Bashful

It is always a pleasure to visit different classrooms to share ideas with other educators.

We walk around taking photographs, asking questions, muttering "ooh" and "ahhh" at the creativity and thought behind the use of space or displays of student work. We do this because we are constantly striving to improve our own methods and practices.

Unfortunately,  such opportunities are rare.  The reality is that we spend most of our time in our own classrooms too busy to venture out.  It becomes necessary to share information in alternative ways like blogging or bulletin boards.

And if you are bashful or leery of "tooting your own horn" blogging is out. However, bulletin boards provide an easy, simple way to let others know what is happening in your classroom.

A Pre-K bulletin board caught my eye recently with images of superheroes rendered through art.

Superhero Dolls Art Project

The teachers (Marilla, Ellen and Nancy) noticed their students were borrowing a lot of Superhero books from the library, wearing Superhero t-shirts to school and having conversations about Superheroes so they decided to create a unit of study based on this.

Over the course of three months they investigated questions such as, "What is a Superhero?",  "What is a bad guy/person?", "What do good people do?", "What is a hero?" and "What is your strength?".  They read books like Superhero ABC by Bob McLeod.

Stabile: Power Ranger house

They also wrote stories and created Superhero Art using a wide variety of materials.  The children made stabiles from which they told detailed stories.  They printed on styrofoam. They made stick puppets, dolls and observational drawings using paint, overhead projectors and markers.

They became immersed in creating and expressing themselves.  It seems to me projects like this showcase the best of education.

I am sure the children were excited to come to school each morning so they could let their imaginations soar around a topic that fascinated them.

If it weren't for a bulletin board I never would have known about this project.  Don't be bashful - spread the word!