Courage Day 2015 (aka Michaelmas)

The dragon came, and each of the 2 second grades faced their fears!  Our school now has 2 separate campuses, thus 2 Geaorge and the Dragon plays.  I help the 6th grade create the dragon for the play...the wings created by one of the classes was spectaculor!!!  At the end of the school day, we have a Courage day festival, with lots of feats of courage for all the kiddos!!!

Michaelmas

Awe, look at this two headed dragon!  These 6th graders really were so inspired this year...and I was totally "hands off" and let them do whatever they wanted, and look what happened!  

At our school we call Michaelmas "courage day", so no-one mistakes the day for something religious since we are a public charter school, and although it is not, we have to be careful I guess...silly really.  The day begins with the 2nd grade doing the St. George and the Dragon play, the 6th graders play the part of the dragon as well as make the dragon (it is very cute, they are also class buddies, the 2nd and 6th grade, so it works out so well!)

It was a super hot day, near 100 degrees!  After the play, the whole school participates in 

"Courage day" festivities, where we have various feats of courage...pretty fun, but oh so hot!

After our play, I went over the Sacramento Waldorf School to watch their Michaelmas play, always a treat to see what the parents and children of the 6th grade come up with for their dragon!

This one was fire breathing!

Well, I need to muster the courage to slay some personal dragons, but it is just too darn hot in these parts!  That will have to wait for cooler weather, even the dragons are seeking cooler places....

Happy Fall !

Year 1012-13 planning

Raffia Hat Making

Here we go again!  Planning the next school year is a little daunting sometimes....especially because I like to mix it up a little, while some things never change, I have pretty much carte blanche to add any projects that strikes my fancy, and fits a particular class.  For example, at the end of the last school year I stopped everything we were doing with the 6th grade and started raffia hat making....I saw it as a homeopathic remedy for a bit wild and out of control class (well, more than a bit actually....).  I saw all that wild rafia having to be formed into some semblance of organization, and I thought that was exactly what I would like to see happen with this class...to pull themselves together into something harmonious, useful and beautiful.  Did it work?  Well, actually it did.  Pretty cool.

Sources:  http://www.franksupply.com/raffia/supplies.html#naturalraffia
I ordered the 35 lb. hat grade raffia, which will last me for years!  I also ordered the book Raffia Hat Making by Ann Fennell from the same source.  Pretty basic stuff.

Skills needed:  Braiding skills, for more advanced students, a 4 strand braid was used.  I like that better as it lays flatter.
We just braided and braided and added more raffia and braided and braided and then starting with a spiral sewed it all up (like a rag rug) and formed it the way they wanted.  It is surprising how each hat turns out differently, and not always the way we want!  We will still be doing this at the beginning of this year, no-one finished (some took the project home over the summer)

Now, go out and make a hat!