The Secret Garden

Play hard. Work harder. Oh, what am I doing in rural China? Lest you forget, I’m a teacher and as a teacher I have certain responsibilities that mostly involve teaching my roomful of seventh graders engaged in learning English. How do I do that?

Well… I decided that I was tired of looking at the ugly remnants of the back of my room, which I had been doing so FOR LONG.

 

WHAT is that you ask? Remnants of sticky bits from years passed – every morning I awaken to looking at that in the back of my classroom – well, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I made it my project starting at the beginning of the semester. I’ve been back since March and I’ve been plotting to cover the back with something for so long. At first, it was ducks, perhaps cars? I also teach my 7th graders art, so I decided to make it OUR art project.

But what to do with such finicky students? Their capricious attitudes frustrated me time and time again until I came upon the perfect idea. It would take a lot of work, but it was something that I was definitely willing to do.

This project benefited me in a variety of ways. I needed to get to know my students better. I wanted to know their motivations – and what makes them tick.

They needed an art project.

The art project needs to be in English.

I want the back wall of my classroom to be covered.

SO – my plan of action involved having each student prepare 10 secrets that they wanted to divulge to me. Ha! You laugh. What makes you think that my students would tell me their secrets? Because no one else asks that’s why. I got some really amazing ones.

When you’re in class from dawn until past dusk and you only see your parents on the weekends – having someone else to talk to… priceless.

When I presented the idea to them, I told them ten secrets and all of them freaked out. They didn’t have ten secrets they told me – I told them, fine. 10 things you want me to know – secrets, hopes, dreams, wishes…. and then I scheduled 5 min meetings with all 51 of my kids.

I started a notebook and started translating. The first part of my project was in place. They prepare the secrets, I write them down but in English so that no one else can read it .

Then, I take those secrets, and copy them down on colored paper which I teach them how to fold into origami flowers, which we would then post on the back wall.

But that wall is huge! So was this endeavor.

Here they are – folding their secrets that I copied unto paper. 10 secrets/kid = 500 secrets!

They began to pile up and pile and pile! I put them in folders and stuck them under my mattress to flatten them until the next week!

Simple, pastel and pretty, I soon had over 500 flowers but I knew it wasn’t enough. The following week, I went into town, bought more paper and on the day that I planned on sticking my flowers up – my flowers filled with secrets, I was taking suggestions from my students on how they wanted to put them up but ultimately, I run this town.

We started with the land and the sky. Clouds and grounds. I split my kids into teams, the paper folding teams, the sorting teams, the taping teams and my pioneers- the desk standing stick teams.

My students at work!

Our secret garden was beginning to form. At the end of 2 hours…

Things were forming into a beautiful mural made of folded origami flowers! At the end, I gathered all my kids in the back of the room and let them pose however they wanted. I loved this one. I’m so proud of them.

… and after they left, I took another photo.

Please! Click to enlarge.