headed for the library where we spotted a dead crow on the side of the road.  

All of the kids stopped and stared with concern at the dead animal and began to wonder what had happened to it.  "Maybe it fell from the post", "Maybe it was a baby and it was trying to fly", "Maybe it was shot" were a few suggestions the children came up with.  The bird had a visible hole in it's side, but it was unclear what had happened to it.  As we looked up, we noticed a group of about ten crows sitting on the telephone wires overhead, and I told them about the mysterious crow funerals that I had read about.  We silently wished our friend well and headed off to the library followed by a visit to the park.  The kids have been very interested in butterflies and birds lately, so these topics will likely guide our research in the weeks to come.  Until next week!  xo