Today we witnessed the magician of magicians...Harry Houdini.  What a treat for the students at Apahce as well as our adult minds, reminding us that school is fun and educational. How can we incorporate these kind of educational experiences when we have our own classroom.  I love that the kids were able to volunteer and ask questions.  The experience was real.

 

March 13, 2008

We performed our characters today.  I was so nervous my palms were sweating for at least an hour before class.  I am usually not good at "performing" in front of crowds...but I just decided to roll with it as my Great grandmother unfolded before my peers, Apache fourth graders and our teachers. Wowzaaa... I felt wonderful.  The best part of our performances was the window into each other.  I enjoyed everything about everyones characters.  They were AWESOME!  I don't know if I could do something like this all the time, but it was worth the agony of stage fright. 

 

March 20, 2008

We met our kids today.  I think its going to be a great group.  Brandon is a shy boy with a sweet smile.  He was eager to share alot of stories with me.  I learned that he really takes care of himself and he has a twin sister. Mom works nights and he doesn't know much of the rest of his family.  We talked about grandparents that he has spent time with.  Its going to be a challenge to find his characters voice becuase he prefers to not be the center of attention and he doesn't know much about his family. Taylor is a bright sweet girl.  She seemed shy at first, but we got to talking and she contributed to the others ideas and we talked about her character. Her mom is a teacher at Apache and Taylor thinks she can become her mom for a day and make it funny. I think she will have no problem scripting and being in front of people.  We might need to work on loudness with all three of my students.  Valerie is a sweet and funny young lady.  She really admires her cousin who is in junior high.  I think her cousion is somewhat of a role model to Valerie, and probably a good friend.  She shared what she likes to do and what she looked like.

 

After just visiting with Brandon, Taylor, and Valerie I had them brainstorm on their own "special things" about their character.  Quietly they wrote down looks, job descriptions, hobbies, food, and I had to coach them on new ideas.  I thought it went well and that I was able to talk to each of them confidently.

 

April 10, 2008

We met with our friends at Apache again today.  They had not touched or thought about their characters from two weeks and they seemed a little distracted.  Maybe Spring Break wore them out.  I like to just start with a short visit and ask questions about themselves.  Brandon loves to talk to me...I sometimes have to ask him to let the others talk.  To get them back on track, I asked them to write and introduction to their character.  Reminding them theat they need to always be writing or speaking from their characters persepctive.  After writing we did peer reviews and did stars and wishes.  I ahd them ask at least one question to each other about their characters.  We found that Brandon really didn't know much abotu his grandmother, and we fished for another character so that he could compare/contrast to see which one he was more comfortable with.  His assignment is to interview his grandfather and his grandmother (not from the same side of family). Taylors assignment is to expand on her mom "voice" and we talked about what makes a voice together.  Valerie has alot of stories and really wants her cousin to be "cool" so I asked her to pay attention to her cousins movements and voice.

 

April 17, 2008

I was really sick today and was unable to go to Apache.  I felt really bad and I actually missed my students.  Its so much fun to be involved with actual students and see their cognitive abitilities and their individual personalities. Frances told me they worked on their skits and Brandon ended up choosing his grandma, as a request from his own mom.  I'm anxious to see how they will be next week.

 

April 24, 2008

Everybody was present and they had some really great ideas worked up.  They had spent some time during the week working on their skits  but they still needed alot of work.  I'm quite sure how to really focus the need to be "in character".  They really prefer to storytell, in a sense.  I have tried to find ways to get them to be "in person". I call out faces...they make the face...I show my character traits and the difference between storytelling about a person and being that person telling a story. Brandon still needs help.  He just seems to not have solid stories. His mom wrote his script and its about what his grandmother does for a living.  I was excited for him and we talked about ways to be his grandmother.  He can drive a truck, carry a box, etc. I'm really nervous for him about next week. Valerie needs to work on being louder and using actual motions...but she has a great script.  Taylor is ready to go.  I'm really proud of her.  She used her stars and wishes to make her script better and is not afraid to do motions.

 

May 1, 2008

I woke up nervous and I did not stop thinking about these kids until this evening when I got home.  Taylor had practiced and practiced.  Her skit was memorized and her dress rehearsal was great.  In front of the camera she turned a shade of red and choked a few times, but did really really good for a first time actor.  Valerie had a great skit but completely made everything up as she went.  I was the only one that knew and I had told them about this trick when you get scared, so I was glad she pulled it off.  Next time, she will use more motions and voice variations.  She told me she was nervous, but that video taping was good practice.  I've really seen the most growth in her because she was so shy at first.  Now she volunteers to talk and always has sometimes enlightening to say.  Brandon was a different experience.  I expected it to be pretty painful, but I could have cried for him.  I was really proud of him despite bombing his eprformance in front of the camera.  It took alot of energy for him to even pretend motions in front of his small group.  After about 10 times and with Taylor and Valeries full support, he had really made progress in terms of performance.  He just froze and got embarressed during his video performance.  I don't blame him.  Sometimes that is just really hard and harder when you are not emotionally connected.  He was really embarressed.  I told him that I was proud and that I had seen him make progress. Maybe next time will be easier.  I also reminded him that everyone is different and that it's okay to be afraid of performing and we talked about ways that make it less scary and that he wil get better with practice.  He smiles at me everytime I look at him and I can't help but be proud of him.