File puptcrit/puptcrit.0702, message 311


From: =?Windows-1252?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-magma.ca>
To: <PuppetCafe-AT-yahoogroups.com>, <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org>,
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:15:10 -0500
Subject: [Puptcrit] OT: Helping kids with puppetmaking


Hi all.
The last two days, I was giving a rod-puppet making workshop in a remote neighborhood of Montreal.
Wow. What a motivated family!
Yup, I was supposed to have 12 students, but publicity did not go through the neighborhood paper for some weird reason, and we ended up with only one family. I got paid just the same. It was fun, we made 5 puppets (instead of 12).

The youngest kid, ten years old, was notoriously affraid of knives and other blades, held by others, and by herself.
Not a run-for-you-life, or an "I can't move, I'm too scared", kind of fear, it was more of a sustained untrust, refusing to handle a knife.  But I don't let details like that interfere with my courses, if I can help it!
Going with the fear is just giving it power.

Without being patronizing, or forcing, or authoritative, I just showed her how it's done. Kid's don't like being treated like babies (I know, I'm still a kid). I showed her how easy it was to use the big Olfa craft knife (with snap-off blades), when cutting dense pink styrofoam. I explained how it was fast, safe, and efficient, much more than the pocket knife I lent her because she was more used to that sort. I told her how I beat my fear of heights, by trying to face it as often as possible. I explained that we had a first aid kit, and that it was no big deal to patch a cut up and continue working, I cut myself all the time when I first started. then I left her to ponder that, and went helping her siblings.

Well, without any further helping, within half an hour she was using the big Olfa knife, and although very careful at first, ended up gaining speed fast. She did a good job carving shoulder pieces for our puppets. Middle of next day, she was carving tiny  balls and little creatures in the pink foam, just for fun!

I had been told in the previous course the week before, that this kid had been very shy just a year ago, and had been helped to be more assertive. from this and my own experiences, I see an history of progress promotes more progress, when one realises it. Well, since then I found, from being with them all day, for 4 days total, that all the kids (4) in that family are well behaved and just the right amount of goofy, they don't get angry for no reason, and have sharp minds that help them reply in witty yet polite ways, from the mere fun teasing to the most mocking situations. 
The mom eas with us all that time, and she's just as cool, though has her maternal authority intact. I'm very impressed. I hope to work with this group again in the future. This family is so motivated, they do paper mache (before recently it was mod podge) at home, together. Even the sport kid is just as interested in drawing and maskmaking, and quite talented!

There is no need to be a bossy teacher, or a know it all, supreme holder of the only truth.
I'm quite goofy in my classes, sometimes downright chaotic (especially early mornings), but always have a good time and get good results.  I actually don't hide the fact that I can be improvising some steps for them, and more often than not, I make a few mistakes in a course. Instead of being all blushed about it, I exploit it. I think it's good for students of any age to know that making mistakes is ok, and that solutions are just a thought away. I've come to think it makes the methods feel more accessible when people see that even the teacher, the supposed expert, is still learning from mistakes.


Little bonuses:
-Near the middle of the last day of course (yesterday), at lunch time, the sport kid told me I was great at teaching teenagers, because I was cool and crazy. I like that! I used to be a reject at school when I was his age, being "different", and today I realise I went from loser-nerd-weirdo to just plain cool, just by remaining and becoming more like myself!

I said it before and I'll say it again, I love teaching, not only because I get to share my Art passion with more people, but also because I learn as much as I teach, almost everytime!

-I tasted a juice in the lunchbox format, made by Del Monte. It's called peach. It tastes like ripe peaches, but even sweeter, with just the right amount of acidity. I'm not for juices made from concentrate with added natural and artificial flavors usually, but this one is marvelous! It tastes so good, I drank many a box in two days! Instead of soft drinks for special occasions, I'm getting those!
They have less sugar than most soft drinks, I think. 




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