Field Experience:
The fourth time I went to Henry Braun school was on October 31st 2018, Halloween Day. I was really excited to go in this week because of the holiday. Me, my partner and Mrs. Carteri discussed this particular day before and we decided that dressing up would be a great idea! I love being festive for different holidays and I spent extra time to get dressed up for the occasion. I was dressed up as a Deer, my partner was Mini Mouse and Mrs. Carteri was a comfy cat lady complete with pajamas and pictures of cats taped onto her robe. Then the students came in, almost all of them had dressed up.
It was really fun to see the different types of costumes, one was dressed up as a Grandma, one was a zombie hunter, and one was even a giant hot dog! There was a great diversity in the costumes, and the students were all very excited to see the boxes of candy that Mrs. Carteri had left on their desks. The morning started off with quiet reading, like most Wednesday mornings. When it changed to “read to someone else” Mrs. Carteri read a special Peanuts Halloween book that her mom had given her for her first classroom. After that Mrs.Carteri drew the class’s attention to three pumpkins on her desk. She explained that when the students were good, their names were entered into a draw to bring the pumpkins home! It was a really great personal touch to share with the class. After the reading blocks, it was time for the students to go to a special Halloween event!
I really like the way that Henry Braun celebrated this day, because it was all student run. The grade eight students planned a Halloween games station with different activities for the younger students. There was pumpkin golf, pin the hat on the witch, face painting, mummy bowling, and pumpkin ring toss, which was each run by volunteer student. The room was decorated with streamers and decorations while spooky music played in the background. This was an amazing way to build a sense of community and closeness in the school. The grade eights set a great example of mentorship and volunteering. My classroom also loved it and had so much fun during the activities, it was amazing to see them having so much fun.
After the Halloween event and recess, we had another health block where the students continued their lesson on healthy relationships. This was a way that Henry Braun especially honoured diversity and human rights. The students were taught differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships as well as how to make positive connections with those around them. I think that this is an enormous positive lesson for the students. It is so easy to think something unhealthy is normal if you don’t know any better.
Sequoia Abbott-Saulteaux 