20th January 2017
AIM
To get to know the children and the Ms Harriot a lot better. Introduce more complex construction in the classroom whilst the artist was there.
I was quite excited about meeting the children in person in their own classroom. I had had a meeting with Ms Harriot the day before so we had an opportunity to plan together. I have found that Virtually There offers an incredible way of working but the ‘getting to know’ each other needs a completely different approach than being in the classroom with the teacher and children. Ms Harriot and I communicate through email several times a week but for gauging the interest level of the teacher and children relies on so many other factors than just printed words. Facial expressions, body language, eves dropping, dynamic, frequently of sighs and squeals and so much more are crucial to shaping a process that is reflective of everyone involved in the collaboration.
I am not very familiar with Belfast and the Finaghy Road North was completely new territory. I had arrived on the train and immediately turned out of the station in the wrong direction. After a bit of a walkabout I noticed lots of pylons that the children had mentioned and gravitated towards them. I knew that I was getting closer to finding the school as I recognized various landmarks that the children had described and drew on their maps. I had googled the area of the school and from a birds eye view there is a lot more greenery than can be seen from walking along at ground level so it was a little disorientating.
Finally I arrived at St. John the Baptist School and for once I did not bring ‘all but the kitchen sink’ to the session with the children. I had though put quite a lot of things in the post over the weeks that we would use together. The children were immediately very friendly and their first question was to ask me about my son who the same age as they are. We talked about lots of different things and it always amazes me at home much information the children retain from every sessions. Often they will continue a conversation we have had or have done a little further research on something that we spoke about. No details or topic is too small or unimportant to be remembered.
As I was Actually There I was able to do all of the dragging about of the furniture for once. We got stuck in straight away with building the dome using the green hanging basket liner that had precut holes in it. I felt somewhat under pressure as we constructed it as it was not as stable as I thought it was going to be and I did not want to disappoint anyone in not ‘getting it right’ which is something artists are really not supposed to be worried about. Yikes!
We did manage to stabilize our dome by securing the top of the dome onto a piece of rope strung across the classroom. The children were all very excited about having built something together as a whole class and getting inside the dome together. I was a little disappointed that it took a lot of tweaking to stabilize it. I had the sense that Ms Harriot was a little disappointed too!
As not to be idle long we quickly dismantled the dome and looked at other things that the piping was good for. I am really interested in hoe we can explore the sounds our bodies make and the insulation piping is proving to be very valuable as a sound conductor. Following this we divided the class into small working groups. The children now knew how to use the utensils and experienced some of the potential of the classroom furniture. We upturned some of the desks, shared out the piping and Velcro strips and got to work on building a ‘space’. Each group had to look at their materials and design something they were to build together as a group. Some groups found the ‘group’ part quiet challenging yet others the dynamic of specific groups worked really well together. It was fantastic to be part of the sharing of ideas, the designing and construction of the ideas. More than one group redesigned their pieces just as they reached completion. In our final few minutes each group nominated a spokesperson who feedback to the whole class the ideas behind what they had made. The children seemed really proud of what they achieved.
I was in a much better position to understand the dynamic of the group whilst being Actually There. Though as to whether I am really there or not possibly doesn’t have such a big impact on the children. Children are so familiar with screen technology they are to create a much more free flowing dialogue with me than I with them. I look forward to reading on the journal the feedback from the children and this too will give me an idea of where we shall go next.
