Last Week and Better

As I mentioned in my previous post, I fell ill two weeks ago on the day I was to teach, but that was the only week I missed. Last week was therefore the second class I've taught and, honestly, it was more difficult. They were much more restless and seemingly less interested in the session. I decided to read to them Kathryn Otoshi's One. The book is fairly visually abstract in that the characters are literally single paint blotches. It's very creative and simplistic, but the children weren't appreciating such basic art. The story is incredibly unique for discussing bullying as broadly as it does since it refrains from referencing any particular human identity, including race, gender, sex, ethnicity, etc. I thought they would like the book, but I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, I did introduce discussion. I first asked the class what does it mean "to count"? They gave examples like counting their own fingers, friends, and such. I then asked them what does it mean when someone counts or if I count. "Does it mean the same thing all the time?" I received a resounding "No." "Well, then how might it be different?" After a bit of hesitation, one student chimed, "If someone wants to play, they need to count in the game." I restated the response in proper if-then statement form. They all pitched in more examples, and before it began to grow too tangential, I asked another question. "Why was it important for Red [the bullying antagonist] to count, too?" Many of them shared that Red simply wanted to play with the other colors. "Is this how we should play?" "NO!" "Then how?" "We should be nice." "Why wasn't Red nice?" "Red didn't know how to be nice." I decided to delve more deeply. "Was the action Red did wrong? Was it bad for Red to bully blue?" "Yes!" "Is then Red a bad person?" After a pause, one student said no. Once I asked why, she said, "Well, Red just didn't know any better." I decided to steer the conversation towards judgment. "So, when is it okay to judge?" "Never." "But we judged Red's actions to be bad." On and on we went until the students came to a consensus that while it is never appropriate to judge someone's personal character, it is okay to judge someone's actions, and if a person is doing bad things, then we should teach them or show them how to behave better.

There was a lot of thinking involved in this session, so maybe they began to mentally drift more readily as I continued to push them. They grew too restless by the end of the session and they became more difficult to engage and control. After that session, I decided to be easier on them.

For this week, I decided to change things up. To work with such a large group, I think it's better for the sessions to be more varied. For this week, I read Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein and decided to make the session's theme based on identity. (And, yes, I decided to work with themes from here on out. I believe it will help focus the class much more.) Before reading, I reviewed last week's session and then asked them if anybody could tell me what identity was. Nobody knew. I asked if anybody would like to take a guess. Several hands rose; they like guessing. After a couple of stray guesses, one student asked if it's about things you like. That was pretty close. I told them that identity was what we find about ourselves to be very important to ourselves. After giving them several basic examples (I can draw, I am 24 years old, I have a brother and a sister, I like ice cream, etc.). After reading the book, I asked them several questions concerning Wabi Sabi, the cat protagonist, including what was her main concern (which was finding out the meaning of her name) and why finding out the meaning of her name was so important to her. The conversation moved quite effectively, and the children wondered why the meaning of her name would be of a great importance to her. One child guessed, "Maybe her name is important to her." They all agreed. That is when I decided to move on to a project.

With the help of the teachers, I asked them all to sit either at their desks or at a table. (The sessions consist of two classes combined.) I asked them all to close their eyes and think about what is really important to them that really makes them who they are. Then, with the help of the teachers, I handed out sheets of paper, asked them to share their coloring utensils, and told them to draw to the best of their ability the things (or thing) of which they thought. The turn out was fantastic. Pictures ranged from Nintendo DSIs to family, to favorite pets, to hair color. I allowed students to volunteer in sharing their pictures and explaining why the things they drew were important to them. One student loved his DSI because his uncle gave it to him, who is a family member not living in Meadville. Another shared how much she loved her dog (it's dead, now) for saving her life when she was an infant from tumbling down a rocky slope. Another girl shared how much she loved Halloween and her dog due to an incident last year's Halloween where a stranger was harassing her and her dog protected her by fending him off and biting him. I was taken aback by all the results. I told them they could keep their pictures and they were all pleased with themselves. Really, the class ran so smoothly and everyone had a good time! To be honest, it wasn't as philosophy-intensive as I hoped it would be, but there's always a next time. I simply need to find a balance. :)

They really caught on the to the concept of wabi sabi, which Wikipedia nicely summarizes it as being the "Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience." The children mainly understood it as having to do with beauty, the ordinary, and nature, close to how the book introduced the term. They very much enjoyed the book, which used a collage of photographs, textured papers of sorts, and paint. I was pleased they found the book to be engaging both visually and plot-wise. I am glad to have found the book and I hope to bring up the concept of wabi sabi again somehow for a later session. Maybe for a session which focuses on the philosophy of art. We'll see.