India Calling...

I had a late night phone call last night. Or early morning. Which ever way you say it, I immediately thought, this can't be good. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it was one of my Kindergarten students calling at at 12:30 a.m. Ava was visiting her mother, an accountant, who has been sent to India by her company. Ava called to say that she missed me and that she is writing in her journal about her trip as I asked her to. She told me all about the rain as it rains every day. She has ridden on elephants, eaten great food and has bought me one of those pretty dresses. Ava gave me her phone number so I can call her. How sweet.

Her mother apologized for calling at a bad time but Ava really wanted to speak to me. Many teachers would think this is odd. But when you teach Kindergarten, you take on a nurturing role that often rivals parents. When I think about it, I have seen her daughter more than mom for the past few months. When mom was sent to India, Ava was very tearful and clingy. I suggested we make a "Mom Journal" so that every time she feels sad or is thinking of her mom, she can draw how she feels. As we prepared for the end of the school year, I asked her to continue drawing. Now, mom tells me she is drawing nearly everyday to keep her journal as a vacation log. I often suggested this to families that were leaving for vacations throughout the year.

Through her pictures, Ava was able to communicate her feelings and express herself emotionally in a safe, appropriate manner. This makes me draw the comparisons to the visual technology assignments we are doing. Visual images, just like drawings, allow us to visually sequence/order our thoughts and make sense of what we are seeing and feeling. With very little writing (she is 5 afterall) images have the power to heal, dream, synthesize, express emotion, and a have a variety of other functions. Images empower us and help make sense of things. I will use this rather winded thought as I complete this assigment.

My Life in Pictures:

I love clipart and using images. My K students were affectionately called baby birds. Below is my representation of my baby bird, Ava, in the rain. The colour orange represents her flaming red hair.