Haystacktravels

First Week in New Zealand

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:17:00 +0000

Hi! We made it to New Zealand. The school is really great. Taruna College is located on a small mountain call Te Mata and looks onto beautiful rolling hills and valleys below it. I can see the ocean off in the far distance (15 minute drive) from where I am emailing you. Everyone has been very friendly, talkative, and helpful.

We landed in Auckland Wednesday and spent four hours talking to our new banker. Four hours! Think drunk Dudley Moore except he was sober. Did I mention that New Zealanders are talkative? Neither of us have ever laughed so much while banking.

Once our money was in order we went looking for a used car. On Thursday we bought a little Mazda Familia, transferred title info, registered it, and drove
it across country. The scenery was spectacular. Rolling green hills that lead into dramatic mountains and ascend down to the ocean. It was a six hour ride and
Jessica got to say hello to lots of cows, goats, horses, and sheep. Funny but there were actually more cows on the road than sheep. The cows have long skinny
legs and were very busy eating grass.

We arrived at the school around 11pm and crashed. We woke up early the next day and set off to find a home. We found one on the first try. It is a cute little
cottage five minutes from the school and a minute drive to town. Havelock North is a quaint little village straight out of a Julia Roberts romantic comedy.
Coffee and wine cafes, organic grocer, funky thrift store, a bike shop, and lots of wine stores selling for the local wineries.

We are loving New Zealand. We had a meet and greet Sunday night (a traditional Maori welcoming followed by English tea) and classes began Monday.

Sorry for the delay in posting. Thanks for reading.

Honolulu Waldorf High School Visit

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:01:00 +0000

On Friday, we visited the Honolulu Waldorf High School. Van James, the art teacher, invited us to observe his class and check out the school. Mr. James is a part-time instructor at Taruna College and will be teaching a two week visual art block while we are at Taruna. We had visited him at the school last summer but this was an opportunity to see the school in session.

Overall, the day was a very positive experience and got us excited to start studying Waldorf education in New Zealand. The general vibe of the school was friendly and engaging. The majority of students showed a genuine desire to learn, reflect and create.

We observed the 9^th grade Art History class and the 11^th grade painting and metal work classes.

Here is a basic outline of the class activities for the Art History class:

1. Class comes in and gets situated. Mr. James checks homework and waits for a student to get back from the restroom before starting. Some time to chit chat and socialize. (5 – 10 minutes)

2. Vocal warm up with tongue twisters and verses. Mr. James led the class in call and response. At some point, each student was prompted to try a tongue twister on their own until they said it clearly and loudly. (10 minutes)

3. Student reports on the Renaissance artists Fra Angelico and Luca Signonelli. Two students presented the life and work of each artist for about 5 minutes. The class took notes during the presentations and asked questions at the end. (20 minutes)

4. Review of famous art pieces from the Renaissance. This was a slide show. Mr. James would project famous works of art and ask the class who made it, what was depicted, and why it was note worthy. For example, The Deposition by Giotto was discussed. Students noted the use of blue sky, as opposed the more traditional gold, and the use of the compositional V to draw a focal point to Jesus, as he was surrounded by mourners after the crucifixion. (60 minutes)

5. Study time. Students were given time to work on whatever they chose. (15 minutes)

The 11^th grade art classes was much more free form. Students spent time creating art and the teachers circulated and provided individual suggestions. In the visual art class, led by Mr. James, students were completing oil pastel copies of famous impressionist art pieces. When they finished each student talked to Mr. James about their piece and then started on an original work of art of their own choosing. In the metal work class, led by Phil Dwyer, students were making jewelry by cutting patterns into small pieces of copper. These were to be laminated onto to silver bands and shaped into rings in future classes. It was very detailed work. The students showed strong concentration as they used saws and dremels to create their patterns.

We were blown away by the students’ artwork. Art is not an elective in Waldorf, and every student is extremely skillful and expressive. It is wonderful to see art as a core subject and not just something added after the fact. It would be interesting return and see how the students’ art skills translate to math, science, and humanities classes.

Book Review of Educating Through Art by Agnes Nobel

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Welcome to our first book review! We just finished reading the book Educating Through Art by Agnes Nobel. It was recommended to us by Paul White, the Faculty Director at Taruna College. We hope to review more Waldorf related books as we finish reading them.

Here is our quick review:

Educating Through Art provides an interesting perspective on Waldorf -- that of an outsider looking in. We too are outsiders. Who are ready to dive in!

Here is our longer review for those with more time on your hands:

In Educating Through Art, Agnes Nobel investigates why Waldorf schools attach so much importance to art education. Nobel is an educational psychologist at Uppsala University in Sweden. She received a grant from the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences to study “art and knowledge with a particular reference to the theory of practice of Waldorf Education.” (Isn’t grant language a joy to read!) She got to study Waldorf Education for six years and was paid for it. Boy, are we jealous.

She states that the central theme of Waldorf education is to narrow the gap between theory and practice. She quotes Steiner as saying “No one can become a great philosopher if he cannot sew a button on his trousers.” (Bungling college professors of the early 1900’s were up in arms and demanded that their wives write a note of protest after they finished fixing their husband’s professorial gowns.)

Here is a taste of the book: “I have in mind [in writing this book] those who have seen for the themselves or who have read about anthroposophical activities – in education, health care, environmental care, architecture and so on -- and who have been impressed and wondered about it, but who at the same time feel a wavering skepticism about the theoretical background on which all this [Waldorf Education] is said to rest.” A long, possibly confusing statement that (we think) describes us very well!

There is an interesting note in the book about the complexities of translation when considering Steiner’s ideas. Steiner termed his philosophy “Spiritual Science,” (also known as Anthroposophy -- say that 3 times fast!). The word “Spiritual” is translated from the Steiner’s native German word “geisteswissenschaft.” In English this word can mean both “spirit” and “arts and humanities.” Is it possible that he meant to name his philosophy “Arts and Humanities Science? (Or as we call it, “Social Science”?) Or did he mean to include consideration of the spiritual along with the arts, humanities, and science. The idea to keep in mind, as presented in the book, is that you do not need to proceed in fear when you encounter the word “spiritual” in Anthroposophy.

2 Stars and a Wish!

This method of critical analysis was taught to us by our mentor, Rae Takemoto. It works like this – you state two things you like and one thing you would do differently, if you were to do it. It works great for reflective discussion in the classroom.

Here are our 2 stars and a wish.

Star 1: By learning more about Steiner’s predecessors, Goethe and Schiller, we better understand Steiner’s concerns about our dependence on science and technology. Modern science has made amazing discoveries though methodical observation and objectification of our world. For example, scientists were able to reduce the material world into smaller and smaller components from compounds to elements to atoms. This knowledge gave us the ability to create energy through nuclear fission. But if we completely remove the subject-object relationship when learning about the world, it is possible to gain knowledge without wisdom. We applied our knowledge of the atom to create powerful reactions. We did not consider how it could be used. The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are a result. Students who acquire information without relating it to their lives and the world at large are in danger of making the same types of mistakes.

Star 2: Nobel states that art is used in Waldorf education is to help students navigate in a dualistic world – right and wrong, light and dark, male and female, science and religion. Our understanding after reading the book is that by realizing we are part of a whole we can make better choices for ourselves and for the world around us. A scientist can be a moral being. A priest can be an objective observer. We can all be artists by expressing what is special with in each of us.

One Wish: An editor. Her writing, although very informative, is lengthy and at times academic. Maybe she can get Dan Brown to make a page turning revision!

Thanks for reading!

Will and Jess

Click here to read about the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Educating-Through-Art-Steiner-Approach/dp/0863151876/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294801540&sr=8-1

Waiting on a Wire: Paying tuition

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:33:00 +0000

Last week we finally sent off our Student Visa application to New Zealand Immigration. It was a (s)nail biter! We had to wire our tuition to Taruna, then receive our Offer of Place documents from the college before we could submit our Visa applications to the NZ Consulate in Los Angeles. It took over 2 weeks for our money to travel the 4394 miles from Hawaii to New Zealand! That’s an average speed of 293 miles per day or about 12 miles per hour.

Math question! If your life savings travels for 15 days at 12 miles per hour how long does it take to get stressed?

As my dad says, “Well, you figured out how to do it… too bad you won’t ever be able to use what you learned again.” If you or anyone you know is attempting to get a Visa, here is what we learned:

1. Do not try to get things done around Christmas. Everyone is on vacation, and when they return they have a stack of work waiting for them.

2. Turns out that you are usually positioned on the bottom of that stack.

3. The New Zealand Consulate is awesome, and we hope they are reading this so that they put our application on the top of the stack!

What is Waldorf Education? (Take 2)

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 03:33:00 +0000

One of the first questions people ask after hearing about our upcoming adventure is "What is Waldorf education?" We usually reply that it is an alternative method of education that uses the arts to teach. Our friends and family nod their head and say "That sounds wonderful," but we never feel totally satisfied with our answer. The educator in us wants to make our reply clear, meaningful and memorable, but this is not an easy task. We plan on returning to the question of “What is Waldorf Education?” several times over the course of this year and see how our understanding and explanation evolves. Here is what we have for you today. Thanks for reading!

Waldorf education is a holistic way of teaching children based on their developmental needs. Think about a little seed that will grow into an enormous tree. You do not prune the seed’s leaves to help it grow. You give the seed what it needs -- soil, sun, water and nutrients. In the same way, you don't treat children like little adults. Children need comfort, consistency, understanding and appropriate/meaningful challenges. To provide this, Waldorf teaches to the head, heart, and hands. By thinking, feeling, and doing in equal measure students are able to grow in a balanced way.

Here is an example: To learn something you first need to care about it. Let’s say you enjoy cakes. “I like cake. Cake is good. I want to learn about it.“ You look at some pictures. Better yet, you get a cake and check it out. “Icing, layers. Smells sweet. Tastes good.” You like cake so much that after devouring the one you were studying and you want more (feeling).

You get a recipe and read how to make it (thinking). “Flour, eggs, sugar, butter, flavoring, baking powder, baking pan, hot oven. Check!”

Finally, you take what you know and you create a cake with the ingredients (doing). It may take several tries, but over time you get better and better until one day you make a cake as delicious as the that first tasty one.

Often education focuses on one part of the learning process. For example, maybe you just like cake, and you eat and eat them (too much feeling -- and a stomach ache). Maybe you are fascinated by the ingredients and spend your life reading cake recipes from around the world (too much thinking -- and a head ache). Or maybe you just start mixing random things together in the kitchen and hope you would wind up with a cake (too much doing -- and a mess to clean up).

Waldorf education attempts to provide learning experiences that are balanced in the hopes that children will grow up to be balanced individuals.

(with happy, full bellies!)

What is Waldorf Education?

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 04:09:00 +0000

What is Waldorf Education? It is many things to many people. The first time I went to a Waldorf school, I was part of a group that was on a tour. We began our visit on a beautiful deck overlooking the Maui valley. The leader of the tour was giving an overview of the school, and I was tuning in and out as I looked at the beautiful view.

Tour guide: Blah blah blah …. Waldorf education was developed to rid the world of war. Blah blah blah.”

Me: Huh? Sorry? Excuse me. What was that?

Tour guide: I was saying that we promote the healthy eating of organic products in order that our students…

Me: … no, the bit about war.

Tour guide: Rudolf Steiner started the school in Germany after World War I. He and his first teachers hoped to create a learning environment that promoted peace and understanding.

Me: Sign me up!

WStack History Part 4: End and begin again

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:12:00 +0000

But I was exhausted. I could not find a healthy balance in my life. Even while working in a great school. Even after learning from an amazing mentor, I did not feel that I was achieving my original goals. I was not preparing my students to live satisfied lives. I was preparing them to pass a written test.

When I packed up my meditation cushion and rode my bike home from the river on that blissful day years ago, I did not visualize a world filled with high stakes testing. I just wanted to help make things a little better for kids as they grew up. Instead I found myself part of a system that I didn’t believe in. It was a well-intentioned set of ideas practiced in a way that unintentionally made kids feel miserable. I felt miserable. I hoped my students didn’t notice how I felt. I hoped they would learn to live happy lives. Maybe I put my mediation cushion away to early. How can we expect kids to live happy, content lives when we can’t do it ourselves?

This question has led me to begin a new journey. Jessica and I are taking a year off from teaching to attend Waldorf training in New Zealand. Land of the Kiwi! Hopefully, we will learn some really great ideas for using the arts to teach students, but, mostly, I hope we learn to live the satisfied kind of lives that we all wish for our children. This blog will detail that adventure. Thanks for reading!

WStack History Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:25:00 +0000

Three years later, I was a third grade public school teacher in an arts integrated school on Maui. It was an amazing experience. Maui is a postcard perfect island with palm trees, sunshine, and waves. I worked very hard, and, after many failed lessons, I slowly learned how to teach.

The school was cool. I got to play my guitar in the classroom and that made the tough days bearable. I met my girlfriend, Jessica, who also taught at the school. We rented an apartment across from my favorite surf break. Things were wonderful.

WStack History Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 19:19:00 +0000

I used to play guitar in a rock band. It was great. My friends and I started the band in high school. We never thought that it would become anything, but to our surprise it became our everything.

As a band, you play a lot of gigs. We made CDs and signed to record labels, but the gigs were where we buttered our bread. My nights were full of driving and rocking and drinking and laughing. My days were full of sleeping and recovering and meditating. The first years were a drunken rocket ship. The second five years spun like a satellite, orbiting in space. I married. Unmarried. Drank. Sobered up. Got drunk. I met a lot of great people and spent a lot of time avoiding people who weren’t so great. It was a world of contrasts. Euphoric and depressive. You danced to the music in order to forget your everyday worries.

As I rode my bike home from the Potomac River, I didn’t have a worry in the world. I was content. I had found my calling. I would teach, and, through teaching, I would help people live better lives. Things were looking good.

Introducing...WStack History Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 23:41:00 +0000

So there I was on my meditation cushion. Legs crossed. Counting my breaths as the Potomac River quietly flowed by. Sitting…counting…sitting…counting. A few winter birds flew overhead. Sitting…counting.

The back of Master Pohwa’s shaved head dully shined in the winter sun. Sitting…counting. The river kept flowing. His head kept shining. Sitting…counting… sitting… And then it came to me.

I stuffed my cushion away. Jumped on my bike and headed home. I had things to do. I was going to give up being a rock star. I was going to be a teacher!

updates...

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:40:00 +0000

It's odd, how busy life gets when you want more free time and how slow it feels when you are bored. So, I've accomplished my goal of filling up all the time that I was wasting on thinking: I'm overweight, underpaid, and bored. Here's how I did it...

Got a Job at the Kitchen Company (a gadget and food accessory superstore)
Took on instruction of a Saturday SAT prep course (can you believe it?)
Replaced a reading teacher at the college, who left 3 courses in the middle of the semester
Lost my bag at the library (went through the whole fiasco of trying to replace all of it's contents, and then have it returned the next night)
Quit the job at the Kitchen store
Help plan Will's dad's "un-birthday/family reunion" party (cleaning, food, games, and kids)
Help Will's sister move out of her house
Deal with kitty-allergies (finally, got some meds at the k-mart clinic)
Got paid (after working for 10 weeks!)

It makes me tired just thinking about all that's expired in the last few weeks! However, the silver lining is that I still get to be with the love of my life, his family and friends and I know all of my family and friends are waiting in the wings.

I also have found a great job (although challenging most of the time). I get to teach (most days) and that keeps me going. I may not be teaching the content that I enjoy or in the environment of my choice, but I am happy that I am helping students understand and putting a smile on their faces. Even if it's not all of their faces, all of the time...I know that they are learning and it's getting better all the time!

knit, purl, knit, purl...

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:42:00 +0000

I am so excited to be on the mainland again because I can actually use the projects that I attempt to create. I've made myself a little red scarf and I'm working on a longer version in black for Will. We got excited about wearing scarves in New Zealand when we saw the Irish movie, "Once." So, I unpacked my needles and got started on my first scarf. I actually produced something wearable! It wasn't too big or too small and I only had to consult You Tube once...(for the end part). Now, all juiced on the success of my first project I started reading some blogs about knitting and got a couple of pattern books from the library. Maybe I'll try to make my Christmas gifts this year. I must confess that am a little nervous about tackling patterns without my mom's assistance. I got a book that helps translate all the knitting short-hand and gives pictures on how to do particular stitches. Thank God for You Tube instructional videos too! They show you the stitches in action, so hopefully all that will give me sufficient help. I know it won't come close to my mommy's level of help...but maybe it will make me a more independent knitter.

I am really excited about working on these skills before I go to New Zealand and get to meet the thread in-animal (instead of in-person). I was looking at some possible farm hand jobs in Hawke's Bay and I found some farms that keep sheep. Wouldn't that be cool to be able to help raise, sheer, and spin my own wool? I figure I have a limited time before I develop the allergy to wool...so might as well get as much of it as I can now.

That's all for me, now...keep posted for more later :)

French...I am not.

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:10:00 +0000

So, I read the book and logged all my intakes (food/wine/etc.) for the week. I even whipped up a batch of Dr. Miracle's Leek Soup. Which by the way, is not really a soup. It's a broth. All it called for was 2 pounds of leeks and water. Linda and I scooped up some leeks out of the garden, and we decided that it couldn't hurt to add a couple of other veggies to bump up the flavor. So I added carrots, mushrooms, and added a little chicken stock to the water. The soup was quite tasty. I drank the broth in the morning and headed out for weeding duty in the berry patch.

Well, after an hour or so...I was STARVED! I justified my eating some of the veggies with the broth for lunch since I had worked out. I figured that there can't be many calories in carrots, leeks, and mushrooms. As I was reheating my soup I was craving some protein...and Will was eating this delish chicken sandwich...so I plopped a couple of slivers of chicken into the soup. Oops! Again, I told myself that a little grilled chicken is quite harmless.

However, as 6 o'clock rolls around and dinner is filling the house with aromas that are so sinful; I cave. So after about 5 or 6 hours of being "somewhat French" my time as a Parisian is over. I think I'll just try to play by the French rules another day...or, maybe not.

My mom tells me there's a better book called "Japanese Women Don't Get Fat or Old." Maybe I need to read that one, since I have half the genes to help me through that diet ; ) Thanks Mommers!

Farming for Fun

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Will and I have been enjoying Linda's wonderful "garden." My favorite part is partaking in all the amazing food stuffs :). Having just read the book "French Women Don't Get Fat," I now realize how savoring and salavating over "good" foods can make me skinny. I've also learned that when I pull them out of the ground (and all the other weeds around them) I get free exercise time. It's amazing how much money I've spent on "diet" foods, gym memberships, classes, and books when all the while skinny-benefitting activities are all around me. I realized last night, that I even have a "walk-up style" Parisian apartment to climb up to.

In the book, Mireille describes how French women walk everywhere (to and from school/work and home) and how most apartment buildings don't have elevators. I can't walk to work and there isn't much around us (which I think is a nice thing), so I was worried about fitting in my French woman walking into my daily routine. I realized that we had a free "stair master" staircase in the house when I was looking for my sweater. So I decided to walk the 14 steps over and over again, while listening to some french music on Pandora. You can try it too, if you like, the station that I love is called "French Cafe." I tried to imagine that I was walking up to my Parisian flat and down to go meet a friend at a local cafe. Will and the family giggled as I creaked up and down the stairs.

The weeding outside is an even better fat-burner! Plus, it has many bennifits:

1)You are outside. The sun feels amazing, consider it a free sauna session or "hot-box" yoga studio.

2)When all the weeds are gone and you've cleared a whole row, there is this incredible sense of accomplishment. So much in teaching you feel as if you are putting so much effort into projects and you really get no sence of a job well-done. There is always more and you feel as if there were so many ways you could improve. But, with weeds...you get rid of them and in their absence, all you see is beauty.
3)No weeds=more goodies! We are clearing the "berry patch" and while you get rid of all those weeds, you get to nibble on rasberries, strawberries, and maybe soon we will get some blackberries and blueberries.

So stay posted and add some comments for our blog :)
-Mahalos! Jess

The Summer Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (MzHaworth and WStack) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:26:00 +0000

The Haystack team has obtained some new and greatly needed toys this wonderful labor day weekend. Will's out surfing the waves of the storm while I am playing on our new computer, reading some books from the Lewes library, and enjoying my cup of coffee.

We've settled into east coast time and our new lives as college professors...Can you believe a retired rocker and a drama queen from Hawaii are teaching adults now? I am loving the schedule & management techniques of the college teacher, however I miss the hugs of my little kindergarteners and the smiles of my fifth graders.

Speaking of hugs and smiles, we were able to travel through Chicago to celebrate Shane and Jeremy's wedding. The city was incredible! Great art, architecture, and FOOD. There is this place called the "Purple Pig" that has the most amazing pork shoulder in the entire world. It falls apart like Kalua Pork, but it's even better because it is swimming in this creamy gravy. They also have some very tasty wines to wash it all down. Jeremy's wedding was beautiful and was at a great location. We were able to peruse the nature museum's exhibits while sipping cocktails and meeting the family. All-in-all Chicago was a great town.

Delaware has been beautiful too! We've had great weather, even with a hurricane passing through, we've had great sun-shiney days. Will's had some waves and I have my wine. So we got all our W's covered :) He's been able to catch up with his buddies and I've met some great new people. We've been spending most of our days getting ready to teach adults at the college level, but now I think we are ready for Delaware teaching phase 2.

What is phase 2? Substitute teaching. Stay posted...