It was another crazy busy week including a very full weekend! Last week I missed the Market Day at my daughter’s school for the first time in years as I was working and I heard these mealworm races were excellent, I suggested that they add a chicken next time and the mealworm that survives is the winner!

 

Thursday evening we had the Celebration of Learning at my work where the kids present their projects. For the 1st-grade class, they presented their Global Village which they made from foam core and upcycled materials. Inspired by the book, If the World Were a Village read by my co-teacher, we chatted to the kids and documented their discussion to get the project off the ground. We asked the science teacher to help with the materials and organising the footprint of the village where everything should go. Our art teacher helped with the details of the ground and road and supplying the paint. I helped the kids with the paint colours, some of the construction and documenting the info. To make it a truly collaborative experience the 2nd and 3rd-grade classes helped set up the LED power station. The idea from the beginning is that each child who made their pieces/places can take them home to play with them.

 

 

 

Saturday evening I went to the 2nd Annual Bollywood party as a gift to myself for studying even though I still have 3 weeks to go! The party is organised by some parents from Stevenson Elementary school as an auction prize. Somehow over the evening, I had a few too many vodka mango cocktails and I was dancing the night away, shooing away the birds (my new Bollywood move!). It is always such a fun night and so good to meet some new families and catch up with friends.

 

 

Sunday we had to get up early and go to our volunteer shift at the Maker Faire for Stevenson Elementary Schools booth where the 4th grade was showcasing their gold rush sluice boxes and the 2nd grade had their air plants art installation on display. We worked our 2-hour shift and off we went to enjoy the fun of the Maker Faire and by then Missy was hungry and ready for a hot dog! Not me I really do not like the food at Maker Faire all carnival deep fried disgusting food.

 

We lived the dream by checking out a teardrop trailer to see if we could fit in and then we found this refurbished trailer the kids really enjoyed, perfect for 2 people and the kids can camp in the tent outside 😀

 

As we ran into some Australian friends after checking out Homegrown – a place where you find the artisanal yummy food including hot cocoa, we saw a parade of cupcakes and another friend of ours from school riding the horse-drawn solar carriage.

 

Wandering through the rest of the Faire we had fun with Big Face Box while we caught up with friends from our old school plus so much art was on show and SO many useless robots. We had such a cool time, running into friends and checking out all sorts of new gadgets and games.

I happened to be taking a break from walking when I came across this talk from Ted Dintersmith and he talked about the future of education in America and how there needs to be a bit of a shake-up in regards to the system. He showed videos of jobs will not be available in the future due to advances in technology and how there is a need for students to be able to be innovators and makers. He is out there to inspire students and educators to feature project-based learning schools allowing kids to become critical thinkers. The timing of this talk was perfect as I have to write a reflection of my educational philosophy for my next assignment!

 

Plus at the Maker Faire, I found this artist Miss Velvet Cream by chatting with someone at a food truck – so inspiring to see her work plus she had won all these blue ribbons including the editors choice. Oh, and how can I forget running into a fellow chicken lover Stoneface Project (we did a craft show together in SF ages ago!) at the SF Bazaar and she gave me some super cool earrings – a huge thank you! A couple of other fun discoveries were Escama Studio – pieces made from soft drink pulls by artisans in Brazil. And my daughter loved Bottle of Clouds laser cut hand painted pins and earrings, I could not resist her cat and teapot earrings, perfect for a cat and tea lover!

Such a great time was had by everyone and we were very tired at the end of the weekend, time to catch up on some sleep…