Day 20: Meantime, Back in Korea... (or: Holy Photo-happy Post, Batman!!)

Today is Day 20 of my Facebook Detox project, and I really can't complain much... I feel more productive (if cut off from faraway friends and family)... I really don't miss seeing the mundane/banal/uninteresting posts that would bring the quality of my newsfeed (even though I'd "unfollowed" a lot of my less-interesting acquaintances). The only major downside at this point is, well, photos!  I miss sharing photos, but not enough to get a different account on a separately-hosted site, so.... here we are.  

First photo journal topic o' the day: My school!  Well, more accurately, my class/classroom!! :D  I've been trying to be more proactive in getting their work up on the walls, and to recognize amazing work... Anyway, feast your eyes on the work of some great 5th and 6th graders! :)  

(The nerdy and horribly-colored sign above my door.  Yes, I colored it.  That's why I don't teach elementary school, kids...)

This is the newest addition this year: a wall of great work... in the hallway!  I love hearing kids comment on the work as they walk by in admiration.  :D 

Ok, yes, the wall looks a little grody, but it's from tape that held up last year's projects.  Don't worry, it'll be pretty again in no time!  For now, it houses several important competitions for my students, and showcases great tests and creative work! 

And now for some of the work itself: 

 This one comes from a book report of a particularly hilarious kid.  He's hilarious because he's very cynical, a little jaded, and very creative.  One of the criteria for the report was that the students had to write something they learned from reading the book.  This student's response: "I realized that all the fictional books I've read had been sugar coating most stuff from this book.  I learned the real epicness."  He went on later to explain how regular fiction isn't interesting because it's predictable and happy, but this book (from the Game of Thrones series) was far superior because of its grim spontaneity.  :) 

~

This next work and the two below it come from the same student.  The first one is mixed media, with cloth for the Japanese flag; magazine or printed cut-outs of metal, cloathes [sic], rice, family, 한글 (Korean) for languadge [sic] trees, and a Korean woman; hand drawing of the Korean flag.  Our project was based on the book we read this term: When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park.  It's about the Japanese occupation of Korea, told from the perspective of two young adults.  The kids were generally captivated by the book, and their final projects shone! 

(Before you read on, know that my goal here was NOT for the kids to have any animosity toward Japan; there's enough of that in Korea already.  I simply went through the book with them and discussed the pretty terrible things the Japanese did to Koreans from 1910-1945.  Our next term, we will be studying the book Hiroshima by John Hersey, which obviously follows the aftermath of the bombing and the end of World War II.  Hopefully after that, the kids will have a bit more sympathy for what Japan's been through as well.)  

Caption (from the student): "The Japanese took over Korea and started taking things away from the Korean people.  In this artwork, the Japanese flag means the Japanese the things on the flag are some things that were taken away from the Koreans.  The girl is crying because she wants them back and she is also mad because she can't do anything about her things taken away.  The forest represents the Korean land.  The green forest is before the Japanese came and the dark forest is after the Japanese came." 

 Caption (from the student; errors corrected by me): "The owner of the eye is a soldier... a soldier with the wrong uniform on.  In the iris is the Japanese circle, but it still has the Korean curvy line in the middle of the pupil.  It means that he is acting to be like a Japanese soldier, but he is a true Korean."  

 Caption (from the student, errors corrected by me): "The two trees represent Japan and Korea fighting.  I painted the blood so that it looks like they are fighting.  The Koreans are losing at the moment.  This painting has a lot of madness in it.  The cherry blossom tree wants to break the rose of Sharon's branch and replace it with its own. The branch stands for culture.  That is why there is so much blood."  

So, yeah... WOW!  They did an amazing job! :)  Just FYI, the cherry tree is the national tree of Japan, while Korea's is the rose of Sharon tree.  (I did not know the latter until I read this book!)  

Hmmm... Ok, I'll put some more photos on another post, since this one's getting a bit lengthy.  Cheers!