Japanese Jewelry Making: Signed up to teach afterschool

 I am part kicking myself and mostly super excited about this after school class I signed up to teach every Monday for the first semester. Jewelry making! There is already another similar class called Bedazzled at the school, so I tried to think of a way to make mine unique. Then, I thought, part of the reason why they hired me was because of my exposure to the Japanese culture! So . . . I decided to call the class Kazari, meaning decorations in Japanese.

Next dilemma. What exactly should I teach? What jewelry CAN I make with 5 - 7 year olds? I know I could do pasta necklaces and friendship bracelets, but how does this relate to Japan? My answer? Google! My one-stop-shop answer to any question.

I found some really neat ideas for lessons as well. :) I'm trying to keep it simple and easy, but while still using the full hour or so I have with the kids.

In order to infuse the Japanese culture into the classes, I thought about teaching mini lessons on snippets of Japan, so to speak. One mini lesson a week, which is about 12 - 17 lessons. (I don't remember how many Mondays we have the first semester.)

In no particular order, here are my lesson ideas.

Origami : Easy Peasy!

As a fellow first grader told me, " Origami is very easy! It's simply folding and cutting paper."

I love to make crane earrings, but, because most 5 year olds do not have the fine motor skills to do this, I found this. A how-to on how to make Japanese style paper-bead earrings.

After teaching briefly about what origami is and how it is used in Japan, I plan to teach them how to make these beads the first day. They can make whatever color beads they want throughout the entire semester for necklaces, bracelets, earrings, or even hair accessories. This first lesson, will be purely bead making. The second lesson will be the making of a simple bracelet, necklace, or some other "kazari". 

Making Paper-Bead bracelet

After checking to make sure all of the beads dried nicely, I plan to show how to make clear bracelets using the paper beads, clear beads, and fishing string.

The lesson for this week could be anything. I might teach a little blurp about Japan's unique styles in Harajuku and how Japan is one of the competitive countries in fashion. Or I could teach about Japanese glass bead work.

Japanese Fans

Japan is known for their fans and it is often used in jewelry and patterns for fabric. I have researched the significance, other than to keep cool, yet, but I intend to. I have very little knowledge, but do not want to post it until I am sure I am correct. However, once I have done the research, we will be making Japanese Fan Pendants.

Cutting the origami I have into smaller squares would allow for us to make smaller fans to hang on necklaces. I would spray with a hardener to keep them from folding up, bending/ or scrunching up. I love the idea of making a clear necklace using this fan and paper beads. We could even start making a set with bracelet, necklace, and possibly earrings.

Flower Hair Band

 Hair accessories are very popular in Japan, as it is, also, a part of Japanese history. Obviously, this hairpiece is not Japanese, at all. However, I picked it, because I am working with 5 - 7 year olds. If you would prefer to make flowers more traditional to what you would find on a traditional Japanese hair piece, I will be posting those ideas below. I have yet decided whether or not to teach it or not though.

This lesson will be about the various hair accessories used by Japanese geisha.

I like how easy this flower is to make, because I can allow them to decorate their flower however they'd like. For example, we could make this using Origami paper backed with cardstock or they could glitter/mod-podge the flower for extra sparkle.

This project will, most likely, become a 2-week project, allowing the flowers to dry the first week. 

Lucky Stars

We are back to Origami for this lesson. Using paper strips, I could teach the children how to make these cute little stars. After making a couple and spraying them with hardener, we could string them, again, using anything we have already learned in the previous weeks. :) We could, also, glue them to head bands as decorations, or make simple earrings. 

Heart Pendant

 

 

I haven't decided on whether or not I want to do this lesson or not, but I know the kids will love it. I found a tutorial on how to make these pendants using foam boards. We do not even have to add a character in the middle. We could just decorate whatever shape they choose to cut out. (Personally, I kind of want to make a giraffe with yellow and brown gems.)

The lesson? This week might be the Harajuku week instead. 

Knock-Off Earrings by Kamiori Kaori

 

 

After teaching about fashion in Japan, these earrings may be interesting to introduce to the kids. It's pretty simple to make AND I can teach some of the younger ones how to tie a knot (on purpose). Of course, I would have to get clip-on earrings, but, this is so cute, I want to wear it!

The lesson? Since they are knock-offs, I will probably do a lesson on who the designer is and why this is called a knock-off. 

Origami Heart Earrings

 

 

How adorable are these?! And they are super easy to make, I hope.. I'll try to make it first. I love learning how to make cute pendants, because you can use them in so many different designs. I'm assuming most of the kids in my class will be girls, and most girls like hearts. If someone doesn't like it, she/he can always continue another project we have done in the past or create a new project. 

However, I think most will be excited about this.

Lesson? (!!) How about the Geisha decorations that are on a stick?! This would be very cute on the end of one, sticking out of a braid, bun, pony tail, etc. 

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Well, I have many more ideas, but, as I stated before, I want to be ahead of the game to keep from stressing out. I don't have the materials yet, but at least I know what i need to order. Fingers crossed these lessons go well. 

DIY Jewelry Ideas

CyArk Lesson Plans

A friend has just introduced TedTalk to me, and, as I watched the videos, I came across Ben Kacyra speaking about CyArk. He spoke of their mission to preserve stories through digitally preserving sites, including historical, with a machine that, in a sense, captured a 3-D picture of those sites in detail.

When I visited his site, they had a link for education lesson plans. These plans look really neat and interactive, a great resource for the classroom.

Adora Svitak: what adults can learn from kids

I came across this video on Hulu and found it very interesting. Adora Svitak is a very insightful girl with big dreams. She hit hammer right on the head as she talked about children rising to expectations. Always keep the bar held high! But I see this can be translated to us as adults as well. We should keep our expectations of ourselves held high as well.  

TedTalk: What Adults Can Learn from Kids

New Intentions

Originally, this blog was created for a class project, but, I have new intentions for this blog now. I have just accepted an exciting new job as a Kindergarten school teacher at an Atlanta charter school, which will remain anonymous. In so far, I have had half a year of true professional experience as a second grade teacher, and given the different curriculum and the full term contract, I accept this as my first true year of teaching. Beginning to end. My class. My students. Their teacher. And I can't wait.

I have several goals for this upcoming year, obviously mostly involving academics and parent/teacher communication. But I also want to continue to be a reflective teacher of myself and my students. Though I understand that routine and structure is necessary in a classroom, I refuse to let this set into my teaching style, and, point blank, cramp that style. Teaching is an ever changing profession with ever changing needs in the classroom. So my personal goal this year, is to try and "survive" the what has been referred to as the "survival first year" of teaching by trying to bypass this stage all together. And how will I do this? By stepping back, looking at my day as a third person, and blog for 10 minutes EVERY day. I am hoping this will force me to step back and see the big picture. What should my first priorities be? What are some things I can do to enhance the lessons? Which lessons need to be enhanced the most? Where are the problem areas in the classroom? Behavior? Number concepts? etc.

This past year, I came into the classroom mid-year. And determined to keep up with the rest of the grade-level, I worked late nights creating lessons that integrated first-of-the-year "getting to know you" lessons with the curriculum. Slowly reintroducing the learning stations and encouraging more autonomy in the classroom as we established our class rules. Unfortunately, I continued to stay late every night and eventually felt myself start to become more and more wary. Unconsciously, I began to look at my priorities more often making promises with myself to complete my mental checklist in order. This helped.

However, I know how I am, and can already feel myself wanting to start out the year sprinting. And though, I see no shame in this, I need to keep myself in check and make sure I am sprinting in the correct direction and not make too many detours. Hello. My name is Frankie and I am an easily-distracted perfectionist. On several occasions this past school year, I stopped mid-work to rearrange the furniture, because I realized that if I just move the table over to the right flush with the wall, it would be more functional. Unfortunately, I would then realize that newly positioned table inhibited access to a certain learning station and would set out to rectify that situation as well. In turn, causing a chain effect throughout the entire classroom. I was always happy with the turnout, but I would then come home to a sleeping husband and cold dinner.

So, that being said, my goal this year is to blog immediately about my reflection of the day and prioritize my tasks for that afternoon. A checklist, if you will, to keep myself on track.

Here's to an exciting new year with wonderful little ones to brighten my day every day!