Friday 17 February 2017

Collaboration in LC2

We have put our students in some challenging situations this week to help them discover the importance of collaboration. We have been exploring what collaboration looks, sounds, and feels like and what we need to do personally in order to collaborate effectively with others.





We have had lots of fun with our mathematics this week through exploring various aspects of geometry through art. You may have heard about pixel art which includes translating a pixilated picture from one place to another and our mystery pixel art which includes creating a picture using a code and coordinates. 



We have been lucky enough to have Tennis and Playball this week, and it has been great to watch our kids having so much fun whilst developing their motor skills.




Remember that Playball will be happening every Thursday after school, so if you want your child to participate please remember to sign them up ASAP.


LC2 Team






Sunday 12 February 2017

LC2 2017 - Here We Go!

What a fabulous start to Term 1 2017 we have had.  It has been fantastic to watch the children join together as a new team right from the get go.  Our first week saw us having fun on the waterslide and spending time getting to know each other, our learning advisors and our new learning space.  Our second week we have hit the ground running with some great learning experiences AND a fantastic trip to the Auckland Art Gallery.

Hopefully your child has been coming home and talking about the word Courage.  This week we have been unpacking the concept of courage, what it means to us personally and interpersonally.  Take a look at what courage means to some of us - 

'When I have a bad dream, going back to sleep without waking up my Dad takes courage.' Meela

'Doing a Michael Jackson dance in front of everyone took courage.'  Alfie

'Going up the Sky Tower because I don't like heights.'  Dylan

'Touching a spider even though I don't like them takes courage.' Isla J

'Sharing learning can take courage.' Diego

'It takes courage to be nice to people.' Vrinda

'Courage is being brave enough to do your fears.' Janneke


We have started to look at and respond to pieces of art with a particular focus on the emotion that the artist is trying to convey.  We have had a go at answering questions like 'What is the story that is being told?'  'How does this piece of art make you feel and why?'  'How has the artist used colour to convey emotion?'

On Thursday we were lucky enough to visit the Auckland Art Gallery to support us with our learning in this area.  We had a session in the Art Studio producing our own art, we spent time in the gallery with a guide who asked us to respond to three different pieces of art and finally we got to have a good look around the gallery by ourselves to see which piece of art we liked the best!

Check out our day by following the link to our photo album.

PINs
We are hoping to get our PINs workshops up and running this Friday.  For those of you who are new to our school PINs stands for Passions Interests and Needs. We run two rounds of workshops on a Friday between 10 and 11 and 11.30 and 12.30.  These workshops can be run by the LC2 learning advisors, children from LC2, other children and adults in our school and YOU!!!  The children have had a think about the workshops they would like.  These ideas are written on yellow post it notes and are currently on display next to our office space.  Please come and have a look to see if you would be able to run a workshop based on any of these interests.  Alternatively if you have a Passion in pretty much anything that you would like to share, please get in touch!  There will be a sign up sheet by the PINs display board soon. 

The children who felt they were ready to lead a workshop in the coming weeks opted in to a workshop on how to fill in a PINs plan in more detail.  Here is an example below.


P.I.Ns Workshop Plan
Leader(s) - Kerry and Bella

Week - 3
How many people can be in my workshop? 6
Title of Workshop

Self portraits using abstract art.

What Do I Need From Kerry, Reid or Elizabeth?
Examples of abstract art.

What resources will I be using?
Pencils, pastels, sharpies, paper, mirrors.




What will happen in the workshop/What will I be teaching?

  • Practice with the pastels to experiment with different techniques - shading, smudging, colour mixing.
  • Share pictures of abstract art and talk about them. What makes them different?  What are the features of abstract art?
  • Have a go at drawing an abstract self portrait.  Use pencil first, then colour with pastels. Finish by using sharpie to go around the outside.
  • Share each other's art and give each other feedback.



Reflection - How did my workshop go?
  • We found it hard to manage that many people.  Next time we are going to have only 5.
  • More examples of abstract art would have been helpful.
  • We need to run another workshop so that people can finish their pictures.




LC2 Team