Written by 2023-24 AFA Intern Mackenzie Timbrell
February 6, 2024:
On Tuesday, February 6th, I had the pleasure of joining Stephanie Martinez at PS194. I joined her for a kindergarten class and a first-grade class. The activities were the same for both classrooms that day, and it was interesting to see how each level interacted with the material. The first thing we did in both classes was a show of thumbs to see how every student was feeling. This is a great way to start the day and let the students know that they are all heard. Stephanie then jumped into the main activity, which was reading a book called Stuck With The Blooz, which is about a child who cannot shake the “Blooz,” which is a big blue monster that will not leave her alone. The children in both classes really loved this book, as it uses great descriptions of things the girl tried to do to get the Blooz to go away. After we read the book, the children were instructed to use paper and colored pencils to show what their own “Blooz” looks like and the things they can do to help it go away. The imagination for this assignment was off the charts! Most of the kids wanted to make a “rainbow Blooz” and came up with really great ways to get rid of their sad emotions, such as breathing exercises or going for a walk. These two classes were so much fun, and I can’t wait to shadow again!
March 5, 2024:
On Tuesday, March 5th, I had the opportunity to go back to PS194 to shadow teaching artist Stephanie Martinez. On this day, both the kindergarten and first grade classrooms were working on the same unit, which was a dance performance! Stephanie first started out by singing a good morning song and then began to read the book Click, Clack, Moo. Both classrooms absolutely loved the story of the animals going on strike until they all got heated blankets or whatever luxury item they wanted! Then, Stephanie had everyone stand up and taught a cute dance that they are going to keep practicing until they perform it in a few weeks for their teachers and administrators! The kids absolutely loved being able to move in their own space and use the space of the classroom to express themselves. This activity definitely kept both classrooms entertained, and the kids loved performing for me at the end! Some of the students who really mastered the dance early on got to try and help the class out with a few different moves. It was great to see all the children working together and respecting everyone else’s spaces during this activity. Stephanie closed out each class by doing her goodbye song with the students. I can’t wait to hear how the performance goes, and I look forward to coming back to these classes soon!
March 26, 2024:
On Tuesday, March 26th, I joined Stephanie Martinez and the students at PS194 for their last class together. They had done their final activity the week before, so this day was dedicated to getting feedback from the students on how the program went. In addition to this fun survey, students were asked to write down what their favorite activity was from the residency. There was an overwhelming love for Click Clack Moo, but some of the kids also loved the smaller activities that they did. After Stephanie had collected all the input from the students, she read a book about saying goodbyes and how they are just the beginning of a new start and adventure. I think that this was helpful in the transition for the students out of the residency with Stephanie. For the final activity of the day, Stephanie did a movement activity with the kids to have some fun for the last 10 minutes of the class. The kindergarten class did an activity where they moved around the classroom as different animals, and the first-grade class did an activity where they were able to move around the room depending on whether they liked the same thing as another student. At the end of the day, Stephanie did the goodbye song with all the students. It was such a pleasure to be able to join Stephanie for these last three classes, and it was amazing to see how the kids had grown as artists throughout the residency.
