Final Blog...I Believe

When reading Stephanie's post, I remembered that I do engage in music every weekend. That would be the worship section of our church service. I am easy to spot. I am the one with my arms moving in some sort of interpretive fashion as I internalize the words that are being sung. I sing to the Lord without the concern of flat notes, or tone deafness. I sing to the Lord as my soul hungers to be fed; to be filled with living water quenching the thirst this world leaves us. When I am singing, I go on a spiritual high that words cannot explain. I know that this may seem a little out there for some of my colleagues, but this is my truth, my experience, my love, and my passion. This is what feeds my creative spirit. God bless everyone!

My experience with performing arts...

In my family life program, I love to spice up my lessons by dramatizing parts of a lesson by "flipping in and out of character." This style keeps the students alert and interest because they tend to experience quite a bit of cognizance dissonance as they are tracking me and the character or scenario that I am re-enacting. I also, invited the students to create role-plays of different scenarios, in order to really bring the lesson alive and make connections between themselves and the content of the lesson. From my experience, I have found that the students really enjoy this component of the lessons, and when I assess their learning the following year, I am amazed at what they can recall. I attribute this partially to the interactive dramatic nature of the lessons.

I have also tried these techniques in my practicum classes and they went over quite well. Drama is a great tool to pull out of the "proverbial toolkit of teaching strategies" to draw their attention back to the lesson.

Pictures Celebrating the Christmas Spirt

Here are the photos, that were taken at the Education Christmas Potluck. I must of had an ADD moment and didn't get everyone's photo; sorry about that. At any rate, I really enjoyed today, up there with everyone Jingle bell rocking in a one horse open sleigh, as we Fa La La La' ed our way to the end of the program.

One of the fanastic ideas that I found, while surfin...

Bad Hair Art.

This idea is one of the many fantastic ideas provided by http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/SubPlans/subelem.htm

An Angel Says...

In the year 2000, I received a small desk calendar full of quotes titled, An Angel Says... I absolute loved it and its wisdom touched the bottom of my soul. So, when I was the Life Skills facilitator at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, I sometime would put a quote from this calendar up on the board for our class to journal on. Some of the thoughts that that spouted from this exercise were truly inspiring. Since this little calendar continues to be a treasure to me, I decided to share the inspiration with you by quoting some of the wisdom from its pages.

An Angel Says...

...you can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the future. [Sounds like advice we could use right now.]

...Sorrow looks back. Worry looks around. Faith looks up.

...when you throw mud at someone, remember you are the one who is losing ground.

..the only safe and sure way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend.

...a man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.

... he who is happiest is he who gives the most happiness.

...there is no right way to do the wrong thing.

...learn from others mistakes, you will not have enough time to make them all yourself.

There are another 356 more inspiring little sayings in my 4" by 4" small desk calendar,which are just as thought inspiring as these ones. If you are interested in more, contact me. I have printed off multiple pages of quotes and I have them on one of my disks, and I would love to share them with you.

Blessings in this season of bounty, Sherry

Dr.Suzuki says...

"The Potential of Every Child is Unlimited!" -Dr. Suzuki This is a very important and powerful quote to remember on those days when we are banging our head against the wall wondering if there is truth to this statement. At those points remember that, "if at first we can not see, then we must not be looking hard enough."

Preppin' for the Festives...

Thank you Kristen and Amber for taking the lead in our snazzy sing-a-long. Thank you EY-06 for all the great ideas, laughter, and fun that was shared today in class as we prepared for tomorrow's festivities. I am so glad we are performing tomorrow, since had an absolute blast today [giddying- up and all the rest that went along with it.] Ciao, everyone...and thank you again for pulling together, shedding your inhibitions, being able to laugh at yourselves, and throwing caution to the wind. We truly do have a great cohort.

Love you guys, Sherry

Behold, a cartoonist has entered the building...

Ted Harrison Painting

This is a Ted Harrison painting created when my daughter, Stephanie, was in grade 3. This is one of many pictures posted in her very own Art Gallery [located in a special corner designed as the 'art space' in the basement.] ~ signed New Eyes

Hello Kitty...

Computer box converted into Gus' deluxe accommodations complete with "brick" siding and a "cedar shake" roof. Let's hear it for children's imaginations. YEAH!!!

Two Mimes looking everywhere, without any sound...

Butterflies on the Ceiling, Turtles on the Ground...

What do you see?

What do you see when you explore abstract art? I see so many possibilities, feelings, emotions, colours, textures, and more... Viewing abstract art reminds me of swimming in a sea of limitless freedom; when anything imaginable, is possible...Enjoy the limitless possibilities of all the incredible art that surrounds you, each and every day.

New Eyes

Prior to this course, I would not have described our home as a place where art is created... then I started to really look around, and this is what I saw.... I saw butterflies on the ceiling and turtles on the ground. I saw two mimes looking everywhere, without any sound... I saw one violinist playing everything she knows. I saw two beautiful children that really make me glow.

Chrildren's Art Show

Wow, once again I am impressed by the collaboration of our cohort. Cathy, with the cooperation of the IT department, produced a beautiful pamphlet, which will be treasured by all the students (and their families) that attended the art show. The beautiful banner, created by Flo, Erin, Amber (and possibly more people), was absolutely stunning and a sign of dedication toward the success of the show. Zakkiya and Linda provided us with beautiful flowers and tasty candies. Dan,Lisa, and Ryan made sure that the show was well photographed, which made our guest feel like celebrities. Megan, Scott, Lara, and Andrew (again, there could have been more) kept our guest well fed and hydrated. As a whole our class greeted guests, moved chairs, set-up the show, served and entertained guests.

I contributed along side my colleagues by setting up chairs, rounding up stray visitors, entertaining those who came [including seven of my students along with their families], handing out pamphlets, touring students, etc. I believe that, all-in-all, we learned a lot and enjoyed the production of an Art Show....I know my students felt like celebrities. Good job everyone!!