Yikes! I’ve actually started my journal I didn’t think I’d get here as I’m not the most technologically adept person. Anyway here goes…
When I heard that I would have the chance of working with Andrew again I was really chuffed . We had worked together several years ago on a cross border project based on the linen industry in Ireland. It was really successful and the pupils involved gained so much from the experience so I was really looking forward to working with him again as we forged both a firm working partnership and also a firm friendship.
So onto ‘Virtually There’ as I mentioned I’m not really confident with technology but I don’ t mind taking a leap into the unknown. We successfully linked up a couple of times before our first planned session but even so I was still nervous. The pupils were excited.
Initial contact was rather shaky ….first we had vision no sound, then sound no vision, so lots of sign language and several phone calls later we eventually connected. The project had started!
As I said the children were really excited about connecting with Andrew , he started by asking them to guess where he was transmitting from, their answers ranged from Dublin, to Scotland, to Wales, and eventually Andrew had to tell them .He drew a simple map to show them where Sunderland was.
Andrew started by discussing with the children what they had been learning about extreme weather , the children had already done some research so they had knowledge of various weather types . Andrew talked to the children about the recent flooding in England and Wales and about the impact that it had on peoples homes. He explained how we would be looking at the effects of extreme weather on houses and buildings. So as a starting activity the children had to produce a detailed line drawing of their own home.
The children produced great drawings including lots of detail, solving difficult issues such as how to draw a canopy, a bay window and an open gate. It was interesting to see how the children quite naturally wanted to show Andrew their drawings and they were very quick to take their pictures over to the webcam for him to see.
Andrew then explained that they were going to collage their houses using their first drawing as a reference . They were to use a range of papers and card ,The children were really engaged in this activity and went to great lengths to include details that made their houses individual to them. The children again were keen to show Andrew their work in progress so they took it in turns to show off their collages. The first session was really successful and we were all impressed with the work completed and were looking forward to the next session.

Session 2. 7th December 2012

Buoyed with the success of our first session. I was much more confident about our second session . The video link was launched but the gremlins had been at work and Andrew was all picture no sound! Apparently he could hear us perfectly . So undeterred we forged ahead with our activity. The children were to create their houses in 3d out of cereal boxes ( we did this prior to our session with Andrew) then translate this 3d card version of their house into clay.
Our clay was prepared by Nadine our brilliant 3rd year art student who has joined us on this project . Nadine has fitted right in and in just two weeks become an invaluable source of knowledge and support for me and the pupils. She has also brought in pictures of her own work and as a result the children are getting a broader art experience.
Anyway back to the session,with no sound and only the video link the children watched Andrew’s construction of his clay house, the pupils immediately began moulding their houses. They made sloped roof tops then tiles for their roofs . They added windows and doors and put in as much detail as possible. The children didn’t know what was going to happen to their finished houses …….I did!
Andrew wanted the children to have first hand experience of the effects of weather on houses so their carefully constructed houses were to be put outside exposed to the elements. Their reaction to this news was interesting some were puzzled others excited , I don’t think they fully appreciated what would happen to the unfired clay houses , however they are going to document the effects by taking photographs over the next few weeks.

Session 3. 14th December

Yeah!this time we have full contact…… sound and vision! Andrew talked to the children about extreme weather and the effects on the environment, they had watched various news clips about flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons etc some had personal experiences that they were keen to share with Andrew. Drawing on their experiences Andrew asked them to draw their impressions of a storm in progress . Their drawings were lively and full of drama, with flying furniture, floating cars, abandoned pets and whirling tornadoes.
We were on a roll then…….Andrew had a power cut!!!
So whilst we waited for normal service to resume the children continued drawing they drew the after effects of storms depicting the debris that gets left behind . They were particularly focussed on how things turn up in really odd places such as cars on roofs and boats in gardens, their drawings again were lively and interesting.
Andrew managed to make contact again and we continued with the next stage of the session . All their drawings were pegged up on string which crisscrossed the classroom, we then had a couple of fans directed at their drawings at first we had them on a light breeze, the children watched,we then gradually increased the amount of wind until the drawing were being flapped around very energetically. At this point Andrew encouraged the children to draw what they were seeing they sketched quickly capturing the movement of the paper on the line. They got quite excited as some of the drawing were blown completely off.
We took photos and videos of the event so hopefully you can all see.

Session 4 11th January 2013

A new year! Andrew wanted the children to continue to explore the fragility of buildings exposed to extreme weather as a starter for their thinking Andrew wanted them to experience the work of Korean artist Do Ho Suh. I hadn’t come across him before so it was interesting to study his work with the children. Andrew explained to the children that Do Ho Suh is an installation artist who has created every house he has lived in with fabric,this drew some interesting comments from the children about how they’d go about making their houses in fabric. The children were intrigued by the images and how they were exhibited,some suspended from the ceiling so the viewer had to look up ,some encouraging the viewer to walk in and around the installation.These pieces are stitched with incredible attention to detail, right down to the kitchen sink literally! So using Do Ho Suh’s work as inspiration the children were going to create a house out of fabric . They were split into four groups , each group drew a side ,front or back of a house then they transferred these drawings onto large pieces of fabric. We then had a discussion about who could sew or even thread a needle quite a few of the boys and a few girls hadn’t done either. The children got started onto their sewing.