Observation Hours

Children Observation Hours start with the word 'Observing': 10 hours

Observing at :

Zoo

Monkey Joe's

Million Dollar Playground

Teens at a Starbucks

Skateboard Park

Playground

Kids-N-Action

Birthday party

Teens in the Snow

Afterschool Class

Museum/Gallery/Event Hours titles have a *: 12 hours

Staten Island Children's Museum

NYC Transit Museum

MOMA: Tim Burton

MOMA: Marina Abromovic

Precious

Inglourious Basterds

Ramp It Up

The Invisible Dog Gallery

Brooklyn Children's Museum

Noguchi Museum

Socrates Sculpture Park

Shadowed Dreamer

Class Presentations 5/18

This weeks presentations consist of a group exploring internet relationships, the art of horror movies, and various forms of punk music.

I had difficulty with the first group for the same reason I did last week, they seemed to be two separate presentations rather than one cohesive topic. They were both extremely interesting in their own right but formed no whole viewpoint. I loved seeing how the internet gaming world is totally different for young girls. We constantly hear how violent video games adversely affect boys, it was interesting to hear that young girls are not immune to the negative effects of the Internet either. It seems that the world wide web is an equal opportunity exploiter! I also noticed how I have tended to do a majority of my shopping online for the exact reason they are training young girls to, the ease, the convenience, the feeling that money is not a real thing.

I was a bit worried that the horror movie presentation would be a bit more for me to stomach, not that I'm squeamish but I generally don't chose these types of movies for myself, preferring the pyschological thrillers. I was glad that he had edited them so as not to be too graphic. My one issue was that even though he seemed to have a focused group of films chosen there was not a very specific list of what he considered to be artistic. I was unclear as to what the criteria were to make his list and how each individual film attained that quality. I was curious to hear how they achieved the artistic visions he appreciated so much. This made it difficult for me to see his point of view.

The final presentation was on two branches of punk and presented by two people. I think they did a great job out of all the people doing group presentations where they had their own topics that came together to form one group. They each chose a branch of punk that related to the other and in their video we could clearly see their connection. The interviews were specific and planned with engaging questions and clear video. The presenters made their points with valid excursions as well. I also felt the video was really well done and they had clearly worked together to create it. I thought this was one of the most successful group/separate presentations.

Idealism and Teaching from Jiesamfoek's Class

A certain amount of idealism is crucial to educating children as no one can predict the influences they will encounter in life that will contribute to or sabotage future success. But whether these outside influences are positive or not it’s important to try to instill in each child the confidence in themselves to want to succeed and this can best be attained through the upholding of a moderate level of idealism in teaching.

Teaching a subject is only part of our job as educators. It is key that we use our time in the classroom with children to positively enforce discipline (Ozman), teach an appreciation of others, allow for the growth appropriate for each child’s development, and encourage a love of learning. Perhaps, as the metaphor Plato demonstrates in The Republic of a blinded man seeing for the first time, educators have the power to expose their students to new, unseen worlds. The students already have the potential within them but require assistance in releasing it. We shouldn’t judge that a certain children have no ability or need to learn certain subjects (Ozman). All children must be offered an equal chance to reach their potential. Surely many students will go on to prove correct a teacher who offers all equal chances to succeed, perhaps some even surpassing the educator themselves.

In conclusion one can see how allowing for a little idealism in your assessment of children can be encouraging to educators and students. Educators can assess students on their potential as well as their abilities. What a joy to be the teacher who might change a child’s life! This situation may never come along but without allowing for idealism you’re closing the door on the possibilities. For students, being assessed outside the confines of their class, race, and income allows for change to happen. When change is allowed growth can happen, and with growth brings new knowledge, experience and joy in the process of learning.

Reflections on my Sculpture Project 2

What is a life made of? The interactions between people or the transactions between them? Over the past weeks since beginning to collect purchase receipts I have been shocked by the number I have accumulated, both from everyday necessities and specialized purchases, like new socks. These items are just that, temporary transactions revolving around the acquiring of things, not creating relationships, memories, or even a life. Its seems as if a huge part of this accumulation makes up a life but adds nothing to it.

Even the process of building the globe represented to me how the thrill of a special purchase is soon overshadowed by another and another until the original excitement of that purchase is long forgotten.

The globe itself is comprised of approximately 300 receipts for everything from Metrocards, groceries, superhero underpants, videogames, pet food, dinners out at restaurants, birthday gifts, and clothing.

Class Presentations 5/11

Locavores, suffering artists, and aerial performing artists...its was an interesting night of divergent discourses our first class of presentations (for the purpose of this essay I won't include my own). The first thing I noticed was that groups that were covering one issue without splitting off were more effective in defending their point of view than groups that covered one subject matter. The second thing I noticed is that there is a lot of great stuff going on in Brooklyn!

I had heard of the locavore movement and been interested in it from going to green markets with my kids but never knew exactly what it was. Now I am energized enough to want to go to some of the restaurants mentioned and experience this first hand. I did however, have a few unanswered (due to time constraints) questions. For instance, don't you ever want a mango? I would like to have heard the view points of some die-hard locavores if they don't tire of the same locational fruits and vegetables. Surely these North-easterners tire of apples and potatoes at times? But I truly appreciated the POV and information presented and feel its really important to understand why these food movements are important to our overall health.

I found the 'Suffering Artists' presentation to lack a bit in the explanation of what exactly qualifies as 'suffering'. I would have liked to known what were their criteria for these artists to be considered as such. Surely most of us have had to do without when we were starting out in life. Particularly living in a major urban environment I had to question whether working at a job you don't love, while living in a apartment thats too small, saving your money to do what you love, was really anything out of the ordinary in this day and age. But I found the points of view of the individuals profiled to be fascinating as to their priorities at this stage of their careers and I felt they were all artists with a voice.

The aerial performers in the final presentation were a fascinating mix of athleticism and dance. I love it when performers allow us to see the strength it takes to perform. Much like dancers who make everything look so simple these performers are amazingly strong and agile. However it was difficult to imagine how difficult doing the 'silks' is because we had no comparison. I would have loved to have seen the presenters trying to do the 'silks' during their inaugural lesson trying it out. Maybe then I would have been able to appreciate it better. Overall I really enjoyed the outsider aspect of the activity and have investigated taking my kids to a show there sometime in the future.

Reading Reflection on Undoing Whiteness in the Classroom

Undoing Whiteness in the Classroom does a highly effective job of highlighting not only the challenges of teaching an almost exclusively white student body but also methods for assisting students in offsetting their whiteness from their centered viewpoints. Some of these students seem to live in a very culturally isolated world, which I think is not uncommon for middle America. But trying to open their minds to other viewpoints, belief systems, or media perceptions seems to be the real challenge.

One of Kroll’s techniques is to show varying viewpoints through different medias. She shows a documentary film interviewing men of different races, helps students break down the lyrics of rap music, has them read a non-fiction account of an African American sent to prison, and even presents fine art from a historical time in South African history. Her strong suit is not keeping viewpoints to one media source or even outdated media sources. By utilizing media that make the students feel a level of familiarity, like music, she is able to show students the reality of these viewpoints. Often students think racism is absent if they only see it through the lens of outdated media sources, for example, newspapers. She keeps her sources contemporary so students see these people are living with these issues right now in our society, not in some far away time and place.

By giving the reader specific techniques to use in the classroom she allows us to take the first step to presenting multiculturalism in our modern world. Just showing videos and reading books with students can’t be our only plan of attack. We need to know the words to say when we encounter these issues, we need to know how to say those words so students really hear what we’re trying to get across to them. Only by taking this multi-pronged method can we begin to open their minds to new ideas that aren’t centered in their perceptions.

Temple Grandin, autistic

Temple Grandin is not just a heroine for autistic children and their families but for all people who see the world a little bit differently. In an HBO movie chronicling her life we can see what a huge impact shes had on animals and people. Temple was born to a wealthy New England family in the 50's. Early on there was no diagnosis for her unusual behavior as she was clearly intelligent and had all her senses intact. It was with great distress her well-to-do mother didn't know what to do with her. Especially in an era where the discourse on the role of women was so attached to the 'feminine' arts and the ability to catch yourself a good husband, to have a child like Temple must have been extremely upsetting to a family who's social standing was greatly affected by the accomplishments of their children.

After several unsuccessful attempts at college she spent the summer at her aunt's ranch and discovered her calling. Temple had, due to her autism, a clear connection to the perceptions of animals. Back at college against her wishes, she devised a 'hugging' machine which would drop two wooden panels into her sides to 'hug' her whilst she was on all fours in a wooden stall type contraption. To those around her it was disturbing to view and the administrators had it destroyed. She had finally created something to help her deal with the internal stresses of her condition and in their ignorance they destroyed it. Not all this can be blamed on the misinformation of people. I believe a great deal of the ignorance can be attributed to the era in which she grew up. The medical community was not as enlightened as to mental conditions and certainly the only affiliation autism had was broad at best. Women were looked at differently and a woman without marriage prospects with an mental condition was an anomaly.

A special needs college was found for Temple and she went on to get her degree in animal husbandry/agriculture. Her first school visit to a slaughter house was disturbing to her, not because the animals were being killed, but because the methods they used to slaughter the animals was so against the natural inclinations of the animals it made the situation utterly unbearable to her. Though to us most slaughtering of any kind is distasteful, Temple saw how this could be done with less fear, less stress, and therefor, less pain to the animals.

Though PETA may disagree, Temple Grandin used her abilities to see the world differently to change the way animals are treated forever. Ranchers doubted her unusual ideas for slaughterhouse architecture, considering it superfluous and expensive. Many reporters kept asking her if she didn't want a romantic relationship for herself. Its a hurtful and ignorant question for someone like Temple who has no emotional desire for that kind of connection to another person. Her mind doesn't work like the rest of us, she has no physical need for human contact the way we do. Her legacy will be bringing less cruelty to the world. She has an amazing mind and to respect the differences of others is to appreciate the gifts each one of us has to give the world.

http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html

Reality Shows with Lots of Kids

Have you ever noticed that a majority of reality shows hinge on the pure novelty of big families? The idea that watching grown adults surrounded by an overflowing daycare of offspring is like a car crash, anticipating the chaos makes us unable to turn away. Of course, by now everyone knows about 'Jon and Kate Plus 8', the show that brought the philandering dad, Jon, and angry mom, Kate to the forefront of the media stage. Originally they were just a sweet family with twin girls till they decided to go for just one more...we all know what happens next. Sadly with the popularity of their show came the dissolution of their marriage. Is it the fame that pushes these large families off the deep end or were they already there and just holding on tight? Could the chaos we enjoy giggling at be the very thing that in the light of publicity is unbearable?

I'd like to hope that if anyone can make it work its the Duggars. The Duggars are a Christian family from deep in Arkansas who live by the 'quiver full' movement of always having a bun in the oven. However, despite their conservative beliefs (visiting the museum of creationism, oh I bet you didn't know there was one!) dated hair-do's (those 80's perms) and the sexist roles they place their children in (19 year old Jana isn't obviously going to college, 21 yr old Josh is already married with a baby) they might actually survive the flurry of publicity surrounding the premature birth of their 19th (!!!) child simply because they do live in such a fringe subculture. Due to their religious discourse they do not watch TV and only read religious works, a night on the town consists of a bowling party for one of their son's birthdays. Its simply because of this separation from the mainstream media that I believe the Duggars may actually have a chance to do what they had said they originally went into this for; to spread their message about God. Part of the attraction to the Duggars is that they're not pushy with that message either, never condemning other children when they visit a public school, and never a sad face because they're still getting a used bunk bed from a thrift store even though Mom and Dad were on the cover of People magazine. I think that their restrictive religious discourse actually protects them from all the ugliness that publicity tends to bring upon average folks.

The newest family I've enjoyed adding to my 'big family' viewing habits is the Novogratzes of '9 by Design'. The Novogratzes are a Manhattan hipster couple who renovate and design tri-state homes, buying high priced properties themselves and gut renovating them along the way. Oh, and did I mention they have 6 kids which includes 2 sets of twins, but doesn't include the baby born in the middle of episode 3! Their family seems to have been raised on the belief if it looks cool then it is cool. The children are all acceptably mischivious and adorably coiffed, they eat in the coolest restaurants together, have playdates in their gorgeous west side highway house, and play basketball in their basement court. The uber-stylish mom rides a Vespa scooter 9 months pregnant behind her husband who always seems to wear some sort of dashing chapeau and only sneaks a smoke when the camera is on his back. Contrary to the Duggars, this family seems destined for fame, in fact, their life seems like a dress rehearsal for it. As of this writing the entire family (including the new baby) got a modeling contract. They will probably survive the media crush associated with being reality stars simply because they seem to already be stars of their own lives. The publicity is probably nothing out of the ordinary for this family who have folk singer Suzanne Vega sing at their baby's christening and renovate a 'private' client's Hamptons house in episode 4. Their attitude seems to be that this is nothing they didn't already expect, so bring it on! Their family discourse is in line with the discourse of the producers of their show, and the publicity machine so they will probably come out the other side of this happily fully intact.

New York City Transit Museum *

Nestled in an abandoned subway station near downtown Brooklyn is the NYC Transit Museum, a favorite among local train-loving children and adults. At a surprising $6- per person entry the subway museum, as it is lovingly referred to, allows visitors to go into some of the oldest trains from the system while taking a brief walk through the history of the construction of the system and exploring the joys of pretending to drive city buses.

The wonderful thing about the Transit Museum is that is a chance for visitors to our city to see that we are made of more than huge buildings and concrete pavement. Our city is made up of our people and they can see that they helped to create our public transit system. This helps visitors appreciate how this helped to make our city what it is today. Because of the public transit system there is virtually very few corners of the city that you cannot get to from almost any starting point. (Sure, it may take 2 hours due to budget constraints, but that's another topic for discussion!) The train tunnels were not carved with giant space age high tech equipment, but by men, with wheelbarrows and lanterns on their helmets. The reality of this is pretty stark to most visitors. The human element is really brought to life in a way we can all appreciate.

The area covering bus travel is far less exciting than entering a train from the golden age of subway travel with its wicker seats and overhead fans. But little ones will sit for hours in driver's seat of the abbreviated city buses, pretending to steer and brake. The small section explaining energy sources for these vehicles is a bit dated and a little shaky but children won't focus on this.

The museum offers many opportunities for artistic interaction in their classroom and this is a rainy day outing that can't be beat in a city where a coffee can cost you almost $6-. Kids will spend the whole afternoon happily jumping from one train car to the next, pretending to drive buses, and appreciating the truly 'human' factor that makes our public transportation system run.

Staten Island Children's Museum *

The Staten Island Children's Museum is on a beautiful historic site in Staten Island called Snug Harbor. I has a beautiful grassy field surrounding the historic building with a giant green grasshopper sculpture and nestled behind the museum is a nautical themed playground .

As compared to the Brooklyn Children's Museum, which focused on the diversity of cultural neighborhoods, Staten Island Children's Museum has more of a world view. After the giant game pieces and interactive firetruck there are accouterments to venture into the Antarctic, dive into the ocean depths, and explore the jungle. There is more of a focus on exploring the unknown than understanding the familiar world around us. The excitement of being an explorer in a foreign world is quite different than learning how they make bread in a Mexican panderia. One is not necessarily better than the other, merely different.

On the third floor there is a construction zone where children can handle tools and see a building at different stages of completion and a bug section. The bug section seems to be real crowd pleaser among the younger set. Perhaps its because there is a similarity to a zoo in the exhibits with scary tarantulas on view behind glass and guinea pigs in their 'natural' environment. There is a similar exhibit at Brooklyn Children's Museum and I can only garner its because of the ease and economy of caring for arachnids is much easier than monkeys or other wild animals. Nevertheless it seems to be a real high point for kids to get nose to nose with roaches, spiders, and butterflies.

In general, I prefer this museum over the one in Brooklyn for its wide open spaces and relatively unsophisticated point of view. The Brooklyn Museum seems to shout, 'look at me! I'm politically correct! I respect all local cultures!' There is nothing wrong with that but the simplistic viewpoint in Staten Island is far more enjoyable.

Reading Reflection on Home Births

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/nyregion/06midwives.html?src=tptw

To give birth to your child in your home may see to many as archaic, dangerous, and somewhat crazy in this age of medical science. But to many women control over their own bodies is paramount in their decision to give birth at home.Whether on a personal level you agree or not, to control ones own body is a right that is given to each person.

Rates for surgical births are typically higher in New York City than the World Health Organization recommends. For such a educated, sophisticated city its fairly shocking that doctors here are more likely to cut open a woman than many other states in the nation. In the documentary, The Business of Being Born, they tell us how hospitals get paid more for C-sections and that planned medical procedures are preferred over the erratic schedule of natural childbirth. It also turns on its head the myth that women who give birth at home are uneducated hippies. Most women who give birth at home are healthy, low risk pregnancies on their second child. In other words, most women who give birth at home know what they are getting into and chose that for themselves and their child based on prior experience.

Myself, having had a natural out of hospital birth and a hospital birth can only say the true business of being born is gambling. You can give birth at home based on the odds or you can give birth at a hospital hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Personally, I feel to give birth at home because a mother-to-be is hoping for some sort of birth experience is selfish, considering the child should really be the focus of the birth. But I fully support her right to take that chance, should she chose to. Bringing life into this world is always a gamble and giving birth at home is every woman's right. The only ones who will benefit if this legislation goes through which outlaws home births is the hospitals, which will reap the financial benefits of over billing insurance companies, over medicating women, and overworking obstetric surgeons.

Reading Reflection on Testing

http://www.amazon.com/One-Step-Ahead-Closet-Organizer/dp/B002YQSBWC

In the NY Times, they're discussing possibly disregarding the E.R.B. test for entry into private Pre-K and Kindergartens. The world of children's testing, particularly for younger ones, is a world of politics and secrecy. As noted in my reflection of The Myth of the Gifted Child, studies have shown that testing at such a young age does little to reflect the true nature of intelligence in a child and most likely is highly insignificant. Still private schools continue to use it as a litmus. Most private schools are part of an association of Independent Educators who pay the E.R.B. to devise the test, so one can already see the tail wags the dog.

The argument is not as much the test itself but the alleged prepping for test which parents are not supposed to do. Three prominent private schools in Manhattan have already dropped the test as a admittance requirement. But at the same time the E.R.B. has published online a guide for prepping for the test and there are overpriced workbooks and prep handbooks for sale as well. Many people equate preparing for this test to trying to give their child a hand up in this already highly competitive urban society. I would say this is another example of how those with the funds to prep their child have already won the battle. Even if you are not wealthy, it is $510- to have the test administered to your child at all! How many wonderful children will not make it into programs simply because their parents didn't posses the wherewithal to prep their child.

We have good friends upstate near our summer cabin who have a 7 yr old daughter in a public school G & T school. Their culture is highly competitive (they're Russian) and parents in their culture tend to be very assertive when it comes to their children. They've already begun prepping their 5 yr old son for the G & T test as siblings only have to test in the 97% in order to be accepted. They were prepping him on holding his pencil and working in his workbook, at the beach all summer long. When I suggested they allow him to work with crayons a little more and practice by coloring they told me he didn't like to color and since it wouldn't help his scores they don't bother..

Schools have interview, play interviews and many other options other than testing to gauge a child's proclivity for learning. It's sad that we feel the need to put children on a treadmill so early in life. Studies have shown that young children all tend to equalize their abilities by the third grade no matter what previous learning has occurred. We have our whole lives to push, concentrate, be under pressure, buckle down, put our nose to the grindstone. Why can't we let the one time in our lives that its ok to be useless, silly, loud, noisy, messy, just be that way? Why can't it be enough in our society to just be child?

Reflection on Class Discussion (May 4, 2010)

We've been examining artists and their work from many different points of view and cultural discourses. However, when a student remarked that being a middle class caucasian gave him no cultural community, whereas African Americans had, I had to stop and reflect on whether this was true. Whenever a person is in the smaller, non-dominant group that creates a sense of group, we can see how people naturally band together. It is the similarities which bring more people together than their differences, particularly if the groups has suffered at the hands of a dominant culture.

The only way I can perceive of caucasian Americans grouping together to form a cultural community is through class. The dominant cultural force will always be income in the average American household. The house that feverently purchases organic foods does not generally follow the same cultural beliefs as the family that needs food stamps. The family that views college education as mandatory does not purchase the same products, watch the same shows, vacation the same places, or have the same peers as the family who cannot afford 'Mommy and Me' classes for their toddlers. Of course, all families would like their children to go on to college but this is not the reality in America today. College can draw a child into another social level, and if that child continues to strive they can retain their position in that culture. Unlike other repressed minority groups who are held back through no fault of their own and may never even get the opportunity for higher education, the white lower class has the ability to bring themselves into the socially dominant group. Minorities have to battle the stereotypes of their people on an everyday basis, they have no choice in the preconceived notions others have about them. Everyday they must fight to present themselves accurately, as individuals with the same hopes and dreams as the dominant culture.