What questions are we asking children? In what ways are we listening to children? How does the 100 Languages of Children facilitate deeper and more meaningful expression and responses? Why does it matter? What can we learn? As we embrace a new school year, the most...
Afrofututrism-Part 1, A New Lens By Which to See, Inspired by Cyrus Kabiru This Spring as a school, we focused on elevating Black Joy, Excellence, and Culture through living folx throughout the African diaspora. And while this is a project that we engaged in from...
Wow, it has been a looooong time since I last blogged. I will start from today though, from now, November 12th, 2020. And right now, I can share that it is not only possible to connect and create virtually with 3-6 year old humans in the Atelier, it is meaningful,...
Mama Miti Children's Book Watch "I will be a Hummingbird" short here.
This year, when I asked kids if they knew who the Dr Martin Luther King was, I knew what I did not want to hear. I did not want to look at faces of children ages 3-6 as they explained in detail that "I know about Martin Luther King, Jr! He was shot and killed. By a...
It is January first. A new year. And despite being on this planet for quite a while, and teaching in public school for 20 years, there is still a newness, a joy, a surprise, great gratitude, and hope that comes with each day. This Solstice, (a very special SWS yearly...
Here's some links to explore connections: To explore the concept of Ubuntu Link to NAREA (North American Reggio Emilia Alliance) Link to Global Children at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Project Zero Link to Brenee Brown Link to article on Curiosity Much love!...
It is the night before the very last day of the 2017-2018 school year. I just couldn't let the year end without giving you this small gift. I have here the link to the 12 minute video I made documenting our all-school Earth Day parade. (12 minutes) The SWS Love Mother...
Balance. This year, in addition to the daily creating and expression and relationship building in the studio/atelier, I engaged and facilitated a Mardi Gras/Speak for Living Things Parade and an Earth Day Parade with my partner Atelierista, Erika Bowman One...
I was thinking about the complexities of “labor” today, on this Labor Day eve. I was thinking about the labor or role of the teacher. The possibilities and power of relationship and transformation that can happen in a learning environment is on my mind as this new...
Here are some of the links I am using/will use as resources within this work:Talking to children ages 5-8 about homelessnessNational Coalition for the Homeless lesson plan for ages K-2nd gradeAny Refugee, sending a postcard to displaced childrenTrash me Rob-Art...
This post documents the process of the making of our 4 foot by 4 foot bottle cap mosaic, inspired by the Wishes for the World Project. Both projects happened simultaneously. It created a wonderful back and forth between maker space production and socratic meaningful...
More to come...
It's a new school year. Filled with possibility, new relationships, and sweet growth for both the children and all the connected adults in their lives. "Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then if you have...
I thought I was going to write about Wonder, but instead I’ve changed my mind.I have been thinking about and researching the importance of Wonder within teaching and life for well over 15 years.This lead me to create a video, I Wonder Why things are so Cool, with the...
In August, most of our school met for a retreat. At one point, we were asked to go around the table and share our intention for the school year. When it was my turn, I took a big risk, and I said, "This year, my intention and goal is to teach, learn, and encounter all...
It's hard to believe that I have not posted since November!It's not for lack of work. It's because the projects, the creativity, the trips, the collaborations, have been expansive and mindblowing.So much good stuff, that I have no idea how to edit down the myriad...
The Prek 3 Classes have emabarked on a project. The children started talking about "statues" a few months ago when I had them working on a collaborative wire sculpture in the studio. Their excitement about seeing sculptures and statues in Washington, DC got the...
There is a symbiotic relationship I have with my profession/s. Artist and Atelierista.When I am both teaching and creating art I am immersed in and blessed with: aha moments of discovery, the anxiousness of the unknown, the struggle and challenges of making ideas into...
"From seeds" comes from a conversation that came about today when I was in the SWS garden harvesting vegetables and flowers to paint with Caleb, Franklin, and Boaz (PreK children).The act of picking the produce or herbs or flowers develops a shared anticipation, as...
I love imagery, photos, sound. Art.This blogging thing is difficult for me.I wish sometimes that others could just understand what I’m creating or doing, imagining, or thinking. I wish the intent and meaning of my work was clear without narrative sometimes.(Liminality...
This is the view from my window right now.Another snow day.A day to reflect and catch up on blogging. February just ended.It’s when the Love Fairy visits SWS. I adore Valentines Day.The opportunity to “make” for others, to write, draw, wrap, and give to others-just...
It’s cold.It’s winter so it is to be expected.This year is likely to be the coldest Washington, DC has perhaps ever experienced.“The icicleslook like lamps.The snowflakes look like stars.”–Maya, PreSchool 3For me, it is thrilling in the context of the work I do with...
“We react to weather in relative rather than absolute fashion,” said Laurence S. Kalkstein, a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami. “The uncommon is what bothers us.”(From the Washington Post article, Shriver or shrug: On a...
I love the lights. I unapologetically love the visual bliss this season brings.I could do without the barage of advertisements, mailings, and catalogs that bombard me to buy stuff. It's a lot of paper to put in recycling. The advertisements geared towards children...
This year at SWS, I have three new classrooms of children to interact with. For the first time we have two 3 year old preschool classrooms and one classroom with non-categorical medically fragile children.Scarlett, one of our children from our first SWS 3 year old...
Again.We moved again.First we were SWS at Peabody, then we packed up and moved to the Logan Annex in 2012.Logan Annex is a nice way of saying Trailer, or as the facilities director called it, a Bunker.After a year of basically fitting sixty-three clowns into a...
THIS IS IT, THE PREMIER OF RAINBOW BEINGS FLASHMOB VIDEO! Click this link[fve] [/fve]Rainbow Beings PreK Flashmob from Marla McLean on Vimeo.[/fve] Yesterday was summer solstice. Yesterday was the last day of school. How perfect that this was the day the children got...
Show some emotion. If you work with young children, you know there are many opportunities to experience emotions. Last month I was working on a project with some 1st graders. The provocation was to plan a story without writing the details or the the ending. Why?...
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Mr. Rogers I saw this quote after the Newtown tragedy and now once again I see it today after the Boston...
This post is a continuation of my last post The greatest small gift, (March 6th.) I like to think of it as a continuing conversation or an opportunity to share documentation in a different "language." It is my hope that through the two posts a deeper and...
Last month I attended a tremendous conference in San Francisco called Educating for Creative Minds: Using Brain Science to Ignite Innovation and Imagination. From the conference I have a long list of books to read and pages of notes to refer to, and inspiration and...
We the people declare today that the most evident of truth that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung,...
The 2012 new school year has been an exercise on how a community of people can truly make change. Personally, it has been both exhausting and extremely inspiring. Using our new space, neighborhood and place based learning as a framework for planning curriculum this...
The Annex as a new location has proven to be a wealth of provocations. So much so, that blogging has all but disappeared from my teaching routine. So how do I balance all this “newness” and the extensive work that comes with expansion with sustaining a place (my blog)...
In the Spring of 2012, when I realized that our school was really leaving our historical Peabody building for a barracks type temporary building , I had to summon all reserve positivity. OK, I said, we will transform our new school space into the extraordinary. I...
(Yes, that's my car.) Happy eARTth day! Last month I had the pleasure of attending a workshop panel and presentations with an international group of researchers called Speak Out: Art and Eco Activism. This was at the National Art Education Association...
The Anacostia River, a Kindergarten Project. The idea hatched from Kindergarten teacher Alysia Scofield's relationship with it, crossing it daily, venturing near it, on it, learning to love it. This major body of water running through DC is part taken for granted...
Sometimes life can feel incredibly complex to break down into small digestable bits. Many rich projects have been occurring in the studio during this time of my playing hookie from blogging. This causes me to feel overwhelmed on what to include. (I mean I’ve been told...
Birthdays, solstice, anniversaries and New Years are such wonderful triggers for reflection, memories and storytelling. While many make resolutions, I tend to think about experiences that have inspired my thoughts and actions. Returning to these memories or ideas...
The darkness of this time of year, is actually our guide. How do I greet and introduce this shift of our natural world with my young children that I share the bulk of my time with in the SWS Art Studio? It is all to easy to shut out the natural occurrences with modern...
Just a few weeks to winter break, and more than anything it is the change in light that seems so important. Light and dark literally change life in Washington DC in December. Street lights are on by 6:00pm, and the playground is deserted. Dinnertime is dark and...
I believe that theory and practice are indeed the pedals on the bicycle and you need both to move forward. (Loris Malaguzzi coined this phrase) It is a goal to share this belief within my blog. It is important. Today, however, I want to show ...
"I have found that my (art) work tells me what I'm interested in. It tells me what I'm doing in the territory I've landed in." -Carrie Mae Weems speaking at The Corcoran in conjunction with the 30 Americans exhibit, November 12, 2011. These words really resonated...
This blog post is a collaboration between myself and Kindergaten Teacher Jere Lorenzen-Strait. In a whirlwind of adrenalin fueled by immediate happenings, we furiously and joyfully created this documentation. It is my hope you feel the energy of our shared dialogue....
Intent. Studio work has so much of this, in so many forms. There is poetic languages and memories made and found that offer new possibilities through creating, however, behind it all is intent. For my Kindergarten students working on planning, designing and...
A strange thing happened this September...no Monarch eggs or caterpillars were to be found on the Milkweed plants in the Peabody school garden. Every year, this is an important ritual. In fact most of the SWS teachers are part of the International Monarch Teacher...
The year started, well...big. First there was an earthquake (in DC!?) and then there was a hurricane. Then it rained. Not just rain, but RAIN, for a week. I believe that this all happened within the first 2 1/2 weeks of school. The rain flooded the landing to the...
Last summer at this time, I was in Peru. This summer, I am home. What I decided to do was to name this summer “The Make Sacred the Ordinary Summer.” So let me tell you about some of the ordinary things: I attended a wedding in Boston and danced with my...
"Seeing is like dreaming, and even like falling in love. It is entangled in the passions-jealousy, violence, possessiveness, and it is soaked in affect, in pleasure and displeasure and pain. Ultimately, seeing alters the thing that is seen and transforms the seer....
The end of the school year brings such urgency, for the children, the staff and myself. For some children, some type of recall memory emerges. The project they started and forgot about long ago, sudennly, MUST be completed in the last week of school. These children...
The Kindergarten Children with a community of support, finished their textile quilt at the end of May. It will be displayed for the month of June at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC. From there, it will be a gift to the school from the Kindergarten classes...
and Sasha (below) PS Here are the links to the above references: Creativity - Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention Sparks of Genious: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People Washington Post article...
Wow, this is the first time in my blogging history that I let so much time pass between the last post. This fact creates stress because so many meaningful, powerful and surprising things have occurred since my last post. Where do I start? Chronological? Thematic? Most...
"If aesthetics fosters sensibilities and the ability for connecting things far removed from each other, and if learning takes place through new connections between disparate elements, then aesthetics can be an important activator for learning." Vea Vecchi Since...
Lessons learned...for all of us.
I love stories, especially stories that speak to insight and research. This year, I began the process of looking at the Anatomy of Mark Making. This is because so many people proclaim that our school seems to produce children who are prodigious at graphic...
Actually, I am staying up late tonight to see the full lunar eclipse on this Solstice Eve. I have until 3:00 am to wait for the moon, what a perfect opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Solstice and share images from the SWS Solstice Celebration on Friday, December...
I was working with Lilian Katz,Phd, in Lima , Peru last month. We were leading a RedSolare conference as well as meeting with teachers and administrators in their schools and giving feedback and inspiration. Everyone we met with was passionate about early childhood....
What is a plan? “It’s when you decide whether to go to the park or do something else.” Josie “It’s something you think of and draw, and then make later.” Maya F. I initiated the Fairy House plans. It was after collecting and sorting natural materials, reading the book...
Adinath's airplane Please send "presenting love" to me during the below conference dates. Whoooo, these things make me nervous. (Fun part-I get to tour Reggio inspired Peruvian schools in Lima!) Stories to follow...
The Art of Inspiration The Arcimboldo exhibit entitled Nature and Fantasy is on display at The National Gallery of Art. Last week I led a Kindergarten class (Ms. Rick's) on an exploration of his surreal paintings. For those not familiar, this is a painter from the...
“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life” Rachel Carson "We have to let it...
I am continuing thought/research from my last post, The Evolution of Mark Making. A week after that post I had my younger PreK children in the studio to create their first self portrait at SWS. This year, I am also held accountable by the school system I work for to...
After a small summer break from blogging, I am back. I felt a bit overwhelmed on where to start, so a list came to mind. It is always amplified, this idea of seasons and cycles for a teacher. The end of the year is filled with urgency, rituals and reflection. (That's...
Dove, By Elanor A few weeks ago a dove nested in the Arbor located on our playground. The kids found it, and soon they were enthusiastically watching the dove watch them, as she sat on her eggs. I decided to take small groups of children out first thing in the morning...
Last Wednesday morning, I was walking my dog. It was 6:30 am, and it was garbage day in my neighborhood. As I went up the street, lo and behold, someone had thrown out an enormous mirrored disco ball. I went over to it, heart pounding and examined it. A few mirrors...
I just returned from Guadalajara, Mexico where I was honored to be a keynote and presenter at the RedSolare Mexico Conference, “En dialogo con el pensamiento creativo del nino” (In dialog with the creative thinking of children.) The American School of Guadalajara...
I have always been fascinated by before and after images, from fashion magazines to home improvements. I find it especially captivating to view in my school and other schools. Teacher Tom and his community in Seattle created an amazing outdoor area in a small space....
I am currently in Boston, visiting my son who is a student at Berklee College of Music. Last night we were talking, and he told me about this moment he had, where he was practicing flute, it had been hours of planned playing, and then, he didn’t even realize it but...
I returned last week from an inspired conference, Educating the Creative Mind at Kean College (where I presented.) The above title quote came from Sara Zurr, Phd, who presented her research on spontaneous music making and time. Her findings from 3 continents, Asia,...
(Warrior by Fredric R.) On 2/23 and 2/25 I led each Kindergarten class, with their teachers and parent volunteers to see The Terra Cotta Warriors at the National Geographic Exhibit Hall. On the metro bus back to school, teacher Hannah Birney asked me, “What made you...
(That's Miles, above) While work and life are intertwined, being snowed in away from the school place gave me an opportunity to work on some of my own "stuff." I will presenting at an International Conference on Young Children and Creativity in New Jersey March 3-5....
On Friday, February 5th, we arrived at school knowing that a huge snowstorm was coming our way. The Federal government was on leave and DC Schools were closing at noon. On that same Friday, as anticipation grew, and flakes of snow began to fall, Swatantar Mann, the...
The children have finished their Dream Houses. I am in awe of each child. Utterly amazed at the brilliance evident in each piece. Here are a few to see: but the project continues... The K classrooms' continuous common thread has been story and the narrative. Inspired...
(detail from Khalisa's Dream House) January began with two new spaces. The Winter Garden and the Hideaway Space. The Winter Garden is a small square tactile table that is now filled with corse sand. Cat tails, shells, feathers, rocks, seed pods, small tree stumps and...
The Solstice Moon Ritual in the Art Studio was Singing This Little Light of Mine Dancing in the Moonlight Listening to The Moon poem Placing shooting stars around our necks Holding hands and making wishes Under the moon Listening to sweet music Illuminated by friends,...
In Reggio and at SWS the role of teacher is as researcher. I have found, that when researching children, the researcher is equally the subject of the research. The Pre-K children sketched a self-portrait, and then sketched themselves transformed into...
What is imagination? I asked a group of 4 year olds. "When you wake from a dream and then you have to go back to bed." "It's when you dream and you're awake." "It's when you pretend." "It's what you think up." In the past two weeks I have been struck by the importance...
It's funny how culture and ritual can define a place. In my studio, I have always had an old phonograph player. Children know, in their free time, if they choose, they can make a whirly plate. For 13 years, it has become a daily act, again and again. Sometimes...
I returned this week from an intensive week-long international study session in Reggio-Emilia. What a gift to be immersed in dialogue with such a diverse and passionate group of Atelieristas, Teachers, and Pedagogistas. (That's me, John, Alysia, Sarah and Margaret,...
"My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams." -Mr. Plumbean Imagining, Planning, and Constructing The Dream House Project SWS Studio, Kindergarten Last June, I read the Pre-k children a cherished book, The Big Orange...
The art studio butterflies emerged last week. The week was filled with the combination of color, light, form, shape, & projection all inspired by the two fluttering Monarchs that filled the studio with a special aura. By Friday, it was time to set the last two...
9/11 is huge for the staff at School-Within-School. We are located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The staff, on that day, has memories of chaos and fear (from our 3rd floor windows, it looked like the capitol was on fire, because the smoke from the pentagon had...
In my chiropractors office hangs a small sign that reads, The Only Constant is Change. It is never more evident then now. The school year has started. It’s a flurry of energy, excitement, and anticipation, along with to-do lists, meetings, and curriculum development....
Margaret Boozer created an installation entitled Dirt Drawings, at the Katzen Art Gallery in Washington, DC. It’s an amazing piece. She dug up, lugged and painted and sculpted with raw clay directly on the gallery floor. With time, this live clay changed color,...
"The fairies are going to a party. It’s at their friends house in the woods. They are going to fly there. There’s berries in the tree. They are going to pick some to bring to their friends house. There’s a chrysalis on the tree. A butterfly will come out. " Sofia,...
Yesterday, I took a walk in Brookside Gardens, in Maryland. It was a phenomenal treat for the eyes, ears, & nose. Fountains sprayed water and kinetic sculptures danced in the wind. Flowers as dragons and tree trunks as houses. Every color flower, butterfly and...