ALICE TWILLA
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ALICE TWILLA
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JANE HASTINGS
Professional Teaching Artist – Multi-Media
Martin Luther King K-8 School
This is such a wonderful program and it affects in a positive way so many students, teachers and parents that it is hard to pick just one story but here goes...
This spring there was one little boy (we will call him Ross) who was having more and more difficulty staying on task and focused. The teacher was meeting regularly with the parents and program specialist to get the student help. During several of our art lessons, Ross would get up and wander around, seemed unable to work at his desk and had difficulty starting the most basic task.
We began a series of group projects in the last 5 weeks of the spring program one of them was a recycle robot. This large form made of cereal boxes, juice containers and other assorted recycle items would be on display at the Spring Festival and all the students were helping to embellish the piece. I set up the work station near Ross. He was fascinated by the variety of supplies, materials and tools used for the project. Students had individual projects they were working on at their desks and were called in small groups to come to the robot center.
Because the project required hot glue and the students were 1st grade, we worked together to attach all materials. Ross was drawn to the work center. I asked the teacher if he could be my assistant for this project and she thought that would be a great idea. I showed him how the glue gun worked and told him never to touch the metal tip.
We agreed to count to 5 before he could touch anything that was just glued because it could still be hot. He stayed with me at the table during the construction of the Alice Robot, sometimes watching the choices the students made, sometimes handing them options they might have missed. He was always there to give me a fresh glue stick when the gun was getting low. He still needed to move and touch but he was always respectful to the glue gun and would look at me before he touched anything on the robot. In the end Ross had a very personal connection to the recycle robot project and was able to feel proud of how much he had contributed to its wonderful outcome.
The teacher and I both agreed that keeping him on task and building a connection with the robot project was a very positive experience.
This spring there was one little boy (we will call him Ross) who was having more and more difficulty staying on task and focused. The teacher was meeting regularly with the parents and program specialist to get the student help. During several of our art lessons, Ross would get up and wander around, seemed unable to work at his desk and had difficulty starting the most basic task.
We began a series of group projects in the last 5 weeks of the spring program one of them was a recycle robot. This large form made of cereal boxes, juice containers and other assorted recycle items would be on display at the Spring Festival and all the students were helping to embellish the piece. I set up the work station near Ross. He was fascinated by the variety of supplies, materials and tools used for the project. Students had individual projects they were working on at their desks and were called in small groups to come to the robot center.
Because the project required hot glue and the students were 1st grade, we worked together to attach all materials. Ross was drawn to the work center. I asked the teacher if he could be my assistant for this project and she thought that would be a great idea. I showed him how the glue gun worked and told him never to touch the metal tip.
We agreed to count to 5 before he could touch anything that was just glued because it could still be hot. He stayed with me at the table during the construction of the Alice Robot, sometimes watching the choices the students made, sometimes handing them options they might have missed. He was always there to give me a fresh glue stick when the gun was getting low. He still needed to move and touch but he was always respectful to the glue gun and would look at me before he touched anything on the robot. In the end Ross had a very personal connection to the recycle robot project and was able to feel proud of how much he had contributed to its wonderful outcome.
The teacher and I both agreed that keeping him on task and building a connection with the robot project was a very positive experience.
NED HAMMAD
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LYNDA KING
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DEANA HEGLAND
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MOLLIE MORRISON
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