He got right to work. I sat with him because he insisted he needed help. Really, he just wanted someone to bounce his own ideas off of.
Inventing a toy dispenser is the perfect job for him as he pours over toy catalogues and highlights items in the Sears Wish Book.
When it came time to write the Mini-Autobiography at the end he puzzled over what to write. I suggested he start with, "My name is Liam. . . " to which he replied, "wouldn't it sound even better if I said 'HELLO, my name is Liam'?"
"Yes Liam, that's an excellent way to start."
"Oh, good! Now what?"
We chatted about how he would describe who is to a complete stranger. Maybe sharing the places he's lived and a bit about his family.
After he wrote a couple of sentences I said, "that's a great mini-autobiography, Liam. You're done!"
He looked at me aghast. "MOM, Mrs. N. gave me all this space to write in, I think she expects a little more than that!"
"Quite right, Liam." (Here I am, humbled again).
What you probably need to know is that last year Liam struggled with writing. It was like pulling teeth to get him motivated to write. He could tell you a terrific story; but when it came to putting the pencil to the paper he froze.
These were some of his excuses:
- "I'm tooooo tired!!!!"
- "I don't know what to write."
- "I have too many ideas in my head!!!"
- "I'm SOOOO tired!!!"
- "Can't I play?"
- "Waaahhh!!"
Now, here's the question of the day: What would you do if your students wanted to write potentially violent stories in class?
This question lead me to wonder about this topic. Where I have had the privilege of working for the past several years with elementary students, there has been a “rule” –No Guns! The rule has been passed along over the years. Guns hurt people but the kids are always trying to sneak play guns when the leaders are not looking, it has almost become a game in itself, thus teaching the children to deceive the adults.
ReplyDeleteSometimes children use stories as a means of communication. On a basic level, I would want to ask the child about their story containing violence. One of the many great lesions that I have learned from the children is to ask them about things that involve them before reaching any conclusions. Maybe the violence is a reflection of the video games they play at home. Maybe the violence stems from action dramas they have seen in the media. Maybe the violence is simply good vs. evil, good guy vs. bad guys/girls. Maybe it is a form of express that is more involved than meets the eye. I would prefer the creative and language arts to be used as a form of expression and should that expression include violence, I would feel more comfortable to engage with the child from where they are coming from and use their language arts expression as an opportunity for dialogue.
~L.G.C.
"Maybe the violence is simply good vs. evil, good guy vs. bad guys/girls."
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response, L., I have thought a lot about this too. Good vs. Evil is perhaps one of those basic quests to make sense of the world we live in. A lot of us see the weaponry first, and perhaps not what motivates it. I once heard a kindergarten teacher say that her students often feel really driven to act out these heroic moments - so she tried to find them substitutes for guns and other weapon play. For example - having a fire department centre...with a phone for the calls, a radio for dispatching, a host of fire fighters and a garden hose or two. A student journalist could interview the heroes and write a newspaper article about how they saved everyone.
Just my 2 cents. I'm interested in hearing more ideas!