Last week @ SAIL

Sorry, this post is so late, I thought I had published it to the blog but turns out I just saved it as a draft. Apologies !

This past week at SAIL was a little different. Amanda (second year MAT) taught the class as part of her thesis project. It was really interesting seeing how different a class could in relation to a different instructor. 

Amanda stopped the class at the door and let them know first that this week would be different. She let them know that they were to come in and sit on the floor to listen to a story which would introduce the day's activity. She asked them to be quiet as they come in. The students came in and sat themselves on the floor as Hernan, Ingrid, Mrs. Dorothy, and I sat in the background and watched. Storytime began. Amanda used a very intersting book I have never seen called "Salvador Dali and the Path to Dreams" The book spoke of Dali as a kid who had all these crazy dreams and later when he grew up he painted the images he saw in his dreams. The book was beautifully illustrated. The illustration showed all kinds of people, places, and objects that were imaginary and extraordinary. 

The materials for the activity were already set and laid out on the center of each table. When the story ended she explained this to the kids and explained they would be making their own imaginary people, places, or things out of these materials and Model Magic Clay (this stuff is great and comes in different colors, never had seen it before myself).  The kids were called on to go to a table of their choosing based on who was sitting quietly. 

Amanda did a great job keeping the kids in the story as she told it. She asked the questions, let them ask theirs and was good about recognizing kids with their hands up and not acting up. She kept the kids engaged in the story this way. Kids who spoke out of turn or were going "oo OO !" as they waved their hand were told something like "I only call on friends who raise their hands quietly" by Amanda, and then she moved on to a student who did just that. After once or twice this got the misbehaving kids to behave. I thought this was a good way to keep the kids in check, by not really reacting in a big way to their ruckus making but just recognizing it as unacceptable behavior and moving on, showing no emotion or much of a reaction at all. 

The project was a good one for the kids who seemed to really enjoy it. They worked well with their hands and as far as I could tell had friendly conversation as they worked. 

One thing I was surprised with was the glue gun. There were two glue guns available for the kids. When the two kids at my table needed to use the glue gun I went with them to the station to help. I was surprised that for the most part though the kids were allowed to use it without supervision. I am not sure if Amanda planned this or not, maybe it just got a little crazy with all the kids who wanted to use the glue gun and she wasn't able to control them from getting up and going to use it ? Or maybe she intended for them to get up and use it by  themselves ? 

If they were my kids at home, the same age, I wouldn't let them use it by themselves. And the one time I let a kid use it themselves while just watching, my hand got burned! 

All in all my time at SAIL was an informative one. Also as I already noted, it was interesting to see a different instructor with the same class. Time to see what post-spring break has in store for us!

Pictures of some of the kids pieces from the last class (sorry, not the greatest photographer)