Christina,
Thank you for all you've taught me this year. You're very nice and very pretty. I like the toys you have as well.
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Sunday, June 12, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Last Day of School
When I applied to Tufts, I thought I would take a chance and apply to be a graduate teaching assistant at the child development department's lab school. Though I had student taught at NYU, I never considered being a real classroom teacher. I accepted the position in 2009 and started to realize that this gig was teaching me more about child development than I was learning in the department. The Children's School is a Utopian environment with a beautiful natural playground, brilliant teachers, and involved families. The catch of accepting this job is that it's a strict two-year commitment.
Today is my final day during the school's regular year. Though I'll be staying on to work there through July, I can't help but feel as if this is a big goodbye.
We had an amazing year! I primarily taught a two-day/week preschool program. There the head teacher and I focused on creating social experiences for the children and building a community. In addition, I was able to develop a unit around Where the Wild Things Are. We read the book in English, re-read it in Spanish trying to decipher the key words of the story, created Wild Things masks out of paper plates and small found objects, played "Max Says" (like Simon Says but including "Wild Rumpus," which means everyone has to dance, and "Be Still," was meant everyone had to freeze), and we created a dramatic play space to resemble the Wild Things' forest. I learned how much more care preschoolers need in the classroom, but I also learned how FUN preschool can be. Painting, bike-riding, sand play, baby dolls, a reading corner, clay art, songs and games: can I go back to preschool?
I spent the rest of my week in the Extended Day program for children ages 3 to 6. We focused on family culture and the circus! The year-long circus curriculum was unreal. My head teacher, fellow GTA, and I are currently thinking about how we can use our year of circus to develop a publication, perhaps a curriculum guide. Our year culminated in a circus presented for the school under our very own big top. I think circus supports confidence and creativity among children, and that was certainly the case for our students. Here's a picture of Caryn, Jacquelyn, and I after our big circus debut!
I strongly encourage all academics to take a step out of their comfort zone and into a classroom. You might just learn something.
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Today is my final day during the school's regular year. Though I'll be staying on to work there through July, I can't help but feel as if this is a big goodbye.
We had an amazing year! I primarily taught a two-day/week preschool program. There the head teacher and I focused on creating social experiences for the children and building a community. In addition, I was able to develop a unit around Where the Wild Things Are. We read the book in English, re-read it in Spanish trying to decipher the key words of the story, created Wild Things masks out of paper plates and small found objects, played "Max Says" (like Simon Says but including "Wild Rumpus," which means everyone has to dance, and "Be Still," was meant everyone had to freeze), and we created a dramatic play space to resemble the Wild Things' forest. I learned how much more care preschoolers need in the classroom, but I also learned how FUN preschool can be. Painting, bike-riding, sand play, baby dolls, a reading corner, clay art, songs and games: can I go back to preschool?
I spent the rest of my week in the Extended Day program for children ages 3 to 6. We focused on family culture and the circus! The year-long circus curriculum was unreal. My head teacher, fellow GTA, and I are currently thinking about how we can use our year of circus to develop a publication, perhaps a curriculum guide. Our year culminated in a circus presented for the school under our very own big top. I think circus supports confidence and creativity among children, and that was certainly the case for our students. Here's a picture of Caryn, Jacquelyn, and I after our big circus debut!
I strongly encourage all academics to take a step out of their comfort zone and into a classroom. You might just learn something.
Tweet
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Around the World
This week marks the end of the official school-year at EP. Though I'm teaching through the summer, I can't help but feel that this is the end of the best job I've had. The school has become a home, and I've created a wonderful network of close friends within its community. I wanted to acknowledge my mentors this year with something special. Whatever it was, I wanted it to somehow compliment the year's anti-bias education focus.
Louise Derman-Sparks is a pioneer of the movement, and we have had the great fortune of working with her this year. We explored anti-bias topics in our own classrooms and among our teaching teams. The four curriculum goals of anti-bias education are:
*construction of a knowledgeable, confident self-identity
*comfortable, empathic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds
*critical thinking about bias
*ability to stand up for herself or himself, and for others, in the face of bias
When I found this on Etsy, I was certain that it would be the perfect gift. The painting and woodwork are really beautiful! Unfortunately, the cost is unrealistic for me. I decided to experiment with creating my own. I purchased a bag of 40 peg people, a few paper mache boxes, and lots of paint!
I used Crayola multicultural paints on the peg people. I wanted each gift to have an assortment of people with different shapes and skin tones. The Crayola paint is washable, however, which made it difficult to get a nice, solid color. If I were to do it again, I would use the Crayola colors to find acrylic matches.
Finally...acrylics! I painted the tops of the boxes blue. It was so much easier to get the color I wanted, and it dried a lot faster.
I painted different regions of the globe on each top using green acrylic. I also put some green, paper grass inside the box before adding the people to give it a fuller look.
Finally, I wrapped each box with a complimentary orange ribbon.
I am so proud of my crafting! The gifts were inexpensive, and I think they mean that much more because I took the time to make them myself. I used a black marker to write a personal note on the bottom of each box: "Made with love for ______ by Christina."
Tweet
Louise Derman-Sparks is a pioneer of the movement, and we have had the great fortune of working with her this year. We explored anti-bias topics in our own classrooms and among our teaching teams. The four curriculum goals of anti-bias education are:
*construction of a knowledgeable, confident self-identity
*comfortable, empathic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds
*critical thinking about bias
*ability to stand up for herself or himself, and for others, in the face of bias
When I found this on Etsy, I was certain that it would be the perfect gift. The painting and woodwork are really beautiful! Unfortunately, the cost is unrealistic for me. I decided to experiment with creating my own. I purchased a bag of 40 peg people, a few paper mache boxes, and lots of paint!
I used Crayola multicultural paints on the peg people. I wanted each gift to have an assortment of people with different shapes and skin tones. The Crayola paint is washable, however, which made it difficult to get a nice, solid color. If I were to do it again, I would use the Crayola colors to find acrylic matches.
Finally...acrylics! I painted the tops of the boxes blue. It was so much easier to get the color I wanted, and it dried a lot faster.
I painted different regions of the globe on each top using green acrylic. I also put some green, paper grass inside the box before adding the people to give it a fuller look.
Finally, I wrapped each box with a complimentary orange ribbon.
I am so proud of my crafting! The gifts were inexpensive, and I think they mean that much more because I took the time to make them myself. I used a black marker to write a personal note on the bottom of each box: "Made with love for ______ by Christina."
Tweet
Monday, June 6, 2011
Stop Motion Animation!
I've been itching to experiment with stop motion animation for quite some time. I thought about taking a class but just couldn't find the time or have the credits at school. I thought, "How hard could it really be?"
A few weeks ago, my friend gave me a lovely music box tinker toy. When I saw it, I knew this would be the perfect subject for my first stop motion "film." I figured that it would have step-by-step instructions and require a lot of care; this is something that seemed really interesting to document in pictures. Rather than read the directions and even look in the box before I started documenting, I decided to go through the items for the first time while filming.
With plenty of time to spare and some lovely sunlight coming through my windows, I decided yesterday afternoon was THE time to start working. I set up the tripod and attached my Nikon point-and-shoot onto it.
Wow! This kind of work takes so much patience. I took one to three shots of each movement and decided which one I would use before moving on to the next movement (so there wasn't too much confusion during editing). I imported my photos into iMovie and changed the timing to .3 seconds for the first few shots and .2 for the rest. I recorded the actual music in GarageBand and laid the track over the video. I had to slow down the timing at the end of the film in order to get the full music track in.
Now that I'm a stop motion expert (*wink*), I can absolutely see how the light changes throughout the film and where my camera moved, therefore, creating uncomfortably jerky movements. It's completely amateur, and I LOVE it! My next stop motion will be IKEA furniture construction. GET. PSYCHED.
You can watch the video on Vimeo by clicking here. Enjoy...
Tweet
A few weeks ago, my friend gave me a lovely music box tinker toy. When I saw it, I knew this would be the perfect subject for my first stop motion "film." I figured that it would have step-by-step instructions and require a lot of care; this is something that seemed really interesting to document in pictures. Rather than read the directions and even look in the box before I started documenting, I decided to go through the items for the first time while filming.
With plenty of time to spare and some lovely sunlight coming through my windows, I decided yesterday afternoon was THE time to start working. I set up the tripod and attached my Nikon point-and-shoot onto it.
Wow! This kind of work takes so much patience. I took one to three shots of each movement and decided which one I would use before moving on to the next movement (so there wasn't too much confusion during editing). I imported my photos into iMovie and changed the timing to .3 seconds for the first few shots and .2 for the rest. I recorded the actual music in GarageBand and laid the track over the video. I had to slow down the timing at the end of the film in order to get the full music track in.
Now that I'm a stop motion expert (*wink*), I can absolutely see how the light changes throughout the film and where my camera moved, therefore, creating uncomfortably jerky movements. It's completely amateur, and I LOVE it! My next stop motion will be IKEA furniture construction. GET. PSYCHED.
You can watch the video on Vimeo by clicking here. Enjoy...
Tweet
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Good Morning!
This week I experienced something nearly unrecognizable: free time. I had about 45 minutes before I had to arrive at school to teach preschool. Emails had been sent, jobs had been applied to, dishes had been washed, and my latest craft project was drying. It was an amazing feeling!
The past year has certainly been an adventure full of deadlines, rewrites, and curriculum planning. I'm currently in the process of what I've aptly called "The Great Job Search 2011." With a bit more time to write, I am happy to announce that I will be posting regularly on iGeneration and am very pleased with the redesign. Please read on if you're interested in what's been happening during iGeneration's comfy nap.
Big Top Fitness
Despite the lack of updates on the blog and Facebook page, Big Top Fitness is alive and well! My colleague Sabrina Connell and I collected data on all five episodes and gained a bit more insight into which episodes children preferred and what prompted them to get up on their feet and get active. I hosted two screenings of the series: one in Brooklyn, NY, for family and friends and another in Somerville, MA, for my students, their families, and my Massachusetts friends. Rachel Yonda made unbelievably beautiful invites for both events.
It was nice to catch friends and family up on what I've been doing at Tufts. I felt very fortunate to be surrounded by so much love and support! You know people love you when they wear a clown nose for you.
I was very lucky to get some press around the Massachusetts screening. The Somerville Patch included a nice article about my work and the event. You can read it here.
The Thesis
I was ecstatic to complete and defend my thesis on time. It was looking a little grim there for a bit. I'm very proud of the work and hope that I can modify parts of it for publication in the near future. Researching my own artistic project was very difficult. I also found flaws with my methodology and would love to go back and do the study differently. Unfortunately, IRB and Tufts' lab school restrictions made it extremely difficult to perform the ideal study. I learned a great deal about methodology during the research and writing processes. It would have been nice to perform the study in a more naturalistic setting and perhaps use the caregiver as an investigator in the project. I'm interested in comparing these possible methods with other children's media studies performed both in academia and in the industry.
Graduation
I think my favorite part of graduation was when my dad pulled out a clown nose from his jacket pocket and encouraged me to wear it for the ceremony. We Zagarinos love to push buttons, especially when it comes to pomp and circumstance! More than anything, I was so touched that he had held onto the nose. I could tell how proud my parents were of the work I had accomplished these past two years. Friend and Big Top production assistant, Audrey Raboin, and I sported our noses as we left the ceremony. In addition to working on the series, Audrey and I also spent our first semester studying puppetry for television, taught by none other than the amazing Sabrina. Those workshops provided me with some of my favorite Tufts memories. Here's Audrey working with Naranja:
I think we're mostly caught up! I look forward to posting more regularly and reading your comments.
Tweet
The past year has certainly been an adventure full of deadlines, rewrites, and curriculum planning. I'm currently in the process of what I've aptly called "The Great Job Search 2011." With a bit more time to write, I am happy to announce that I will be posting regularly on iGeneration and am very pleased with the redesign. Please read on if you're interested in what's been happening during iGeneration's comfy nap.
Big Top Fitness
Despite the lack of updates on the blog and Facebook page, Big Top Fitness is alive and well! My colleague Sabrina Connell and I collected data on all five episodes and gained a bit more insight into which episodes children preferred and what prompted them to get up on their feet and get active. I hosted two screenings of the series: one in Brooklyn, NY, for family and friends and another in Somerville, MA, for my students, their families, and my Massachusetts friends. Rachel Yonda made unbelievably beautiful invites for both events.
It was nice to catch friends and family up on what I've been doing at Tufts. I felt very fortunate to be surrounded by so much love and support! You know people love you when they wear a clown nose for you.
I was very lucky to get some press around the Massachusetts screening. The Somerville Patch included a nice article about my work and the event. You can read it here.
The Thesis
I was ecstatic to complete and defend my thesis on time. It was looking a little grim there for a bit. I'm very proud of the work and hope that I can modify parts of it for publication in the near future. Researching my own artistic project was very difficult. I also found flaws with my methodology and would love to go back and do the study differently. Unfortunately, IRB and Tufts' lab school restrictions made it extremely difficult to perform the ideal study. I learned a great deal about methodology during the research and writing processes. It would have been nice to perform the study in a more naturalistic setting and perhaps use the caregiver as an investigator in the project. I'm interested in comparing these possible methods with other children's media studies performed both in academia and in the industry.
Graduation
I think my favorite part of graduation was when my dad pulled out a clown nose from his jacket pocket and encouraged me to wear it for the ceremony. We Zagarinos love to push buttons, especially when it comes to pomp and circumstance! More than anything, I was so touched that he had held onto the nose. I could tell how proud my parents were of the work I had accomplished these past two years. Friend and Big Top production assistant, Audrey Raboin, and I sported our noses as we left the ceremony. In addition to working on the series, Audrey and I also spent our first semester studying puppetry for television, taught by none other than the amazing Sabrina. Those workshops provided me with some of my favorite Tufts memories. Here's Audrey working with Naranja:
I think we're mostly caught up! I look forward to posting more regularly and reading your comments.
Tweet
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Meet Ham!
Meet Ham! Ham needs a little encouragement to get up and active, but he loves moving his body and playing tricks on friends. Ham thinks he is a great clown and loves juggling with his circus partner Dot!
Ham is played by WT McRae, a New York-based clown, mime, actor and circus educator. WT enjoys performing with Christina Gelsone as part of Fool's Academy and teaches circus and theatre for Sitka Fine Arts Camp, The New Victory Theatre, Circus Minimus and others.
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