So what we did with the clay today pretty
much fits into Identity. And that’s to see
what is special about being you. And it gives
them that sense of belonging, and that’s
really important.
When you feel like you belong, you feel comfortable,
and that’s when your relationships will
start and that’s when the real learning
takes place.
So we had a clay experience today. And the
idea of that was for them to look at — we
had mirrors — to look at the mirrors and
to see and I suppose to draw or to communicate
what they were looking at, what was staring
back at them.
So we had a boy who did an amazing job at
the clay. We started off by looking at the
mirror and just identifying himself and highlighting
his features. You know, he’s got short hair,
he’s got a pointy nose … I know he said
somewhere in there that he’s got sharp teeth.
So just identifying what he saw about himself,
why he was special. And then I guess transferring
that into a drawing, a 2D drawing.
So for this boy specifically, he was … I
guess there was a lot of identity, but also
a lot of literacy there, communicating through
a different medium. And we believe in that
so much, giving children opportunities to
express themselves through a different medium,
and he did.
So he used his hands and what he saw, what
he made, and that was what he was telling
me. He was looking at sharp teeth, he was
looking at ears with holes in there, and he
was looking at spiky hair because he just
had a haircut.
Excerpt from class session
I like what you’re doing there Elijah. If
you need extra clay, just let me know.
Those are my eyelashes.
Oh, you’re doing your eyelashes. I can see
that, yeah. Just … and your hair too. Is
that your … part of the eyelash?
Yeah. I already did my sharp teeth here.
Elijah is planting his eyes inside — that’s
a good technique, making little holes first.
That’s it.
I guess I wanted them to see what were the
similarities between each other, but also
seeing what was different about each other.
And from there, celebrating what was special
about them.
