The Handwork teacher

I am a mother to two beautiful girls and I teach Handwork and Fine Arts in our local waldorf charter school in Arizona.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Waldorf Handwork teacher training



Here is the new site for the fiber craft studio

This is the East coast Handwork teacher training program originally part of Sunbridge but now part of the Three fold community.

The new site is slowly growing...check it out!

www.fibercraftstudio.org

Sunday, October 25, 2009

waldorf chalk board drawings by Mr Kaiser





I had the honor of meeting an amazing waldorf teacher from Flagstaff who has the MOST AMAZING talent with chalk board drawings.
His name is Arne Kaiser and he shared some of these drawings on his online photo album.
I wanted to share them with you because they are a true inspiration.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Lantern Walk Martinmas

These stories are from a blog called http://waldorfjourney.typepad.com


One story is of St. Marin and the other is a VERY SWEET story about why we do the Lantern walk


The Story of Martin and the Poor Man

Long ago, there lived a good young man named Martin. Even as a boy, he knew that one day he would be expected to serve in the military. His father was an important military officer. And, though he desired a peaceful life outside of the military, he knew that it would be his duty to follow the life of his father. So, Martin joined the military, became an officer, and was eventually assigned to garrison duty in the town of

Amiens

.

One bitterly cold winter evening, the young Martin rode through the gates of

Amiens

on his fine proud horse. He was dressed in the regalia of his military unit: gleaming armor, a bright helmet, and a beautiful white cloak, lined with lambs wool. It was nearly freezing outside, but his thick cloak kept him warm. He was hardly aware of the cold.

But then, as he approached the gates of the town, he saw a poor man, a beggar, dressed with clothes so ragged that he was practically bare. The man was shaking and blue with cold, but no one reached out to help him. People would pass through the gates, looking straight ahead, so their eyes would not meet with those of the poor, desperate man.

Martin, seeing this, was overcome with compassion. He rode straight to the poor man and took off his white cloak. And with one stroke of his sword he tore the lovely mantle in two. He wrapped half of the cloak around the freezing man and the other half around his own shoulders.

The people nearby watched in amazement. To see a fine military officer do such a lowly thing was a ridiculous sight to many, but others were touched by the goodness that Martin showed.

That night, as Martin slept, he had a dream. A man appeared to him who looked so familiar, and he was wearing the half of the cloak Martin had given to the poor beggar. And then, Martin saw in the eyes of this man, and the light of the Divine which we carry within us.

From that day on, Martin’s life was changed forever. He knew that he could no longer be part of the military, for his true desire was to live a life of goodness.


The Lantern

There was once a boy called George who had been outside in the garden all through the Summer running after the butterflies, jumping like a grasshopper, singing like a bird, and trying to catch the sunlight. One day when he was lying on his back in the meadow gazing up into the sun-filled sky, he said, “Dear Brother Sun, soon the Autumn winds will blow and wail, and Jack Frost will come and make us all freeze, and the nights will be long and cold.”

Brother Sun pushed the clouds aside and said, “Yes, it will be dark and cold. In the deep midwinter, warmth and light live deep within, hidden from sight. In the time of dark and cold, you will tend the Light Within.”

“But,” said George, “How will I tend this Light when it’s dark everywhere around me?”

“I will give you a spark of my last Autumn rays once you have made a little house for it, for this spark must be guarded well. It will light the way for you to tend the Light Within throughout the time of dark and cold.”

And then Brother Sun once hid again behind a cloud.

George went home and wondered how best he could make a little house for the spark of the sun. He took a thick piece of paper and painted a beautiful blue and yellow watercolor upon it. When it was dry, he cut windows into his painting. Then he placed colored tissue paper on the back of his watercolor - and - he formed it into a lantern. He took a candle and put it into the middle of his lantern. And, as it was growing dark, he went outside with it.

George held the lantern up above him and said, “Brother Sun, I have made a little home for one of your golden sparks. Please may I have one? I will guard it well.”

Then Brother Sun looked out from behind a cloud and said, “You have made a beautiful home. I shall give you one of my golden sparks.”

And suddenly, George saw how the windows of his lantern were lit up, and as he looked into the lantern, he saw a spark happily dancing on top of the candle. Oh, how happy the light was in his lovely lantern! It shone and shone so brightly.

“Thank you, Brother Sun,” George called out, “Thank you.” And he took his lantern and carried it carefully home singing:

The sunlight fast is dwindling,

My little lamp needs kindling.

Its beam shines far in darkest night,

Dear Lantern, guard me with your light
~ from Autumn, Wynstones Press, originally by M Meyerkort and revised by L Sutter.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

lunch ideas and containers

I love cool lunch ideas....its all about the visual display!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/berlinswhimsy/sets/72157603657333140/

endless ideas!!!

http://www.laptoplunches.com/LaptopLunchPhotos.html


here is where you can buy the lap top lunch containers.....sooooo coooooool!

http://www.laptoplunches.com/

party favor ideas

I love this idea...I will be using it for the next party

I love new party favor ideas!
and party activities

http://www.mypapercrane.com/blog/?p=1288

http://berlinswhimsy.typepad.com/berlins_whimsy/2009/09/peaches.html

http://elise.com/recipes/archives/004239homemade_pizza.php

temperaments and seating

Notes from Goldstein’s lecture
“The phlegmatic child may be inclined toward laziness; he does a lot of sitting and loves to eat potatoes and pasta so that it is difficult for him to move and remain alert.” In arithmetic, he “enjoys the constant activity of adding numbers” and in music, he prefers “instruments that don’t have to be tuned or fussed with, such as the piano.”
The choleric is fiery and “likes to barrel through things.” He or she usually has a somewhat stocky build. In arithmetic, “division is a choleric activity,” and in music, the drum is his instrument of choice. The choleric child is always looking for a fight; he can be “a thorn in the teacher’s side,” so the teacher is advised to befriend the cholerics or the class will suffer tyrants instead of selfless leaders.
The four phlegmatics in Goldstein’s class sit in the back of the classroom because, she says, “If you put two phlegmatics next to each other they get so bored that they come out of themselves. It’s hard for a phlegmatic child to sit next to a choleric, because the phlegmatic needs a lot of quiet.”


Human values in waldorf education Steiner

In waldorf education we greatly value the ability to enter and understand children according to their temperaments.
We arrange the classroom setting on this basis. For example we try to understand who is Choleric and place them together. Thus the teacher knows that one corner contains all the children who tend to be Choleric. In another the children who tend to be phlegmatic sit together; somewhere in the middle are the sanguines and somewhere else the Melancholic’s are grouped. This method of grouping has a great advantage. Experience shows that after a while the phlegmatic become bored with sitting together that to get rid of their boredom they start to engage. Cholerics on the other hand start to beat up on each one another and this too quickly improves. It is the same for the fidgety sanguine and melancholics get to see what others look like absorbed in Melancholy. Working with children in this way allows one to see how like reacts favorable to like. This is true even from an external point of view, apart from the fact that it allows teaches to survey the whole class much more easily because the children of similar tempurametns are seated together. And now we come to the essential point. Teachers must go so deeply into the nature of the human being that they are able to deal in a truly practical way with cholerics, sanguine and melancholics. Naturally there will be time when it is necessary to build a bridge as I mentioned between the school and the home. And this it must be done in a friendly tactful way. Image that I have a melancholic boy in class and I can barley do anything with him. I am unable to go into his difficulties in the right way. He broods and withdraws, he is self occupied and plays no attention to what is going on in class. If one applies educational methods that are not based on knowledge of human being one might think that we should do everything possible to get his attention and draw him out. In general however this will only make things worse, the child will brood even more. All such cures which arise from superficial thinking, are of little help. The best help in such cases is the spontaneous love that the teacher feels for the child, because this arouses an awareness of sympathy and stirs the child’s subconscious… As teachers we must carry all four temperaments in a harmonious balanced activity. ..

temperaments and seating

Notes from Goldstein’s lecture
“The phlegmatic child may be inclined toward laziness; he does a lot of sitting and loves to eat potatoes and pasta so that it is difficult for him to move and remain alert.” In arithmetic, he “enjoys the constant activity of adding numbers” and in music, he prefers “instruments that don’t have to be tuned or fussed with, such as the piano.”
The choleric is fiery and “likes to barrel through things.” He or she usually has a somewhat stocky build. In arithmetic, “division is a choleric activity,” and in music, the drum is his instrument of choice. The choleric child is always looking for a fight; he can be “a thorn in the teacher’s side,” so the teacher is advised to befriend the cholerics or the class will suffer tyrants instead of selfless leaders.
The four phlegmatics in Goldstein’s class sit in the back of the classroom because, she says, “If you put two phlegmatics next to each other they get so bored that they come out of themselves. It’s hard for a phlegmatic child to sit next to a choleric, because the phlegmatic needs a lot of quiet.”
Human values in waldorf education Steiner
In waldorf education we greatly value the ability to enter and understand children according to their temperaments.
We arrange the classroom setting on this basis. For example we try to understand who is Choleric and place them together. Thus the teacher knows that one corner contains all the children who tend to be Choleric. In another the children who tend to be phlegmatic sit together; somewhere in the middle are the sanguines and somewhere else the Melancholic’s are grouped. This method of grouping has a great advantage. Experience shows that after a while the phlegmatic become bored with sitting together that to get rid of their boredom they start to engage. Cholerics on the other hand start to beat up on each one another and this too quickly improves. It is the same for the fidgety sanguine and melancholics get to see what others look like absorbed in Melancholy. Working with children in this way allows one to see how like reacts favorable to like. This is true even from an external point of view, apart from the fact that it allows teaches to survey the whole class much more easily because the children of similar tempurametns are seated together. And now we come to the essential point. Teachers must go so deeply into the nature of the human being that they are able to deal in a truly practical way with cholerics, sanguine and melancholics. Naturally there will be time when it is necessary to build a bridge as I mentioned between the school and the home. And this it must be done in a friendly tactful way. Image that I have a melancholic boy in class and I can barley do anything with him. I am unable to go into his difficulties in the right way. He broods and withdraws, he is self occupied and plays no attention to what is going on in class. If one applies educational methods that are not based on knowledge of human being one might think that we should do everything possible to get his attention and draw him out. In general however this will only make things worse, the child will brood even more. All such cures which arise from superficial thinking, are of little help. The best help in such cases is the spontaneous love that the teacher feels for the child, because this arouses an awareness of sympathy and stirs the child’s subconscious… As teachers we must carry all four temperaments in a harmonious balanced activity. ..

Saturday, October 10, 2009

October Waldorf school paintings and cranyon drawings


wet on wet painting. lemon yellow, crimson red, and Prussian blue...oh and the tree was indigo

Block bees wax crayons

these are felted pumpkins that I did with the 7th grade....these 2 are mine one has a mouse on it


Here are a few ideas for grades 1-9 really






They won't all look like this but they are simple and you can take it to what ever level you need to

Friday, October 9, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009

9th grade MainLesson block



I am teaching a 9th grade Main Lesson Block on Art History

and LOVING IT!!!!

here is a black board drawing I did on cave art
I am actually only teaching 2 weeks of the block...but its lots of fun and it's my favorite students to work with. Remember I am their mentor this year so its been really nice working with them on different subjects besides talking through subjects like : "I hate how much makeup she wears" or "why can't we have a base ball team this year?"