A little shadow play...

Olivia's class is doing a unit on "How we express ourselves". Since GEMS AA is a PYP (Primary Years Program) IB school, this means that the teachers try to incorporate this theme into every subject throughout the day.... maths, science, history, English, art. Arabic, PE.... You get the idea. 

This can be quite challenging, but I'm always impressed with how the staff pulls it off. Today was no exception. 

I accompanied two of the 4th grade classes on a field trip to Manarat Al Saadiyat (which literally means: the place of enlightenment). The building is on Saadiyat Island & houses a series of temporary & permanent art exhibits for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi & Louvre Abu Dhabi (which are currently under construction). 

The gallery/museum had organized a private tour & a hands-on activity associated with the current exhibition:  "Seeing Through Light". 

The collection is explained thus... 

(from the brochure): "The artwork displayed is presented through five sections that examine the exhibition’s theme of ‘light’ in various iterations: Perceptual, Reflected, Transcendent, Activated, and Celestial."

Wow.... I do believe 4th grade may need their dictionaries for a few of those words! Sounds pretty deep for the 9 year old set, but I've heard lots of good feedback. It should be fun. Olivia was certainly looking forward to it!

The kids were instructed on the usual protocol: no touching the art, no running, no eating, & photos are allowed only in certain areas...

It took about 30 minutes to tour the whole gallery. The kids asked a lot of good questions & paid attention to our guide. 

Some of the art was designed to play with reflection.... & our guide asked the kids, "Can you imagine what these reflective poles would look like in the open dessert? From how far away could you see them on a sunny hot day? Would the result make you curious & travel across the sand to investigate?" 

Hmmmm... Thought provoking already!!

Other parts of the exhibit, played with shadows. This globe, made out of various terms for "love" written in Arabic, can only be read by reading the shadows that are cast around the globe when light shines through it. (It's really a beautiful concept & there's some deep thoughts in there, if you really start to ponder it.... But those nuances were lost on this preteen crowd. They just thought the metal writing was cool!)

...  And then there's always that one piece that just makes you scratch your head... This was 6 lines of boxes that change colors in a predetermined sequence related to the number 54. 

I still don't get it.... Why 54? That's not in the Fibonacci Sequence (55 is....), it's not the factorial of 6 (that's 720), it's not the frequency of some special light wave (54 Hz is waaaay to slow).... So why 54? What possible mathematical or scientific reasoning could it be? Ug. I may never know...

There were displays about light & color, shadow & gradient, sound & light, language & earth metals...  We could have been a physics class, a math class, an art class, or even a history class (the artists span the years from 1960 to present & come from many different cultures). I had to practically bite my tongue to keep from pointing out all the various educational ties. 

But the pièce de résistance... & everyone's favorite... was an infinity room hung with tiny colored lights to simulate being in space.... as if you, yourself, were a celestial body. 

Photos just don't do it justice; it's really an experience. I think it was at this moment, when most of the kids began to understand what drives an artist to create: the feelings provoked by a piece of art. 

To see the wonder on thier faces as we stood in this (rather) tiny room... in the dark... surrounded by mirrors or water on  all sides... & then have the lights twinkle & reflect...

Yeah, totally awesome! 

So after everyone had their moment of wonder in the infinity room, we were off to the hands-on activity. Using light, the kids were to create layered (stacked) shadow outlines of themselves. Our instructor demonstrated how to use the tripod flashlights. 

The outlines could then be enhanced with color (pastels) to show shadow, movement, emotion, or pattern. 

Mr Scott (Olivia's teacher) talks about how this activity lets everyone express themselves differently. Five groups of four meant we would have lots of masterpieces! 

The kids really got into it & I'm truly impressed with the outcomes. 

Of course, we ARE talking about chalks so you knew it was only a matter of time before someone discovered...

... Smudging. 

It got a whole lot more messy....

But who can argue with the final result?

There were actually several really good ones... Here's another of my favorites:

We washed up, then sat down to review the finished pieces. The kids had some insightful comments about the use of colors, shading, & smudging. Of course it helps to know each other so well, so lots of the comments revolved around personal descriptions of the artists. 

One kid completely shaded his profile in two gradients of orange. Why? Because he likes oranges & the color! One kid used every available color in his box to "scribble scrabble" around his outline. Why? Because he was feeling crazy!!!

LOL! 

I can only imagine how the kids will be using this experience in their various studies over the next few weeks...  

BBQ Chicken sliders, sangria, & pavlova.... Oh my!

Today was the annual IFF (International Food Festival) at GEMS American Academy.

The event is an annual one where each country represented provides foods & information about the country's heritage. Parents are encouraged to meet up with other families from their home countries to plan the menu, a game or activity, and/or have a performance. There are awards (bragging rights, really) awarded to the best decorated, best food, best activity, etc. 

This year, over 23 countries were represented by the various booths. 

As you can see, this is no small affair.

Of course, the kids & I helped Team USA. We decided on a 4th of July theme. Our decorations centered around fireworks & bunting. 

For the activity, we had a photo booth. 

But the real star of the day, was our BBQ chicken sliders with coleslaw & homemade apple desserts. 

The smells from our booth were pure heaven... we had lots of repeat customers! It was almost like being back home.  LOL!

I worked the first half hour shift, then started the tasty walk around the countries.  This took careful planning & a lot of strategy. 

I'm so full. Even if - by some miracle - you could limit yourself to only one bite from each country, there's no possible way to sample everything. Most countries offered 2 or 3 main dishes .... Some of which I've never seen before... 

(Ummmm... Is the goat head laughing at me?) I think this was in Turkey...

Plus, several sweets... 

(The pavlova from Australia was homemade & soooooo good! Reminded me of the one my Aussie friend, Liz, made for us a few years back!)

And drinks... 

I found Sangria in Spain!  (Sadly, it contained no wine as this was a school sponsored event.)

Ahhhh... Nothing like a cool sangria on a hot day! Really hits the spot!

The kids had a great time traveling to each other's home countries to sample the various cuisines. Madeline found several of her Italian friends passing out pizza & lasagna. 

But I think the best part of the whole event is the spirit of community & the eagerness with which everyone wants to share a little bit about their homelands. Every booth we visited welcomed us warmly. They wanted to share in their foods, their dress, their special holidays, & culture. No judgement; just friendship. 

Some things we tried & loved.... Sometimes, well.... 

We discovered that we don't like Pakastan's lemonade (too salty, go figure!), but we loved their jewelry & rickshaw transportation. 

It was a great day.... & I'm blessed that our school offers these events to further the international spirit of community. I was really proud of the kids for trying so many of the various foods... Even the ones that seemed to look back at you! 

Not so "Revolting!!!"

One of the perks of an International School has to be the variety & scope of talents collected under one roof. And I'm talking about the students AND the teachers....

The differences between the various cultures is celebrated almost daily & a respect for each culture is fostered through so much of what happens in & out of the classroom. 

Devin has 12 different classes this semester. Seriously, TWELVE! Two of these classes are in the arts... He takes a band class & a theater class. 

It must be quite amazing & challenging to teach kids from such different backgrounds. So, I am in a constant state of awe when the arts teachers provide creative outlets such as this:

Devin sorta played the whole event down as "no big deal", but I would disagree! 

We started the evening with the members of the International Key Club circulating with food & drinks. The school lobby had been converted to an elegant setting complete with draped tables & candles...

We were allowed into the auditorium at 7 PM via a red carpet.  They had a red carpet!! 

There was even a photographer (a moonlighting teacher, I believe) on hand to take group photos. 

We took our seats & settled in for the show. I really wasn't sure what to expect...

Some of the numbers I recognize, some I don't. The only thing I knew for sure was that Devin had a part in No 22. Revolting Children, from the musical: Matilda. (He's been singing the lyrics around the flat for weeks & my girls have been re watching the movie on YouTube.)

What I DIDN'T realize was that Devin had parts in about 4 different vignettes. Cheeky little monkey never said a word! 

I snapped these during "Miss Ellie Etiquette ". He even had speaking parts! It was fast, but I think he says: "Oh yeah..." & "You stink!"

Grrrrrr... 

The show continued & was very entertaining. It bounced back & forth between comedy bits, musical numbers, dance pieces, & monologues... 

Then Devin suddenly popped up again! This time I think he's one of the "adoring fans" without a speaking part, but lots of acting...

Some of the pieces were light-hearted & funny dealing with topics like grades & social situations. Others were much deeper in context dealing with bullying & vanity. The dance numbers varied from ballet to modern, to hip-hop to a traditional Korean dance (complete with full costume!) I can honestly say that the students were able to swing the audience through a very wide range of emotions. 

Of course, in my opinion, the best number was "Revolting Children"! Devin even had a small solo. 

I took a video (which I can't post here since only photos are supported on this blog), but my phone died about halfway through the number. (Sigh)

I was so proud of him! Who knew the boy child could sing & dance?! He looked like he was having a great time. He was smiling & (practically) laughing through the whole show. He certainly had me smiling!!!

I asked him after the show if he was ever nervous. He said he had a great time & was never nervous... Not at all. 

Wow! I do believe we have a thespian in the family....

Bravo! Bravo!

My impromptu flight to France....

So, whenever I'm at the school between activities, I like to pop down to Kindergarden. I've subbed in a lot of the classes so I know a lot of the kids. They are super cute, funny & let's face it.... no kindergarden teacher is ever going to turn away an extra set of adult hands in her class! 

Today was a little different, however: the kids weren't IN the class following a teacher so much as they had TAKEN OVER the hallway & classroom!!!

When I walked through KG2 (the older kinders), they were in the midst of a big discovery unit about traveling our world! I was immediately grabbed by 2 cuties (travel agents, it turned out) who asked me, "Where do you want to go see?" They pulled me into their "offices" where they helped me fill out my vacation planning form. 

Next, I was directed to passports & ticketing where another agent assisted me with a passport application. 

Since I would be traveling to France, I was told I would need a visa stamp in my passport. She directed me to "step around the corner" for the proper stickers. 

Sadly, cameras are not allowed in this area (you know how strict those officials are....), but I did get a picture of my final passport w/ visa sticker attached.  

I'm never happy with the passport photo. I think I blinked in this one....

Anyway, I had to re queue for a plane ticket... & it was quite a bottle neck as one of the agents was "on break"... Or maybe it was actually shift change. I did notice that some of the "agents" became "passengers", & vice versa. 

Finally, with ticket & validated passport in hand, I was directed to "security". 

My carry on luggage (lunch bag) & personal item (purse) had to be x-rayed while I would go through the metal detector. 

The security officer on duty was very strict & took his job very seriously. I got "buzzed" (he really did make that sound!) as I walked through because I still had my phone on me.

Oops. I put the phone on the x-ray belt & tried again. I got "buzzed" TWO more times before he would let me through! He didn't like my badge or my bracket (a JawBone)... said one had too much metal & the other was an electronic device! 

Smart kid!

But, he still "wanded me" on the other side because of my necklace. This time, I passed inspection & was allowed to collect my luggage. 

I didn't have long to board my flight, and I was almost late! All that security had me running to the gate. The flight attendant led me right to my seat & helped me stow my luggage under my seat. I was in seat number 1 right behind the pilot. 

I took a quick selfie with my fellow passengers.

If you've ever flown with me, you know I'm "a talker". So, it didn't take me long to find out that my fellow passengers were on their way to Spain, Canada, & Argentina! Oh boy!!! 

As with any international flight... It's always hurry up & wait. (We didn't appear to have a pilot!) But we were able to entertain ourselves with the inflight entertainment system. 

As you can see in the photo, we are still on the Tarmac (look out the porthole windows!) so the screens aren't showing any movies yet.... only the map of our location on the ground. However, a quick look through the menu showed that "Frozen" was an option, so my new friends & I agreed that this was a top rate airline. 

Finally, our pilot arrived. He was a very experienced flyboy; we had no turbulence & I swear the landing was sooo smooth, it was like we never left the ground! 

I'd like to say my stay in France was a slow lazy affair, but to be honest.... it only left me wanting to plan another visit soon. Before I knew it, I was back upstairs helping Olivia's class with their quilt squares project. 

Sadly, I have no pictures of the quilt squares. 

I blame it on the jet-lag....

Will "The Green" take the gold??!!!

I've done a lot of subbing at all levels around the kids' school & I've loved it. I get to make friends (students & teachers) in every grade & I get to see my kids (sometimes) between classes. 

Today, I was at the school solely in the role of "mom" to participate in the 4th/5th grade sports day ("field day", to us Texans) in the morning & then help with a quilt square activity in the afternoon. I had about an hour and a half over lunch on my own, but I still needed to buy tickets for the play Devin is in tonight as part of his drama class; the ticket booth would be open during lunch... Perfect! 

I drove the kids to school since the sports activities would start around 9:30ish anyway. No biggie; I had packed a lunch & my Nook. I'd just find a quiet chair & wait. 

Insider secret:

There are a set of extremely comfortable oversized leather chairs in the hallway just in front of the 4th grade wing. I mean, these are some lovely reading chairs! 

So after the national anthem, I settled in. 

Ms G (one of the 4th grade teachers), spotted me almost immediately & asked if I wanted to sit in on a cooking class. Her students are doing a unit in UAE social studies on "how we express ourselves" & they decided to use cooking. We were going to have a student designed & run lesson on how to make hummus from scratch! 

Um.... Yes, please!!!!

It was so good, I forgot to take pictures! LOL! The two young ladies demonstrated how to blend chickpeas, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, & a little water in a Magic Bullet to the perfect smooth consistency. They then offered celery, raw carrots & broccoli, and cucumber slices for dipping. 

It was very yummy. 

By this time, it really was "snack time" so I slipped into Olivia's class. Mr Scott left me with his aide so he could change into his "green gear". Olivia's whole class was dressed in green for the event. They had a matching green 5th grade class who would be their competition partners. The country they would be representing on the "world team leader board" would be Turkey. 

Other 4th/5th grade classes would be in other colors & represent other countries. There was red (Korea, I think), yellow (Spain, I believe), black, purple, & blue. I never did catch all the country names. 

The groups were assembled & the whistle blown...  Let the races begin! 

First up, "Beach Volleyball"... the whole class version! 

I'm pretty sure that's not a regulation size ball....

The wind made this event a real challenge & I'm sorry to say the other team edged us out in the final seconds before the rotation whistle (every 15 min) blew. 

The 6th grade PE class was put in charge of running each station & I spotted Madeline over on the 5th grade event side. 

She & her friends had their work cut out for them as energy levels were high! But, she does love being in charge & she had those 5th graders in line lickity-split!

Meanwhile, Olivia's group had moved on to Tug-of-War! 

It was a really looooooog rope....

The whistle blew, the muscles bulged, the faces were fierce with determination...

... and the victory was sweet!

Next up? The obstacle course relay. The kids had to jump over 2 rope hurtles, run over 3 uneven surface balls, run up a foam ramp to a 2 foot foam platform, jump off, use a trampoline to get to another platform, walk/run over a "beam", roll down an inclined surface, cross a foam bridge, crawl through a fabric hooped tube, jump through a series of upright hoops of various heights, & cross the line!

Whew!

The kids were fast & the course was huge.... & my cell phone camera couldn't keep up! 

I'm still not sure who won. It was all very chaotic, but the kids had a blast!

The final event was something I can honestly say I have NEVER seen before:

Crab soccer?! Yup. They must play soccer while crab-walking. The only adjustment to to the rules, at least that I noticed, was that 3 balls were in play at all times, you only use half the pitch, & there were 2 goalies. 

I'm sure the kids will all be sore tomorrow! Have you ever tried to crab wk for a straight 15 minutes while chasing around a soccer ball?! LOL!

It was a great morning, but I was ready for a little AC by time the groups were reassembled for the country-by-country dance-off. Every class had 3 minutes to choreograph their moves. Olivia's team chose The Chicken Dance... They were Turkey, after all. 

I forgot to take pictures.... Not that photos would ever do the dance justice! 

Finally, the athletic department declared the games over for the day. Results won't be announced until next week. 

Crossing our fingers.....