Last Class of Session I!

 What a fantastic last class for Mind Move Make's first session!  At the beginning of the class I asked the students to share the thing they liked the best about the class, along with an improvement that they would make.  In art class we called these Stars (positive comments) and Wishes (constructive comments).  Each student got to ring the singing bowl one last time as they announced their Star and Wish for the class.

I came away understanding that the students truly enjoyed working together over the past ten classes.  Some students liked the yoga portion of the class best, and others loved creating the artwork.  It was wonderful hearing all of the students' ideas about the class!

After that, I explained that I created a large piece of artwork and cut it into ten different pieces.  Each student would receive one piece of the artwork along with a note that I wrote especially for him or her.  I told them the only way the artwork would be whole again was if the students worked together to reassemble the pieces to create the whole.  The artwork is a symbol of our shared experience during the classes we've spent together.  I gave them five minutes to reassemble the artwork; they busily collaborated and got to see what the whole piece of artwork looked like.

Here are all the cards that I created by cutting up a larger piece of artwork.

These are the same cards from the view of the notes I wrote to the students.

Here the students are working together to reassemble the artwork.

The students were appreciative of the mini pieces of artwork I gave them, along with the notes.  One child even made me a thank-you card when she was finished with her own artwork!

We had to scramble to complete the sock puppets we started.  One class was missed due to a snow day, so the children had less time then I planned to finish their puppets.  They worked really hard and everyone got finished, except one student who needed to leave class a little early.

After finishing their puppets, many of the students began putting on an impromptu puppet show!  They used chairs from the art room to construct a miniature stage, and fabric to decorate it.  When parents arrived to pick up their children, two girls began pulling chairs out for them to watch the show.  It was so fun for me to see them use their imaginations and develop a performance.

I am extremely grateful to each child who participated in Mind Move Make's first session, and I'm really looking forward to starting Session II!

Impermanence

As a teacher I enjoy bring challenging material to my students, even when I am unsure if they will be able to meet the challenge or fully understand the concepts discussed.  It is extremely rewarding when my students exceed my expectations!  This is what happened during this week's Mind Move Make class when I introduced the idea of impermanence.

To start our class, I asked the students if anyone knew what the word "impermanence" meant; none of the them were familiar with this word.  Then I asked if they knew the word "permanent"; one girl raised her hand and said, "Permanent is when something won't come off your skin!"  I love this definition of the word.  After a few more children chimed in with their ideas of permanent, we decided it meant something that lasts and doesn't change.

From the context of the word "permanent" the students worked together to figure out "impermanent".  We defined impermanent as change, when things don't last forever.  I asked them to apply the idea of impermanence to the book we've been reading over the past few classes, Annie and the Old One.

One student, in a vivid and articulate way, connected the concept of impermanence with Annie's conversation with her grandmother at the end of the book.  Her grandmother talks about how time cannot be halted.  She also explains that good things come to humans from the earth, and eventually humans will return to the earth.  Annie looks around and remembers how the blossoms fall from the cactus when they are finished blooming.  She connects this with the knowledge that her grandmother cannot live forever.  It is a great lesson in both death impermanence.

These ideas prompted a rich and interesting conversation.  One boy brought up that if all insects on the planet died, life on earth would end.  He added that if humans were absent from the earth, all other forms of life would flourish.  We discussed that music is impermanent because as soon as the sound is created, it disappears.  Lastly, we talked about how movement is impermanent, so we are engaging in an activity of impermanence every week.

With that, we began our movement practice!  I introduced the students to a classic Sun Salutation this week.  We practiced Trikonasana and Malasana.  Two new poses I introduced were Salabhasana  and Navasana.  At the end of our practice the kids had a lot of fun creating Bee Breath, or Bhramari.  All of us created a humming sound, which made it seem as if the room was filled with a swarm of bees!

For the art portion of the class, I taught the students how to take their weavings off the loom.  They

were excited to bring these beautiful creations home to show their family members.  Several students told me that they have already created cardboard looms to make weavings at home!

We also continued designing our sock puppet creations.  Most of the students had time to make a mouth for their sock puppets.  Some even got the chance to draw a picture of what they want their puppet to look like when they are finished with it.  It will be fun to see how these artworks evolve.