Bronwyn Harris, Author

The school I used to work at and now volunteer at has historically been a pretty dirty, bare looking place.  At one point we got some trees planted, which made a big difference (although they are a little scrawny).  My friend Robin painted some murals which were beautiful and also helped.  I walked into the cafeteria last week and it was totally transformed.  The kids had made it into an art museum and the whole feeling of it was changed.  It does make a difference. Two years ago: Update and Help Needed Four years ago: Open House

I still get to see this beautiful mural when I volunteer.  It makes the whole school brighter.  Wednesday, February 28, 2007 A Beautiful Mural I've always had this dream that somehow our school could be make more beautiful. I've envisioned a mural of some sort, to bring color to the industrial off-white/off-yellow/beige-ish color of the school (why don't districts pain elementary schools in bright primary colors? Of all the buildings to be a neutral color, elementary schools should not be the ones). I've gone to paint stores to ask about extra paint, and discovered that, at least at the place I went to, they mix all the leftovers together, creating a pukey mud color. Last year, my dream was realized. The principal at the time - we'll call her "Seems Great Then Totally Flakes Out Administrator" was totally on board with the idea, and I just happened to have a friend - Robin the Artist - who was both unemployed and trying to raise money f...

Just when I start really missing teaching, I remember that, although I miss the relationships I had with the students, I really really don't miss the bureaucracy.  Here's a look into a professional development session, four years ago.  You can see that the intent is good but that none of our specific needs were taken into account, making the whole thing almost useless.  This is time that could be spent really helping teachers who need ideas and strategies, and it's hard not to feel bitter when it's wasted. Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Professional Development We read a story about Picasso which told about his Blue Period. We tried a Blue Period too - I don't know which shades of blue Picasso had, but we used black, white, royal blue, sky blue, turquoise, and glitter blue. Picasso could have used glitter blue. ---------------------------- Professional development is often an exercise in boredom and/or sitting still. I never like it. Today we ...

I used the last of the blue paper today.  The blue paper was donated in my second year of teaching, in a rather spectacular manner. By my second year of teaching, I was already exhausted.  I was trying to learn how to teach third grade, dealing with an administrator whose favorite line was "I can have your job, you know!" trying to figure out how to deal with standardized tests, and much, much more.  When I got to part of the curriculum that required the kids to cut and paste and my request for scissors and glue was met by the person in charge of supplies rolling her eyes and saying "We don't have those, " in a manner that clearly suggested I was clueless to how schools worked, something in me snapped.  This was the beginning of me begging for help. I'll write another post at some point about how I may have shamelessly begged every one of my friends and acquaintances to volunteer in the classroom.  I started by begging for supplies.   After quickly ...

I'll be in Yosemite until Sunday, so I leave you with some beautiful pictures that a friend's class (I was subbing for her) drew for the gecko. Of the gecko and for the gecko. He gets fan mail. Enjoy.

I've always had this dream that somehow our school could be make more beautiful. I've envisioned a mural of some sort, to bring color to the industrial off-white/off-yellow/beige-ish color of the school (why don't districts pain elementary schools in bright primary colors? Of all the buildings to be a neutral color, elementary schools should not be the ones). I've gone to paint stores to ask about extra paint, and discovered that, at least at the place I went to, they mix all the leftovers together, creating a pukey mud color. Last year, my dream was realized. The principal at the time - we'll call her "Seems Great Then Totally Flakes Out Administrator" was totally on board with the idea, and I just happened to have a friend - Robin the Artist - who was both unemployed and trying to raise money for a missions trip. The principal said we had the money, said she loved the idea, that the school would reimburse for the paint and pay Robin $1500 for the mural. ...

It is the Year of the Boar (or the Year of the Pig, or the Year of the Piggie, if you're in third grade) and Mrs. Dwyer brought us Chinese New Year crafts to do! The kids made paper lanterns and heard a story about Chinese New Year and got to eat fortune cookies and apples. One of the kids brought homemade sushi (she's Vietnamese) but most of those were gone by the time Mrs. Dwyer and her wonderful helper friend got there. The kid who made the awesome yellow lantern with the ferocious looking dragon says he can't draw. More of a low self-esteem problem than a can't draw problem, you think?

We read a story about Picasso which told about his Blue Period. We tried a Blue Period too - I don't know which shades of blue Picasso had, but we used black, white, royal blue, sky blue, turquoise, and glitter blue. Picasso could have used glitter blue. ---------------------------- Professional development is often an exercise in boredom and/or sitting still. I never like it. Today we had a training on Every Day Counts. The first problem was that the presenter asked us was if we would put everything else away. We never put everything else away. Everyone is always working on at least two other things. Stapling packets of work, correcting homework, writing lesson plans, knitting (I'm not the only one!), cutting things... there's sort of an underlying understanding that we all have way more work than we need and not enough time so if we can multi-task, then we will. So, she says to put everything else away, "if you don't mind." But I did mind! As did ev...