Week 2: Community Project

WEEK TWO

The aim of the second week of the workshops was to develop on the work that we created in the first workshop a week ago. We hadn't had enough time last week to share our work with the other groups in both years, therefore we used this session mostly as a chance to do this. Therefore, these workshops were sessions where we put particular emphasis on feedback and getting all the children to have an opinion.

YEAR 3 PLAN:

 What was successful about this session was that it seemed that all the facilitators were much more on board and organised, and it meant that we were more aware of time management, which helped the session flow. 

We spent a great chunk of our time with the Year 3's this week rehearsing the performances for the acrostic poems last week. I was working with Sean and Alice, and having polished the poem the week before, we recapped the lines and gestures with the group. The group were actually more confident than they were the week before, I noticed, and I assume that this is probably due to the strategy of having continuity within the structure. The children remembered working with us the week before and therefore felt safer and more confident the following week. A successful dynamic with our group was that a girl called Adele was very confident and proactive in making suggestions about having 'dance' in the piece, and that seemed to encourage the other girls to be a lot more confident and open too. We rehearsed the performance and stressed the importance of what we could improve on, to which we also emphasised the projection of the children's voices, how they were using their bodies and being committed and confident. As such, these clear instructions allowed the children to understand the dynamics of performing and they seemed to really enjoy rehearsing and polishing the piece - this was successful since everyone in the group seemed to be having fun. We didn't have any issues with alienation or lack of enjoyment. I think this was partly influenced by the enthusiasm, encouragement energy that myself, Sean and Alice gave towards the children. I have learnt so far during this project that the investment that you give to the children always lends itself to the investment they give you as a result.

When we shared the piece, doing the acrostic poem with the children to the rest of the group seemed to alleviate any nerves or stage fright, pushing them on if they forgot any part. It felt like a very positive experience, and was successful in terms of progressing from a partly shy and divided group to a group that was ready and happy to perform together. What was interesting from watching the piece's of other groups within Year 3 was that everyone came out with such a range of style and material. Primarily, the lines that some of the pieces had brought out different aspects of the joy of Croydon and I think this was successful in challenging the children to think more about their local area as they were watching the pieces. Equally, the movement in each group varied - stylistically, the pieces were interesting to watch and I can very much see them having a role in the final performance, perhaps as an opening towards the piece being about Croydon. The most successful aspect of this sharing was that most of the children really responded well to being asked to give feedback about what they saw, what they liked and what they thought was communicated. There was a positive atmosphere in the room, and many children came out with thought provoking comments which accentuated how vivid their imagination and brain is. A strategy that worked in encouraging these responses was us as facilitators putting our hands up and sharing what we liked about the pieces, almost as an example to the younger children. It built up a positive energy in the room. 

Next, we began to shift our attention towards the idea of street art in Croydon, looking at the following piece of street art in small groups:

This aspect of the workshop was really successful in my opinion, since the children were very active in my group in giving their understanding of what was going on in the picture and their perspectives of how and why. Our recordings of these images and stories was documented in this picture:

The ideas of other groups varied a lot, which was great to see, for example:

I think the way in which we achieved these results was through the encouragement and investment that we as facilitators gave to the children. Our approach to the exercise was very important. Since every child in my group was giving at least one idea, I attempted to adopt the idea that 'no idea is a bad idea'. Even if an idea was straying from the direction of the exercise, I think that myself and Sophia did a good job in leading the exercise so that every child felt included and listened to, as opposed to being patronising or dictatorial about the suggestions. Another reason why I feel this aspect of the workshop was most successful was I felt I achieved a bond with every child in my group, despite never having worked with them before. I think again there was a sense of safety and comfort, and by being warm and calm with the children this was achieved.

Although the session was cut short, I think that this workshop was really important in progressing in the process. The children were starting to show critical thought, adopting their own opinions and they were able to explain these articulately in front of the group. I also feel like we extended the imaginations of the children and were able to focus them to a point where they came out with some really ideas which could be used as stimulus for the eventual show. A challenge we keep on facing is the passing of time, but we should try to work against this by simplifying the plans and by only coordinating exercises that we think are vital to moving the process forward and giving the children a fun and beneficial time.

YEAR ONE: 

This session was successful, as in contrast to the prior session with Year 3, we managed our time well and were able to complete all of the tasks that we planned. This meant we got the most out of our time with the Year One's.

I felt that the warm up game we did was really effective as an energiser for Year One's who had just had their lunch. Since everyone was familiar with the game 'What's The Time Mr Wolf?', I think it created an atmosphere where all of the children felt safe and in control, knowing what was going on and being able to involve themselves. Switching this to the dinosaur theme ensured that we kept on a consistent theme going. The children particularly got into this, and when they were able to take turns as the dinosaurs, I think they found it really fun. This was really successful as a way of making the children feel energetic and ready to work, especially as a concentration game where they have to work as an ensemble in a sense. Adding the element of silence, staying still and elimination gave the game a slightly competitive feel - yet because no one went 'out' of the game, everyone was always involved and not alienated. I think to exemplify the potential of this game, we could have asked the children what they think they have to do in order to work quietly to get the wolf, just so they are thinking more about the principles of the game, nevertheless overall it was successful and could be used in the future since it's a game the Year One's seemed to respond well to. 

The next aspect of the workshop was somewhat successful. As an imagination fuelled exercise, it enabled the children to have freedom in acting like they were in the story, and from my observations they really responded well to it and enjoyed it. What I've learnt is that overall the children in both Year 1 and 3 respond well to exercises that rely on their imagination therefore in the future we should not reject their vivid imagination and keep on using it as a tool. A strategy that worked as facilitators was dividing the exercise into sections where each of us would promptly take over in instructing the children what to do based on the narrative of 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. It was successful partly because the children were clearly familiar with the story, but it perhaps made them engage with the material in a way that they hadn't done in classrooms previously, lending to why they enjoyed it so much. As facilitators, we encouraged the children to use and think about their bodies, facial expressions and what their character is feeling in the moment. Although we tried to express the importance of being silent throughout the exercise, this is one of the problems we encountered since it didn't massively work and grew to be a bigger problem throughout. A way in which we attempted to counter this was by spreading out and working with specific children who were probably more disruptive and encouraging them to focus and concentrate on the activity by doing it with them and prompting them. Another challenge we faced was the children definitely didn't respond to the length of the activity, which we should acknowledge for future planning. When it got to the end of the exercise and the narrative was the near the end, it became harder to control the behaviour and noise level. When I was leading my bit, I tried to approach it with enthusiasm and energy which most of the children did respond to, but many had lost focus. What helped was all of the facilitators trying to take responsibility for all of the children.

Like the Year 3's, what really worked in this workshop was communicating with the children and seeing what their thoughts were on the activity in a big circle. The Year 1's had many thoughts which was lovely to see, and many of the shyer pupils seemed to speak up. Although many of their thoughts weren't particularly articulate, it felt successful that they were contributing their opinions in front of a big group. As well as this, they were making links between the original story and dinosaurs, which seemed to lend itself well to the educational aspect of the workshops. 

Finally, we split up into smaller groups again which was also successful because it focused the wavering attention of the group to a smaller concentrated group of people. We brainstormed what a children would ask a dinosaur if they met one, and this was lovely in terms of everyone being able to contribute. Again, there was a warm and positive atmosphere that was aided by the positive and encouraging response that we as facilitators gave to the children.