And the Moral of the Story is....

What happens next?

For Emily:

Emily loved the partner journal so much that she went out and bought her own journal so she could write down things that she likes, her thoughts, and her feelings.  

She also wants to continue partner journaling with me.

Our journey together will continue until she wishes to stop.

Right now the journal is in Tahoe.

I wonder what will happen there. :)

For Emily and Her Family:

The partner journal allowed her Mom to get to know her daughter a little bit better.  

Her mother has told me that "it has always been hard to figure Emily out; she is so different from Cole."

By looking through our entries, she was able to get a glimpse of how exactly Emily views herself and how she views important things in her life.  

I was able to talk to Emily's Mom about the possibility of dyslexia

(noun: a developmental disorder which can cause learning difficulty in one or more of the areas of reading, writing, and numeracy) which could explain a lot of the struggles Emily had in school this year.  Her mother stated that "Emily is extremely bright for her age and I think because of her spelling and laziness she is put back into a slower paced work group in the classroom."  Based upon the findings in our partner journal, she wants to have Emily tested for dyslexia to ensure that if that is actually the case that Emily can get the help she needs to overcome her struggles.  Emily's mother also wants to start her own partner journal with her daughter as a way for them to communicate ideas, feelings, emotions, and much more with each other around both of their busy schedules.

"Character is not hereditary."

-Michele Robison

For Me:

I am so thankful for this experience!

I was able to find answers to the wonderings I was thinking about:

I wonder...

...if the use of arts integration in the classroom gives students the ability to better process the content?

YES.

I wonder...

...how the arts can be used discover more about the interests of children?

YES.

I wonder...

...if the arts in content areas can help students better understand themselves?

YES.

I wonder...

...how the arts can be used to help students express themselves?

YES.

These wonderings were all answered positively with my experience with Emily.

But that is just one child.  The research demonstrates similar responses through several different sessions with art integration, but does it work for all children?

I now have a positive result to help prove my wonderings about the use of the arts in schools.  However, I know that there is so much more to it than just one experience.  Every child learns differently; now that I know I can use art to help them better process content, discover more about their interests, help them better understand themselves, and to express themselves, how can I make sure that I am meeting the needs of every student?

And thus, new wonderings were born:

I wonder...

would the introduction of multiple mediums of art benefit student learning?

I wonder...

if the teachers were more enthusiastic about art would the students be as well?

I wonder...

how art can be modified for students with Special Needs or English Language Learners?

I wonder...

"All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make the better."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hide and Seek

I think it is so interesting what people keep hidden about themselves and what you can find if you get to know someone.

This learning journal partner study helped me find out more about Emily, as well as a little bit more about myself.  

For every page that Emily did (unless we were together), I did one of my own.

I chose to do verbal instructions, written instructions, and sometimes even a combination of both.

In the beginning of the journal, the entries were a bit more personal such as:

What are some of your favorite things?

 

What does family mean to you? (note that the word family makes an acrostic)

If you are granted three wishes what would they be?

Through these entries I was able to see:

-what she likes

-what she doesn't

-things that are important to her

-that her spelling isn't necessarily at a level where she should be

These entries showed me Emily's interests right away and gave me a few ideas on what to work on with her for the next session.

From this point I was able to use what I have discovered in order to prepare topics and prompts that would best suit the needs of this particular child.  

By talking with her mother and with Emily I found that she doesn't like school.

I wanted to know why.

We had a session where we went into the content based entries:

We started with Language Arts (her least favorite subject) and I asked her to write to me and tell me why she doesn't like school.

[Standards: 3rd grade. Writing 1.0-1.2]

I asked her verbally to explain what she wrote:

-she gets bored sitting there all day

-she feels like she already knows the material

-"we always had to write up until recess---and there are three recesses." 

-"I think I would like writing more if I got to write like how I did my poem."

From here we talked about the other parts of Language Arts such as reading and spelling:

-She doesn't like spelling; it's difficult for her.

"When I write the words jumble, like sometimes I get my "b"s and "d"s mixed up."

-Sometimes, like in spelling, the words get jumbled in her head when she's reading.

-Reading she likes depending on the book.

"I don't like it when the book is hard or boring; I like it when I understand it or like feel the same--like in Diary of a Wimpy Kid--they have an older brother who tries to act cool too."

Next we tried Math (her next least favorite subject).

I asked her why she didn't like math:

"Because I don't understand it.  There's a lot of stuff to know and it is all really confusing."

I also asked her if her numbers get mixed up like some of her letters do.

She nodded.

For the Math portion we talked about shapes, drawing them, and labeling them.

[Standards: 3rd grade.  Measurement and Geometry 2.0-2.6]

She understood the idea and recognition behind shapes, and just had a little bit of difficulty labeling them.  I quickly realized that Emily strongly dislikes division. This is what happened when I asked what kind of math she remembers from school:

"I remember doing it, but I don't get it.  The numbers never match up and they never work right."

Then we moved to Social Studies.  We talked about geography and geographical features that we live next to (ocean, mountains, desert, etc.). 

 I had her draw a map of our street:

[Standards: 3rd grade. Social Studies 3.1, 1-2]

She drew our cul-de-sac and labeled the places that were important to her (her house, my house, and her friends' houses).  I also asked her to draw which geographical feature she can see from her window and which geographical feature she would like to see from her window:

(Saddleback Mountain)

(The Beach)

For our last content based entry, we worked on Science.  This subject is Emily's absolute favorite.

She told me all about how she likes to do experiments and about a time when her brother and his friends froze a junebug.  She was extremely enthusiastic about this particular topic.  We used our drawings from last time (Social Studies entry) and I challenged her to draw an animal from that type of place and what they need to survive:

[Standards: 3rd grade. Science: Life Sciences 3a,c]

(place: mountains, animal: reindeer, needs: cave for shelter, berries for food, water to drink, fuzz to stay warm.)

(place: beach, animal: fish, needs: reef for shelter, air to survive, small fish for food.)

Once we had finished the content based entries (incorporating the arts), we moved back into personal entries.

We started off with word recognition/color assignment.

From this we can see that:

-she loves her family

-struggles with her brother

-is scared to go into Fourth grade

-is a tomboy

-and finds herself weird

(a "good" weird---I asked).

Then the journal was able to be taken in a separate direction; Emily asked me if we could replicate a page out of my learning journal.  The page Emily wanted to copy, was the one that had given me the most trouble to do--my break the margins page.  I decided to go with it:

She cut, colored, created, and named her artwork.

The Swagger Jagger Express.

This partner journal has showed me so much about myself and how others learn.  I could have only done research on using the arts in content areas, but actually doing it creates a memorable and meaningful experience.

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet."

-Aristotle

Dear Diary...

I chose to create a safe place where Emily and I could work and explore together.
In terms of the Block...a learning journal.
In terms of a Fourth grader...a diary.

This journal was geared towards being a place where Emily and I could communicate about anything she wanted.  I also made Emily aware that there might be some times where I would have to share some of the information I found to her mom.
She was accepting and understanding of this.
And so our journey began.

My goal and approach to the journal was simple.
I wanted to start out with more personal entries:
-getting to know each other better
-understanding her thinking perspective
-the things that are her favorites
-what family means to her
-what she wishes and dreams for

Then move to more curriculum based entries.
Following the California State Standards for Third grade, I would cover basic content areas that she should be capable of in:
-Mathematics
-Science
-Language Arts
-Social Studies

After this, I wanted to switch back to more personal entries.
This area in the journal would be more of a time where Emily and I could sit down and speak verbally, as well as through the pages of the journal.
This would also be the area in the journal where I would introduce art based entries, if she was willing.

There were several sessions throughout the course of the study and I feel that because the journal is a representation of who Emily is, (including her likes, dislikes, emotions, and feelings) that everything within the journal can be considered relevant data.
Throughout our time together I have gathered:
- physical data through the journal
-verbal data through conversation with Emily
-verbal data through conversation with the mother
-observations through time spent with my partner

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is a process; working together is success."
-Anonymous

Who I Am Comes From Where I've Been

I am a product of my parents,

A result of my own curiousity,

A representation of my faith,

and a continuous demonstration of the arts.

While I may know who I am,

I wanted to further my knowledge by trying to understand someone else;

How they learn,

How they feel,

How they view the world.

Lucky for me, 

I found a learning partner willing to help me find answers to my questions!

Meet Emily!

She is going into Fourth grade, of the Caucasian race, is the youngest of the family (has an older brother), fluent in the English language, a GATE student, and my next door neighbor.  :) 

She is EXTREMELY active and thoroughly enjoys spending time and playing outdoors.

She doesn't consider herself a "girly girl" in the least.

She is currently involved in dance, softball, and gymnastics.

Emily absolutely loves to draw and participate in art, however because she is busy with extracurricular activities and enrolled in a public school, art is not always something she has the time or an option she gets to choose.

Emily is a fantastic girl and through conversations with her mom and with her I've found that she has a certain distaste for school.
I want to use this journal as a vessel to explore:
-how art impacts her learning
-why she doesn't like school
-how she feels about herself
-how she feels about her family

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."-Lau Tzu

Walking in a Summer Wonderland

Wonder.

Verb.

To speculate curiously or be curious about; be curious to know.

Wonder is something that begins as a child and never truly goes away.
As long as you have a brain, wonder will always be part of your life.

As I move closer towards becoming a future teacher of America,
my wonderings have taken a focus on education and learners.
Through my classes and experiences I have found that each child comes with their own personality, way of thinking, and style of learning.

Each child has their own interests and wonderings.

But how can I, as an educator, take all of these interests and wonderings and put them to good use?

Art is something that has been infused into my life since I was a child.

Singing, painting, drama, dancing, poetry--you name it, I've seen it in action.

According to my mother, when I was younger there were definitely some mediums that I refused to experiment with (simply because I didn't want to be wrong or have to be told what to do).

Over the years I found myself using art techniques to help me remember certain things for school such as information for tests, writing in poetry instead of essay form, etc.

Looking back on my experiences with art, I wonder if the arts are integrated into the curriculum, will children be able to benefit from the results?

I wonder...

...if the use of arts integration in the classroom gives students the ability to better process the content?

I wonder...

...how the arts can be used discover more about the interests of children?

I wonder...

...if the arts in content areas can help students better understand themselves?

I wonder...

...how the arts can be used to help students express themselves?

 "Wisdom begins in wonder."
-Socrates