Saturday, October 16, 2010

My Idea for Club Activities

My idea uses Art, College Exploration, and some Technology.

The Dream Book

For next week have the students use paper, stickers, glue, and ribbon to decorate a simple composition notebook. Let them choose the papers they like and embellish it however they want. It will be theirs to do with what they want.

For them to do during the week before we meet again. Ask them to write about their dreams, what they want to be when they are older, what colleges they know about, and want to go to, ect.

On the next week let's sit down with them again and talk to them about what they wrote and where they want to go in life. If we have any suggestions that could help them attain their goals. Then we can go to a computer lab and one of us sit down with each of them and lets look at what it takes to get into whatever career they said they are interested in.

This would just be a good exercise to get them thinking about their future and where they want to go in life. For some of the older kids they can really start to focus on what colleges they like and start to realize what they will need to get to where they want to go.

As far as art supplies go for what we would need for next week:
  • Composition books (I have at least 10 already)
  • Glue sticks (I probably have a pack or two of these as well)
  • Scrapbook paper packs
  • Ribbon
  • Scissors
  • Xacto Knife (we can do this step if its too dangerous to hand that to them)
Here is an example of what I am talking about. It took me longer to pick out what paper I wanted to use than it did to actually put it together.






Some of it may be leading as in us telling them to research colleges and pushing them to think about their future, but a lot of these kids, as Carla pointed out, have no clue what it may take to get into college, but they are excited to go. Perhaps we should encourage them to retain that excitement and start working on their future.

I may be able to talk to the manager of Hobby Lobby and be able to get him to donate the paper and other decorative supplies. We may have to buy up to 10 more composition books to make sure there is enough to go around. If we had to purchase everything it would be no more than $40. That split between all of us would be $4 each maybe.

10 comments:

  1. I completely love this! I love scrapbooking it is absolutely awesome! Great idea; this would be so much fun!

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  2. I have A LOT of scrapbook paper and embellishments as well. I also have some glue sticks and ribbon as well. I am more than happy to bring my supplies and share! This would be so awesome and so much fun!

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  3. Thank you Erica. If we can supply the scrapbook paper (the most expensive item) then this would be really affordable and I do believe the kids would love it.

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  4. I think this is a great use of some of the topics broached at Friday's meeting. Yet, as proposed, it is individualized. How can we build upon this concept to make it participatory? Peter McLaren, a critical pedagogue and cultural theorist, refers to our social world as a "disutopia" that is, "not just the temporary absence of Utopia, but the political celebration of the end of SOCIAL dreams." Could we revise the aforementioned project in a way that would model the transformative potential in cooperative aspiration and action?

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  5. It would be interesting for the students to create, or discuss, something together, though as with any group activity, some personalities will dominate; others will be more quiet, but a collaborative experience would probably be quite different than their daily school life experiences based on individualism and assessment thereof. You would have to find ways to draw them out; location matters too; seems we need to be with them in a place where they can gather and face each other, interact, and not be too distracted by other club activities or by us if we continue to outnumber them. (A. Kleiner)

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  6. I would love to see the students express themselves through writing and art. Many times students can express their ideas by looking at the big picture through art.I think the journal would be a great way for the students to express themselves through writing.Due to some student shyness this is a great way for them to express themselves. Also for students to put their goals in writing.Remember a goal isn't a goal unles it's written down. Maybe they could make a poster with their goals on it for the next 2 years and see how well they can stick to it. Maybe this project can continue through other semesters.Remember we've to take baby steps with these kids because most don't have much parental support at home. So the poster would be something they could have that would remind them of their goals. (Carla)

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  7. Also another point due to the time frame we're looking at this is a good project. Also I've lots of construction paper that can be used. Carla

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  8. I do think that this would be a great filler type of project. Using this project and keeping dialogue going could help in the development of the club as a whole. I do think that it would further the focus group without just having to sit around. Yes this is very individualized and goes against the ideas of a group; however, as SELU students we can announce or have the children talk out loud when we feel that they are saying something that can spark conversation within the group.

    Also, I do not feel as if this is the direction that the club should be going. I do think that we are having the problem because there is not a theme within our graduate class, as was in the last class that did this project. With this art activity maybe it can narrow down some of the ideas that the children had and we will then be able to pin point something.

    Or... maybe this is the direction and we should be looking at activites that develop "team" building (yuck) or activites that encourage individualized thought. aka group games. This would allow for them to work together and encourage them to work with others that they would usually not associate with. This is strictly coming from my experience working as a camp counselor. Again, I do not know if this is the direction the club should be going either. Just throwing some ideas around. Probably not the most Freire of ideas.

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  9. While this is more of an individualistic activity, I think it is still a great idea. This gives the students a chance to create the journal in a way that is to their liking, then use it to express their thoughts, ideas, or whatever they want. Then later looking back at what was previously written, they learn about themselves things that might not possibly been obvious before hand.

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