Week 4

For this week, we have continued our UOI diaries, which are part memoir and part reactions to our unit readings and connections made during the unit. The students write in their diaries any time they want, and I respond to their writing and ask follow questions. When the students receive their diaries, they read my responses and write back. It has been a fun way of "talking" to the students about topics that we may not have ever discussed in a class setting.

Students used time in class this week to research music that changed the musical world. They could choose a famous singer or an instrument that "changed the world". It was only an introduction to how music can change people's lives. I would like to have more time to delve into this more.

Mr. Taiki, the new PE and Japanese teacher, is teaching them active games. This week I asked students to tell me how his PE lesson connected to our unit. The beauty is that EVERYTHING they experience can connect to our unit: It's all about perspective (how they look at the experience)! They played a team vs. team tic-tac-toe, where students had to run and make one move in the team tic-tac-toe game. Some of the lessons learned were...
"I learned that when I am trying to be fast, I make many mistakes."
"I learned that I am very nervous when the team is depending on me."
"I learned that we think different. I made a move, but my teammate didn't do what I wanted him to do next."

Mr. Derek (G2 teacher) asked G5 to help him introduce the concept of land being "discovered" by other people to his G2 class. The G5 boys and girls were ecstatic to "conquer" G2 and plant the G5 flag in their classroom. The boys and girls added their artwork to the G2 walls and placed their belongings in the desks of G2 students. Of course, G2 students were NOT happy at all about our "discovery".

This provocation was not only great for G2, but it was also fantastic for G5 as well. It gave us a first-hand experience as to how one experience is completely different based upon the person's perspective:
"It was so funny!" vs "[Student] was so serious."
"Did you see me, Ms. Dana? I wrote 'G5 class' on their board" vs "[Student] kept saying, 'This is so rude.'"
"I couldn't stop laughing!" vs "[Student] kicked our flag and left the room."
This discussion easily progressed into famous explorers from the past and how they treated the people who were indigenous or native to the land. This topic can continue into our next unit, so we'll stick a "pin in it" as the saying goes.

Our major text for this week was the storybook: The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin. This book taught us many lessons about life, specifically how people's brains are different and how we need to be open-minded to those differences. Our discussion made turns into our real lives and how we have noticed that people who are different from us are not allowed to participate in the same activities or go to the same schools. We made realizations that this isn't fair and that we can learn from all people. This topic, too, can continue into our next unit, so we'll stick a "pin in it" as well. 

We ended the week enjoying some fun competition at Sports Day!