Practicum Reflection & Planning

02/04/2010- 1st Apache Visit

When I first arrived at Apache, I had no idea where to go, so a young girl was kind and asked me if I needed help, so I told her I was looking for Mrs. Bradshaw's Class. "Oh I know where that's at! Are you a UNM student or something?" she asked. Come to find out, this little helper was Morgana from Mrs. Bradshaw's class, she was helpful to make sure I ended up in the right classroom. It was great being able to sit back and observe the students as they listened/watched Frances' Chautauqua performance. The students loved it! Frances is quite the actress :) After seeing her performance, it makes me nervous to get up in front of everyone and do a presentation. I haven't worked with a 4th grade classroom because I'm usually with the younger students, so I'm anxious to start this semester with a new routine. All of the students seemed to enjoy their classroom setting and respect one another, so that's really nice.

02/11/2010- Meeting Our Students

I was excited to hear that one of my partners was Morgana (the same girl who helped me out on the first day), this will give me the opportunity to return the favor and help her out this semester. Skye is another one of my partners, he is so polite. At first, Skye was very shy and little miss Morgana was a chatter box (which is great because I can see her doing exceptionally well with her Chautauqua Character). Both students were avid listeners when I told them about my family while showing them pictures. They both were amazed to find out that we shared a similarity, we all have a Navajo ethnic background. They were also amazed to hear my mom and sisters name (Teresa, Cherisa, and Maurisa). They kept saying it, guess it is a fun tongue twister. Then I was able to hear their stories and find out more about them. Morgana was talking about how she might want to be her sister. And Sky wasnt too sure about his character yet. Listening to these students talk about their families, it was like it was another whole world. One student has a sister who is 16 and has a baby another student has a brother who got caught smoking Marijuana. The way they were talking, it was like it was a "norm" for them. it kind of caught me offguard for a second, but then I began to remember that we are in the year 2010 and there isnt a whole lot of stuff that isnt considered part of the "norm" anymore. Both of my students are great! Im looking forward to working with them the rest of this semester so we can build up our knowledge about one another.

02/18/2010- Brainstorming Chautauqua Characters

Morgana and Skye are both very artistic! We brainstormed our Chautauqua Characters with illustrations and their drawings were so detailed. At first, Morgana kept saying "I dont know who I want to be" and she kept chatting. But after a while, she got on the ball and drew four different characters with lots of color and detail. Skye had no problem at all picking four family members and drawing/coloring their pictures. I was able to tell that Skye looks up to his brothers and uncle, he has a lot of respect for them. And Morgana really looks up to her older sister and is very fond of her. I dont think I will have a problem with getting Morgana to "act" but Skye is on the shy side and if he could let it all out, I believe his performance could be so interesting and thoughtful. I really enjoyed my time with them today just drawing and chatting to get to know each other more.

2/25/2010- Making Webs on Chautauqua Characters

I read to them the Goat and the Rug book and they both had already read it before, but they were good sports and listened and gave input. We then started to collaborate our webs and discuss our characters more. Skye is quite the hard worker! He is definitely a great multi-tasker because he was able to talk AND work at the same time. Morgana had a little bit of a harder time because she really likes to talk so her pencil was hardly moving, but we got her web done before we left so that was good! Morgana has her mind set on becoming her oldest sister for her character because she really looks up to her and loves her a lot. She likes the fact that her sister spoils her (takes her shopping, fixes her hair, buys her food...) She is inspired by her sister which is very admirable. Skye is leaning towards his older brother who plays basketball for Kirtland High School. But then again, he has his grandfather listed too. I dont want to tell him who he should pick, but his grandfathers story would be AMAZING! His grandfather served in the WWII when he was 15-16 years old and Skye has the pleasure of hearing those stories to this day because his grandfather is still alive and tells Skye stories all the times. Im thinking about either being my sister who is a senior at PVHS and she is a phenomenal softball player. Or there is my mom back in the day when she only had two kids and she was only 21 years old and my dad was in the Navy. Or there is my dad in the 80s at a rock concert. He went to Bon Jovis concert to see Ratt, not Bon Jovi. He didnt even go to the floor when Bon Jovi performed. But he was in the front row for Ratt. My dad and his brother are on the Bon Jovi Music video of "Shot Through the Heart" and its funny because whoever recorded him made it look like they were jamming to Bon Jovi, but in reality, they were jamming to Ratt. Or Im also thinking about being my 1st car which was also my brother Joshs first car as well as my sisters Maurisas too. That poor car has been through three 1st drivers, (fixing to move on to its 4th 1st driver) it has been offroading, and has been in 3 wrecks by ME!

I believe my group is warming up to me so that great!! They are starting to feel more comfortable which will make our time together move more smoothly and freely :)

3/4/2010- Choosing Chautauqua Characters and Starting Story

Today Morgana was gone, so it was just Skye and I brainstorming his character. He decided to go with his Grandpa Tom who served in the war when he was 15/16 yrs old. I'm so thrilled he picked his grandpa because he had so many amazing stories! I tried to get him to jot down and write his stories his grandpa told him, but he would FREEZE and say "I don't what to write". So I took the paper and pen and told him "alright, tell me the stories your grandpa has shared with you and I'll write it down for you." So he told me all the different stories his grandpa tells hims and I made a list. When he was done, we looked at the list and thought of possible ways to make it unique when telling the story. We discussed the different ways the story could be told from: "Tom" at the army base writing a letter to a friend/family, "Tom" in action when jumping out of the helicopter, to "Tom" in the present day sleeping and having a nightmare/flashback of the awful events during the war.

Skye liked the idea of telling the story from a nightmare perspective because we can write the story and include most or all the stories his grandpa has shared with him. We aslo came up with possible costume ideas for the presentation. I think Skye is getting a little more relaxed and perhaps interested because we are getting to the "juicy" part of the project. I'm really excited that i was able to work one on one with him because we got a lot done and got him started. So my plan is to let him add more to the story while I "jump-start" Morgana's character. I did take home Ske's story and typed it and left enough space so we could make revisions and add more.

I am still debating which character I want to do for my Chautauqua, but I have been working on the beat up ol honda. So far, I have a start of a poem from the cars perspective of things. But then again, I think my dad in the 80s would be fun too (mullet and all). Maybe I will write a story out for both characters and decide which one is the best :)

3/12/2010- The Start of Our Stories

Skye was on a roll and was able to continue writing his story while I helped Morgana get started. Morgana says she wants to be her sister, but she doesnt have a story about her sister. I gave her some ideas of what she could do, offered to write for her, but she just wasnt cooperating. She just kept saying "I dont know" and she was distracted by what was going on around her. It was cute when she would completely get stuck, Skye would offer input for her. It was a little frustrating to work with her today because she didnt feel like working. So far we got a few sentences, but it is ME who came up with it to give her a start so she could get a "spark" and keep going, but that didnt work either. I really hope she steps up to the plate next week because we have a lot of catching up to do. Sky is almost dont with his story and it is great! He is excited to take pictures of his grandpa. Next week I plan on helping Skye revise his and helping MOrgana get a story.

3/18/2010- Adding more to our stories

Today was a great day! Both Morgana and Skye were ready to work and get their stories closer to being finished.

4/15/10- Back to Business after Testing

I only had Skye today so it was great to work one on one with him. His story was finished so we proof read it and worked on making it flow smoothly. I really like his story and I'm pretty sure he is proud too. His grandpa should be proud as well and i hope he is willing to make it when Skye performs. Today was very easy because I only had to focus on one student. I'm taking his paper and typing it up for him for next week so we can begin our "storytelling" rather than just reading a story.

4/22/10- Time is running out!

Both Skye and Morgana read through their stories today and used a thesaurus to change out some words. Then we practiced reading our stories and worked on memorization for a little bit. I believe both of their stories are wonderful and it is the masterpiece! Next week our main focus is going to be telling our stories as our characters with emotion and attitude. I cant believe how fast the time has flown!

4/29/10- Mini Rehearsal

We were able to work in the art room with Audra and Cammie's group. We gave them about forty minutes to work on memorizing/knowing their stories and then we practiced telling our stories within our small groups. During the last 20 minutes, we set the room up and each student told their stories in front of everyone in the art room. At first, they were really shy and didnt want to do it, but after a while, they realized itwas helping them so they began to enjoy it. Doing this allowed them to practice and to dip their feet in the "water" before we have the real dress rehearsal and performance. Each student did well, however there were a few that needed more work, but that will be our focus for next week.

5/6/10- Dress Rehearsal

Today we did the dress rehearsal as if it was the real performance. We had the students go one right after the other telling their stories in front of an audience and camcorder. If they froze, and looked at us for help, we just looked at them without saying a word. After realizing that we were not going to help them, they began to make up their stories, which sounded great! All the students in the group did very well. There were a few who need extra practice, but overall, it went good. I cant wait to see the real performance next week!