Playing spin the dreams with love





Team:
Carolina Mortara
carolmortara@gmail.com
Núbia Pacheco
nubiacpacheco@gmail.com

Social Group:
Carmen Leandro
christinamarcia1@hotmail.com

Escola Municipal Albert Schweitzer
Rua General Glicério, 186. Laranjeiras- Rio de Janeiro.

Summary:

We carried out the project with Carmen, a primary school teacher at the Professor Albert Schweitzer Municipal School. My peer Nubia and I followed Carmen classes of the 4th grade. In her classes, we saw reading, writing, and mathematics activities, among others. She often used handouts to carry out activities in the classroom. From the first four meetings with Carmen and her students, we could capture some words she uses on her day-to-day classes. From the set of words that make up Carmen’s vocabulary universe we recognized the following theme for the project: "Children bring the dream for us to perfect, work and play with love." Carmen frequently uses materials brought by students to perform a specific activity. One student took a story that told the story of Malala, Nobel Peace Prize winner. From the activity in which they discussed and rewrote the story of Malala, Carmen’s and the students’ dreams were revealed. Carmen commented that dreaming is key to achieve a goal and change reality. Studying, children bring the dream to the family, school, and teacher. Everyone can change through work and dedication, along with the playful activities in class. In the activity based on Malala, the focus was neat work, dreaming, and work. She asked for the interpretation of the Portuguese assignment during writing and neatness in the making of a booklet. After experimenting the project, we set the goal of creating a roulette that could encompass any theme and content (to be completed by the mediator), combining characters, possibilities, and units. That was the Party adopted. As final object, we made a bamboo roulette. We fit four parts of bamboo and tied two “x’s”. We then attached them with nuts and bolts. We made rectangles with blanks for Carmen to write with her White board marker. In addition, we added suction cups so as to keep the structure stable and to fix the roulette to the board. It is being used as a roulette of endless possibilities. With Carmen proposed activities, the children draw any theme possible and they can make reviews and dynamics activities to add to the teacher’s work.

Individual conclusion of Carol:

This project has been very gratifying to me in various ways. It has taught me to view situations from a different perspective. I realized and understood that the simple can be incredible, that gratitude for an impulse or an act may mean and be incorporated in our reasoning and in the exchange of thoughts. I have grown up understanding and experiencing different realities from mine. I have also grown up spending time with people that face difficulties and complicated situations every day of their lives. Many times they reflect those difficulties at school with aggressive, needy, carelessness, ignorance attitude and/or drive, determination, awe, and curiosity. This has made me mature as a human being, because as I encountered diverse situations, I had to deal with the people involved, giving them all my support, affection, and energy to enable the children to grow and mature. I have realized, over the past months, how the Brazilian educational framework fails in several aspects, with consequences to students, families, educators, and citizens in general. I have felt and seen how needy the children are in terms of attention, learning, care, structure, and engagement. I have noticed that educators that educators are not duly recognized for their work. They are responsible for the basic education of children and c consequently set an example to them and to the learning process they will go through during their lives. Good education may transform lives, societies, and the children’s future. Carmen has been the example of a woman who struggles and who aims at giving the best to her pupils. She tries to make her dreams come true and encourages them to study and dedicate themselves. In addition, I have learned a lot how to express myself, voice my opinion, and play during Carmen’s classes. Every day meant overcoming a step and witnessing general progress: of my peer, Carmen’s, the students’ and mine. The process as a whole has been long and demanding, on one hand, but on the other hand, very gratifying and pleasant. I am grateful for the days I went to the school and saw the children happy to see us going in. It made me feel proud of being part of such special experience, adding something to the lives of every one of those children. I am grateful for Carmen’s willingness, welcoming us and giving up a bit of her class so that we could evolve together. This has made me extremely happy to be able to share a carry out the project along with the mediator and her students over the months of the project. The Project has been very special. I am very thankful for all this amazing experience. I thank Carmen for welcoming us in such a special way, showing interest and learning along with us in this sharing of experiences. This has made me extremely happy because it has been a very unique and fulfilling experience. I thank Núbia for all the ups and downs we have lived through together. I have learned a lot how to work with a peer and share activities. I have learned from the errors and rights things over the Project. But I am particularly grateful to the partnership we have had in this Project, which has given me great joy, being able to progress and learn in two.

Individual conclusion of Núbia:

This project has helped me to grow up and has shown me the path I want to follow. In the beginning, it was difficult to face some realities, such as being in a municipal school, watching very different life dynamics from mine. But over time, I have learned how to deal with difficulties and managed to overcome my fears and uncertainties. Playing, joking, respecting, dreaming, and order move hand in hand and this is what balances the day-to-day of an individual. I am thankful for everything I have received during the whole process, every challenge, every smile, every sadness, every confusion, because the combination of all those things have taught me that there is no right or wrong, because the right is relative and depends on how you see the situation, and the wrong will only be really wrong if you don’t want to see what is around you to try to fix I thank Carmen for having given us the chance to have access to her day-to-day, being able to attend not only the reality in the classroom, but also what happened to children outside the classroom. And for having accepted that the simplest things are worth gold for those who know how to appreciate what they have. I am thankful to Carol for staying by my side throughout this process of change, helping me, demanding from me and always showing me how face things in the lightest way possible.

Discipline: DSG 1002
Class: 1AC
Professors: Ana Branco, Luis Vicente Barros, Luciana Grether, Vanusa Maria de Melo

e-mail: anabranc@puc-rio.br

Versao Portugues