ArtSpace+Community+Charter

==What //learning// did you see at your first visit to ArtSpace Community Charter? How did you know (what did you see happen, or what did you hear kids say) that it was learning? Remember: we want to be thinking about the gap (sometimes) between teaching and learning.==

Hanna: my first visit to Artspace was with a 2nd grade class. I was with the class while they were finishing up their outside play time and then when they had story time. During their outside time the kids really get to learn social skill and interaction-- what ways are ok to engage in activity with others and what might not be such a great idea. During outside play time these kiddies get to learn through doing, which is great. During the reading time the kids are allowed to lay down and relax and get to imagine...a good time for them to learn to pretend. so, in my visit the kids were really learning through free interaction and wandering minds.

Taylor: My first visit to Artspace was a blast! On our way to the middle school side of the school, we ran into a hand drumming class for one of the seventh-grade classes. I asked the teacher if I could observe the class, and she said, "Well why dont you just join?" So, she handed me a drum and I joined the circle. The teacher talked about the history of hand drumming, how it has been used cross-culturally for different purposes. She talked about the different types of drums, and different types of drumming styles. The kids loved the drum class - they were very enthusiastic and energetic. You could see the fascination in their eyes when we all played together and made a rhythm. In my visit, the kids were learning through experience and group interaction. It was great to observe the group dynamics of a seventh-grade drum circle.

LT writes: this idea of //learning through// is important (especially when we read Dewey next term), but don't duck the question! Try to put into words **what** students learn in these experiences. It may be helpful to put it in the language of objectives, as if you were teaching the class. For instance, "through participation in the drumming circle students improve their listening skills and learn that they can make an important contribution to a group performance." .... I hope visit two was just as good.

Emmalee: During my first vist at Artspace I also got to observe the seventh grade class hand drumming. They were really engauged with something that they liked to do and were able to learn more about interaction with eachother, and the importance of working together. The kids got to exchange glances to say when to start the next druming or stop the next drumming. They had to pay a lot of attention to eachother the sounds and the non sounds to see if they were repeating a rythem or not. I also got to speak to the class' main teacher Ms. Becky. Ms. Becky talked to us about how she decovered teaching and the importance of travel and how she deals with being in the classroom all day.

Eriel: During my first visit to Artspace I observed a 7th grade class learning how to drum. Then I got to speak with that class' teacher, Ms. Becky, about what they were doing. Turns out that everything they do, whether it be in history or in math, is based around Africa. I liked how the school allowed the teachers to try new things out and to integrate everything around one area, such as Africa. Ms. Becky talked to Emmalee, Zoe, and myself about her history with teaching and how she believed that it is incredibly importance for a school to allow their teachers to continue their personal hobbies, and that it helps teachers enjoy teaching.

For visit 2, write about "official" learning that you see -- what do you see the teachers explicitly say or do in the hope of causing some change (or learning) in the ideas or actions of the kids?
Emmalee- I had the privlage of seeing a sixth grade class doing a few different things. One of the most explicit things the teacher did to engauge the class was lay on a heavy New Yorker acent and put on a 'mobster' hat. This got the attention of the class and kept them there while they went through a grammer review. Earlier in the class there had been one restless kid who the teacher kept coming back to and tapping on the shoulder to remind him to be calmer and not disrupt the class. The kid seemed to like this act of play that the teacher started and managed to settle a bit for the rest of the period that we were there.

Eriel: During my second visit to ArtSpace, I observed an eighth grade class during "Safe Dates". "Safe Dates" is a program that teaches the students how to handle complicated situations they may find themselves involed with when in a romantic relationship. While discussing everything, the counselor had two places in the classroom. One was "Do I go" and the other "Do I stay". The students were read a scenerio and then told to go to the corresponding place in the classroom that showed if they would stay in the relationship or not based on the scenerio read to them. It was a great exercise to get the students to think about what they would do if they were in that particular situation. I also observed a different eighth grade class, but they were discussing a future field trip. I did learn the teacher's method at getting all the students to listen. There was a point in the discussion when everyone was getting incredibly excited, and to calm the class down, the teacher asked them what he expected them to do when one person was talking. The answer was to look and listen at the person talking, and if that meant they had to move their entire bodies to do so, then that was exactly what they should do. I remember being told that back in Montessori school.

Kaela Magee: During my second visit to art space I was in a class that was participating in "safe date" which is a program similar to DARE. I saw the teacher giving real life examples and having the children act out what they would do in those scenarios. It was very interesting and he made the lessons exciting by personally involving each student into the activity. By using real life examples he made the lessons more applicable to their own lives.

Taylor: In my second visit, I observed a sixth grade social studies class. A good portion of the class period was devoted to developing an understanding of their upcoming projects. The teacher was sharp and intelligent, yet funny and lighthearted. He had obviously been teaching for a while, or at least, it seemed like he had, because he knew exactly what to say and when to say it. Near the end of my visit, the teacher began a review session by putting on a top had, and changing his accent to a mobster-type accent for the review. This got the kids' attention and added a new dynamic to the class. By adding this new dynamic, he helped strengthen the students' aptitude and attention.

For visit 3, write about the environment for learning at this school. If you were a student, what would be good about this environment? What might be hard for you to adapt to?
Taylor: Artspace was closed. We went to Asheville High in search of the science bus, but couldnt find it.

Eriel: I was sick on this day, but I remember seeing a message saying that ArtSpace had a half day on Wednesday. What happened?

Emma- Artspace was closed. Commenting just because I can.