...But Together We Are A Masterpiece

Both my teacher (Mako) and Sonia had been inspired by a photo on Pinterest of a 'hand-made flower' which was basically colourful hand-cut paper hands made by children. They really liked this creativity and were captured by the quote that tagged along with it. So as a task, Mako and I drew around each 40 students' hands and allowed them to colour them in making them beautiful as ever. After they'd finished, I cut them out during my free time (whilst they sat on the floor doing activities via the Smartboard). The classes are split into 1A and 1B and it was a little tiring having to cut out so many hands ^^' but I knew the outcome would make it all worth it. As I worked on the pieces, the children would walk towards my table and touch the hands - they told me that what I had put together was 'beautiful'. This was rewarding itself! They were ever so excited to see their hands be made into a 'hand-made' flower and were eager to see the end product...

...and here they are! 

I'm not the most creative person in the world but what made me most happy about these artworks (can you call them that?) is definitely the quote. 

We are each unique and beautiful, but together, we are a masterpiece. 

Yes, there are individual students who stand out, who prefer to read more, who work harder, but together as a class, you create so much more of an atmosphere. As a team, you can bring more to the table. There is no 'i' in 'team'. 

I get to see these flowers everyday - before class starts and when I leave. It's a small reminder to myself each day that it's so important to think of others and not just yourself. To always help others, even if they do not seek help. 

Both 1A and 1B joined classes one day last week to do a team-work task. There were 8 students at the table at a time and they were given two rolls of tape, two pairs of scissors and a few straws... you might be able to guess what they had to do(?) Each student at the table had a specific job and was only allowed to do that job - they weren't allowed to help others. The teachers set the sand timer and they had to go through each student... starting off with the tape, then the scissors and then finally to the straws station where they had to tape as many straws together possible to create a huge tower! But during this time, the teachers were distracting the stations...whether that was the scissor station or the straw station. They did this by telling the students to fetch a classroom material and give it to me (standing across the classroom). It was super obvious that the students were not doing well and were clueless as to why the teachers were giving such random demands! The motto of the task is that in order for a task to be completed, all members must be present. If one member of the team is missing then the task simply cannot be completed - simple yet efficient. There were two rounds where the students were being distracted and the final round the teachers didn't get involved and let the students do as they were told. This led to the students creating a very long straw tower... and also taught them a lesson. They realised that the teachers were trying to teach them something. It was great to see this... that the students had caught on and they were all saying that if one person is missing then they could not continue the task. Kids are really clever nowadays ^^... 

- Tiffany