Communication

I love this class!  I love those students and I am loving this experience!

Okay, I’m really hitting my stride now.  I was starting to think that every class would be okay, but I that maybe I would still leave thinking I could have done better or that the students could have understood better the concepts.  But today was one of those days that is just a step beyond.  It was amazing!  We went back into cross-curricular connections today, linking energy qualities with forms of communication.  Smoke signals with sustained energy, letters with swing energy (see lesson plan if you’re confused), Morse code with percussive energy, phones with vibratory energy, and the internet with explosive energy. 

While the words were really big and kind of tricky to remember for the students, they knew exactly which one they were talking about and were able to recognize it when they saw it, demonstrate with their body which one they were talking about and say most of the word.  (But come on, vibratory? What kind of word is that?  We used “shaking” sometimes instead.)  I think they had it. :)  

We also did connecting shapes today.  Wow.  It was so fulfilling to see them really grasp the concept.  They have come so far!!!  I remember the first few weeks, I would say shape and they would just stand there and look at me - a few brave souls would attempt to make a triangle or a square, my first clue that I may have jumped a little too far right off the top.  Well, after talking about body shapes last week and moving into relationships this week, there have been huge changes!  We talked about how "connecting" doesn't have to mean "touching."  We talked about sharing self-space to make one interesting shape together, using the negative space around each body to connect the two shapes.  I'll post pictures.  I was amazed and very impressed by the shapes I saw coming together.  It thrilled me!  They're really beginning to explore creatively.  There were some really beautiful moments today.  We'll keep building from here! 

Favorite Moments:

• A girl whispered "This is fun!" while we were exploring how we would move like a phone ring to the actual sounds of a phone ringing.  They really enjoyed that one. Vibratory may be hard to say, but it's definitely fun to do!
• When I ask the question, "Where else in our world do we see explosive energy?"  I got some answers like "a volcano!" (Great answer.  Volcanoes are explosive.)  Then a girl raised her hand and said, "War."  I was really taken aback.  It was one of those moments when you get slammed by the realization that they kind of know a lot more than you do.  It was so sweet, and yet very deep.  It was a good moment as a teacher.
•  A boy who was really reluctant to join today was getting very involved by the end of the lesson.  But he became very shy again when he was in the first group to perform, so I switched him and his partner to the second group.  After seeing the first group perform he jumped right up and did his whole dance.  I hope that by giving him the opportunity to wait and watch he kept the excitement and joy rather than feeling pressured and scared.
• Last, but certainly not least . . . the class kept begging me not to go.  "Miss Alley, will you come back tomorrow?" they asked, several times.  I was very sad to say that I couldn't come until next week, but it pleased me that they want me back! YAY!