Mobiles, Roto-copters, push cars, balancing acts, spinning tubes and pendulums...what do they all have in common? They were all featured at the Santa Clara County Office of Education's Families Learning Together Spring STEAM event. Partly learning and mostly playing, children and their families discovered and explored Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math concepts. With free breakfast, free lunch, and a resource fair with lots of give-aways, the event was a big hit! Be sure to look for the next Families Learning Together event in the Fall.
Here are a few snapshots from the event.
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"Are you Chinese?" After presenting two sessions of a workshop at the Berryessa Unified School District's Parent University on Saturday, I set up a table to hand out flyers for this upcoming STEAM Event and this Summer Writing Camp. Rose asked me a seemingly simple question but this question always makes me pause. It's a loaded question. Yes, I'm ethnically Chinese and culturally American. But the real zinger was that Rose, who is Chinese, asked correctly if I am Chinese**, which meant she probably already sized me up. I braced myself for the next question. "Do you speak Chinese?" I knew that was coming! Again, another loaded question. If I said yes, then the unspoken expectation was that I should continue to converse with her in Chinese. If I said no, then how could I even claim to be Chinese? So, I gave Rose my honest answer and hoped that it would satisfy her curiosity. "Yes, but I only know enough Chinese to order food at a restaurant." We both laughed. My laughter was more like a nervous giggle, but Rose's wholehearted chuckle told me she thought it was funny. Whew! I averted a super uncomfortable situation! I was glad she did not ask the next question typical in this type of conversation, namely "Why did you study English in college?" Sensing that our small talk was over, she made a comment, which caught me by surprise. "So, you're one of the few." "I'm sorry, what do you mean?" “I mean you’re one of the few who grew up in this area, went to college locally, and stayed here to work and to raise a family. You could have moved away to follow your dreams!” I never saw it that way, but I guess you could say I am one of the few. Yes, I attended BUSD schools as a kid. Last year, I visited my 5th grade teacher, Mr. D, who still teaches at the same school. How amazing is that! (Full disclosure here - I was a lousy writer and failed my 5th grade writing sample. Despite that little hiccup, Mr. D still believed in my potential and recommended me for advanced classes in middle school.) A total late-bloomer, I somehow managed to do well in high school. I attended Santa Clara University through the Future Teachers Project and was one of the first seven FTP graduates. While I was a teacher at Rancho Middle School, the school received its first designation as a School to Watch. Currently, my own children attend a BUSD school where I am involved with their education. My family and I live in the lovely Bay Area where we contribute to the community and practice “loving our neighbors.” My parents and siblings live close by. My husband’s family also lives close by. As an Education Consultant, I have this awesome opportunity to connect with parents and share reading and writing strategies with them to encourage literacy at home. No, there is need to move away to follow my dreams as God has already given me a wonderful life here in the Bay Area. I may not have been articulate as a 5th grader, but some goals have remained the same. I'm trying to do what I can to help make the world a better place right here in the place I call home. "Yes, Rose. if you put it that way, I am one of the few. And I absolutely love it here." Jaime **Interestingly, people have also asked if I am Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean or Filipino. P.S. In case some of you missed the BUSD Parent University, here are a few pics from my workshop. I hope to see you at a future event! Parents wrote down their thoughts to an exercise about family values and standards. A parent volunteered to read a small part in a role-playing scenario. Parents shared their thoughts with a table partner. Parents from 10 different elementary schools attended the BUSD Parent University.
While most people would prefer to sleep in on the weekends, I woke bright and early on Saturday, March 4th and headed over to San Jose State University. I was pumped up and ready to go for the San Jose Area Writing Project's Parent Session. The topic for the day - persuasive writing. So what did we do engage parents with writing? Here's a little peek into the highlights of our morning! First, we got parents involved in a warm-up activity. Here, Andrea and I invited parents to write their responses and thoughts on some debatable topics. Once they got comfortable with one another, we led another activity where a statement was read out loud. Without talking (or conferring with their spouse), parents had to move to my right if their response was "Yes" and to my left of their response was "No." After parents moved to each side representing their response, parents were to verbally convince members of the opposing side to abandon their stance and switch sides. Looks can be deceiving; these parents were amicable but surprisingly lively during the debate! One of the more powerful discussions that came out of this morning was the importance of our role as parents on how our children develop as critical and empathetic persuaders. We want our children to be able to take a stand and defend it, and at the same time to be respectful and considerate of opposing views. Our group read an article on how parents could foster active listening and open conversations. If we want our kids to argue articulately on paper, we should model healthy conversations and disagreements with our kids at home. During the second half of our morning, we read mentor texts, wrote rough drafts, read each other's writings, listened to feedback, and then finished up our persuasive pieces before picking up the kids. Speaking of kids, take a look at them working in small groups with a writing teacher during their workshop. So, are you ready to join us at our next session? Our next meeting on March 18 will be about Literary Essay. Register here and see you soon!
-Jaime |
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