We have been missing our student teacher Ms. Hawes since she left to finish her student teaching in Costa Rica. This past week we got to talk with her using Google Hangout during my 7th grade 4th period class and she also got to do the same with Ms.LaGuardia's Spanish class. It was amazing for my students to see her in the place we had sent art and letters to. She will soon be bringing home letters and art from her students to us in North Carolina.
Our world is really and truly small and I love that everything relates to the greater whole. I love teaching my students about culture and about the world... and I love teaching them about just everyday stuff. The great thing is... Culture, people, lives.... It's all everyday stuff. Two friends of mine got married this last weekend and asked me to make their wedding cake topper. Danielle is white and Raja's family background is Indian. They wanted a wedding that fused the two cultures together and so Raja wore a traditional Indian outfit and rode in on a horse to the ceremony. I included my students by having them critique my work and help me make decisions for the topper. It was so much fun today to have them ask me about how the wedding was, if my friends were happy with my art, if I wore the sari I said I was going to, and to comment on my henna. These sorts of small interactions open their eyes to a bigger world and allows their comfort zone to broaden. Just by being exposed to things different gives them new soil to grow, another root, and more curiosity and thirst to know more. I'll share a few pictures here that I shared with my students so you can see the beauty of the day and love Danielle and Raja share:
Our world is really and truly small and I love that everything relates to the greater whole. I love teaching my students about culture and about the world... and I love teaching them about just everyday stuff. The great thing is... Culture, people, lives.... It's all everyday stuff. Two friends of mine got married this last weekend and asked me to make their wedding cake topper. Danielle is white and Raja's family background is Indian. They wanted a wedding that fused the two cultures together and so Raja wore a traditional Indian outfit and rode in on a horse to the ceremony. I included my students by having them critique my work and help me make decisions for the topper. It was so much fun today to have them ask me about how the wedding was, if my friends were happy with my art, if I wore the sari I said I was going to, and to comment on my henna. These sorts of small interactions open their eyes to a bigger world and allows their comfort zone to broaden. Just by being exposed to things different gives them new soil to grow, another root, and more curiosity and thirst to know more. I'll share a few pictures here that I shared with my students so you can see the beauty of the day and love Danielle and Raja share:
Danielle and Raja's American/Indian Wedding
LEAF Performers from Tanzania and Haiti Visit NBMS
And then today we had the opportunity to host LEAF International guests LEAF Tanzania and LEAF Haiti for traditional dancing and drumming. My favorite part of the whole performance was at the end when the students got to ask questions. One of our students asked what their favorite food was and two of the teenage performers said chicken and rice. The students thought it was funny because to many of us in NC that is what we eat, too! When another student asked what their favorite animal was the two boys who both said chicken and rice got a little comedic knowing they would get a response and in unison said "chicken"! The student body laughed and cheered and clapped and the LEAF International students laughed, too. That in itself was the most real lesson of the day. We can share a sense of humor with a person who grew up on the other side of the world... and perhaps share taste buds, too!
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