Intergenerational Learning

When building and designing a curriculum it is important to take some time and see what resources are in the community. There are many opportunities available that could be used to enrich your curriculum: Library,nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, nature center, and many many more. Any of these locations would help make curriculum more engaging and meaningful. When I was in elementary school my art teacher teamed with the fire department. The fire department came in and discussed what they did, why it was important, and what we should do if we were ever in a dangerous situation. After they left we had to create the next fire poster that would be hung around the community with what we learned and took away from the firefighter talk. We were told to think about what was an important take away, what others need to know, and to make it look appealing so people would look at it. That is one example from my childhood that really made it meaningful to me. When I think about how I am going to incorporate areas in the community into my curriculum I think about visiting the nursing homes. Visiting nursing homes builds relationships and allows students to work on their communication skills. I would have the students brainstorm and write questions to ask their person when we go visit. When we are there the students would interview their person and take notes. Get to know them. The students would then create a memory box that is about the individual they interviewed. The box would be about the person and what the student learned. When everyone is finished we would return to the nursing home and the students would present the memory box to the individual they interviewed. When we got back to the classroom we would write a final reflection.

When bringing in volunteers to the classroom we need to teach our students to have appropriate and effective conversations. We need to do this by making sure our students know that these are guests coming into our classroom that they have taken time out of their day to come visit so we have to be respectful. Students need to know that they are volunteers. I would have the students brainstorm topics and ideas that they want to talk about with the volunteers. So the class period before we could make a brainstorming net so that we know our conversations are beneficial to our learning. I would also have the students collaborate in groups and come up with specific questions to ask. Normally, guests do not have time to answer everyone's questions so if we split into groups and think of questions together then more could be answered. I would also ask the students if they know what is and not appropriate to talk about. There are consequences if students ask inappropriate and negative questions. My teachers always  reminded us that if we were disrespectful and inappropriate that we would not have visitors again nor would any volunteers want to come back. Students are always eager to have guests, but we have to make sure that it does not get out of control.

A mentor to me is someone who has had a positive impact on your life and someone who you look up to. It is easy for me to pick my mentor because it will forever be my grandma. My grandma is someone who will do anything to help someone. She cares about me and has shown me how to be a person that I can be proud of. When I asked my grandma why did you care so much and raise me the way you did she stated, "Because I had to. No one else was raising you in a way that would make you proud of yourself." She wanted me to succeed and to be the best I could. My grandma has always helped achieve my dreams no matter if it was culinary school or becoming an art educator. I have learned so much from my grandma. I think talking to someone from another generation can greatly affect our perception. Learning how someone else grew up, the different time periods, and just talking can be a huge impact. This can effect my classroom because I think children can learn a lot of respect from someone from a different generation. In my first paragraph I talked about partnering with the nursing home to do a project and this can have a huge influence in the classroom. Students can learn many skills by interviewing, talking, and creating a project about someone.

Service Learning

There are many projects in the classroom that can be linked to the basic necessities of life:Food, water, and shelter. When thinking about a lesson plan that would work in the classroom linking to the idea of shelter the first project that popped into my mind was the project we completed in Secondary Methods. This project was to create a shelter that showed your fear, encapsulated your fear, or was a safe place from your fear. I feel that if I were to assign this project in my classroom I would have the students create a shelter that encapsulated their fears. When we are scared,lonely, or even need a piece of mind we always go to a place that we consider to be our shelter whether that is an actual building or a location. Everyone needs to have a place they consider to be their shelter. For students I think that this is important for them to think about. Even deeper it is important for students to realize how many  children and families do not have a shelter. After this primarily project  I would continue on with this idea and have the students collaborate and think of materials that could be found naturally or outside that could be used to create a shelter.  After brainstorming and researching materials I would then have the students create their own shelter using materials that they can find and are natural. At the end of the project I have students compare and contrast their two shelters that they had created. When looking at an artist that creates shelters one person specifically came to mind. He is an artist that I have started to follow and look at his work. Gregory Kloehn is an artist that goes through what most people consider to be garbage to create homes for homeless people. Below is a link to some of the houses that he has made and also a link to his artist website. http://www.viralnova.com/used-garbage-homeless-shelters/ http://www.gregorykloehn.com/

When planning  projects in the classroom that students can relate to and be interested in completing I think that service learning projects is a great direction to head into. Service learning projects are a way that students can create meaningful connections in their community which will increase their knowledge and learning experiences. When I was in school we never did any art projects that related to service learning and I wish that we had. I feel that I would have been very interested in creating a project that could potentially have an impact. A level of Maslow's Hierarchy that could be met during a service learning project in art would be safety needs. Safety needs can be safety from the weather, protection, stability, laws, and feeling safe from our fears. When students feel safe then self-actualization needs can be met. Students will know their self potential, being satisfied with themselves, pushing themselves to do better, and grow as an individual. All these ideas can come from a service learning project being completed in the classroom.

When adding a service learning project to my classroom I want the students to be inspired and understand what a service learning project is and what it can do. The Empty Bowls project is a great project to be implemented into a classroom because most schools do a can food drive for their local food bank and adding homemade ceramic bowls could make the two projects combine. Using the K-12 service learning standards this would make a great project to get students to be involved. By making bowls and combining with other organizations at the school and the local food bank their is meaningful services being completed. Linking this to the curriculum in skills, collaboration, reflection, and transferring knowledge is what we strive all students to do. Students will be able to learn about the diversity in their community and how important the food bank is and why the Empty Bowls project is so widespread. This is allowing students to have a voice in their projects and learn how to partner with an organization or group. By completing this project students will be able to monitor themselves and also monitor their progress as a whole by collaborating with another student organization who is putting on the food drive. This project will also allow students to work together for an extended amount of time and research what the community needs. Students who complete meaningful service learning projects will learn a lot about a certain issue, learn how to research, make an impact, and reflect on their projects. Service learning projects in the classroom is a great way for students to gain interest and create meaningful work.

Social Imagination

Social imagination is a powerful thing! We see teachers and groups of people always tackling the issues of social justice and the events that are going on around the world. In chapter 17 we learned about multiple projects that were designed to encourage children's social imagination. In Maxine Greene's video she stated "Learning is very interesting," and she is still interested in learning. Then she proceeds to say that she wishes children would think learning is interesting and the way to do that is to, "communicate to the children the excitement of education and seeing new things, possibilities." She then goes on to talk about her worry that children do not see the importance of learning in school. In the art room we need to establish the idea that everyone is free to speak their mind and opinions without the fear of being judged. This idea relates me to my classroom management statement that I have on my website. http://lindseyjerdee.wix.com/arteducation#!my-philosophy/u1rv5 We need to talk about how to create a safe environment and what that entails. There are many ideas that go into creating a safe environment like how to be a good listener, respectful comments, body language, and discussing topics when there are differing opinions.

We all have our own ideas and values and that can hold true when talking about social responsibility, but as a teacher we need to keep from pushing our values onto our students. In our classrooms there will be differences among our students. We will need to talk about all sides of the topic, give opposing ideas, sort of play the devils advocate and have our students to continue to think and evaluate the situation. By allowing students to problem solve and research the topics it makes the student come to a conclusion and their own ideas without pushing our own values. Being aware of what I say and how I say something is also very important so I do not sound subjective towards a certain topic.


I feel that when talking about social imagination that like all topics some students will understand it right off the bat and others will need further discussion. For myself I feel the best way to teach social imagination would to first start a discussion and then break into small groups about what it is and the definition. Then I would go farther and show examples of how to use social imagination and the two social justice projects that we read about in chapter 17. Having the students make connections between the projects and understanding how "Fallen Heroes" and "Hopes, Wishes, Regrets" made impacts in similar and different ways. I think that when the students are making personal connections that they are more likely to act on their ideas and make a difference. Showing students examples and ideas can spark their motivation into start a project that they are invested in. Pushing students to be creative problem solvers and to create personal connections to the topics will allow students to understand the importance of social justice and social imagination.

Reading a Graphic Novel

I have mentioned before that I previously had never read a graphic novel, but that has now changed. I have now finished Maus 1 and 2 written by Art Spiegelman. This was a new experience for me and I am still debating how I feel. I liked the idea of being able to follow along the story with pictures, but I feel at the same time I wish  I had more details and descriptions. My heart ached for more information and more story. With that said overall I did really enjoy reading my first graphic novel.

When reading my graphic novels I came across multiple parts that I considered my favorite. After comparing all my favorite parts I realized that they all shared a common theme. I was interested in the parts where even though the Jews were suppose to be the "bad" guys people that were suppose to be fighting against them sometimes would still help. In Maus 2 on page 32 and 33 this scene is about being in a concentration camp and still being able to trade to help one another out. This trading scenario happened throughout both books and that is one of the  reasons that he was able to survive the way he did.

This book relates the idea of conflict because it is about World War 2 and being of a different race. This book addresses the Holocaust in a different format as most by making the characters into animals. By formatting the book so the characters are animals children are learning about the Holocaust and the war in a different way. In the beginning of Maus 1 on page 19 there is a scene where Vladek is meeting his girlfriend's parents and he is snooping around and finds that she has pills hidden in her closet. He then goes to the extremes of having a friend look up what the pills are for. I believe this is still a situation that teenagers will run into. I do not think that the best advice is to snoop around, but this is still a common issue that is true and prevalent today. A bigger issue of these stories is the idea of growing up with a family member who was involved in a traumatic situation and that traumatic situation still having an impact on life. When I was reading this story it made me think of people who struggled with PTSD and people who had memories that were still very real. In Maus 2 there is a scene where Art and Vladek are speaking and Vladek will not through something away because he does not like to waste anything. He states it is because of Hitler and how he used to have nothing and he will not waste things. At the end of the Maus 2 on pages 44-46 Art is seeing a therapist and they are talking about how maybe Art and Vladek had the relationship they did because of the war and how it affected Vladek long term. Again, I feel that this can relate to a teenager because sometimes we only see one side, our side. This story can help a growing teenager with struggles because it shows a lot about communication and talking with a parent.

Before this course I have never heard of the story Maus and I would probably not have come across it for a long time. But I am glad I did have the chance to read this graphic novel and see how this book can identify with struggles teenagers go through. Now days teenagers most likely can not relate directly to the Holocaust, but they can connect to communicating with parents, loosing loved ones, working with family members that may struggle with the past, and/or relationships.