Yle interviews participating Dear You teachers and young artists in Finland and in Australia

We are so happy to announce that Dear You was highlighted on Yle, Finland's national public broadcasting company!

During the fall of 2019 the 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola were making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

Yle heard about this artistic exchange and interviewed Auli Palosaari and her students along with Jeremy Gudze and his students. They met online for the first time to talk about how this experience has been meaningful for them. Oh my, the insight the students had melted my heart! The kids said that they not only learnt different art techniques, but learnt English too.

I’ve realized that even though we’re different people that we’re also the same in a different way.

Olen huomannut, että vaikka olemme erilaisia, olemme myös samanlaisia.

-Harvey

I’ve learnt that there’s more to art than meets the eye.

Opin, että taiteessa on enemmän kuin ensinäkemältä vaikuttaa.

-Albi

Thank you Kaje Komulainen, Yle producer, for sharing our story of how art can be a way to open dialogue and self reflect.

Sincerely,
Arlene

Sounds of Kokkola

Ympäristön äänimaiseman havainnointi ja äänittäminen oli 2. luokan oppilaistani lopulta mielenkiintoinen tehtävä, vaikka aluksi kuului vähän nurinaa siitä, eikö saakaan kuvata. Pyrimme tekemään lyhyitä pätkiä, sillä toisten tekemien ääninäytteiden kuunteleminen ilman kuvaa on osalle lapsista aika vaikeaa ja pitkästyttävää. He eivät ole tottuneet keskittymään, kuvittelemaan ja miettimään, miltä ääni näyttää. Nykyajan visuaalinen kulttuuri suoltaa valmista kuvaa joka taholta.

Sääolosuhteet vaihtelivat suuresti marraskuussa Kokkolassa . Välillä oli kuulas pakkassää tai satoi uutta pehmeää lunta. Välillä satoi vettä kaatamalla. Lapset halusivat äänittää ulkona veden eri olomuotoja. He havainnoivat litiseviä lätäköitä, tippuvia räystäitä ja jääpuikkoja, rapisevaa jäätä, narskuvaa lunta ja lopulta riemukasta lumipallojen heittelyä. Jotkut oppilaista halusivat kuvata ääninäytteessään tuulen voimaa: kuinka jännittävästi tuuli repii oksia ja paukuttaa ovia.

Koulumme takana oleva puisto on talvella tyynellä säällä hyvin hiljainen. Linnut ovat muuttaneet etelään. Huonolla säällä siellä kulje juuri ihmisiäkään muutamaa koiraa ulkoiluttavaa mummoa lukuunottamatta. Toisin on kesällä.

Äänimaisemassamme ei yllätyksekseni kukaan edes yrittänyt kuvata Suomen alkutalven pimeyttä tylsyytenä, joka sateisina päivinä syö kaiken värin maisemasta ja melkein lamaannuttaa elämän (aikuisista). Lapsia kylmä, märkä ja pimeä ei tunnu lainkaan haittaavan! He saapastelevat iloisina suoraan lätäkön halki ja laskevat pyllymäkeä heti, kun on vähänkin jäätä. Koulun kuivauskaapit ovat hurisseet täysillä jo monta viikkoa, kun märät pipot, lapaset, sukat, ulkohousut ja takit yritetään saada kuiviksi ennen seuraavaa välituntia. Ilmeisesti vain aikuiset kärsivät kaamosmasennuksesta! Ja heti kun sataa vähänkin uutta, valkoista ja puhdasta lunta, lapset suorastaan ratkeavat riemusta.

Vastakohtaisuudet Australian kesään, kuumuuteen, kuivuuteen ja metsäpaloihin korostuivat. Bullin koululaisten äänimaisemia kuunnellessa oppilaani kiinnittivät huomiota heti lintuihin ja luonnon ääniin. Se, ettemme juuri saaneet selvää lasten puheesta ei haitannut. Riemukas kesäinen tunnelma välittyi tänne maapallon toiselle puolelle ja sai lapset kuvittelemaan jotain itselle tuntematonta, asettumaan toisen asemaan ja matkustamaan mielikuvituksensa avulla lämpimään maailman ääriin. He totesivat, että kesällä meilläkin on puissa suhinaa ja lintujen laulua.

Tietoa ei pidä erottaa taiteesta. Siksi olemmekin opiskelleet Australian asioita ja seuranneet uutisia mm. metsäpalojen vaikutuksista koaloihin ja muihin eläimiin. On ollut helpottavaa kuulla Jeremyn lähettämistä viesteistä, ettei ystäväkoulumme ole vaarassa. Kuulimme kuitenkin, että joillakin oppilailla on kotona matkalaukku valmiiksi pakattuna, jos tulee äkkilähtö tulen takia. Se herätti keskustelua ja empaattisia tunteita. Oppilaat sanoivatkin, että Bullin koulun oppilaat saavat tulla kouluun ja asumaan meille, jos savu haittaa. Tervetuloa ilman vaarojakin!

Mediakasvatuksen osuus huipentui siihen, että Yleisradion filmiryhmä kävi tekemässä jutun DearYou- projektistamme ja otimme skypeyhteyden Jeremyn luokkaan. Aikaeron takia tulimme aamulla jo puoli tuntia ennen koulun alkua ( klo 7.30) kouluun ja Jeremyn oppilaineen odotti puheluamme viideltä iltapäivällä. Oppilaat eivät malttaneet kovin hyvin kuunnella, mitä Jeremy oppilaineen puhui, sillä oppilaiden näkeminen livenä reaaliajassa oli niin jännittävvää ja ihanaa.

Omana kokemuksenani kerroin uutisjutussa, että taidekasvatuksen kolme tasoa ovat toteutuneet tässä projektissa loistavasti:
- Henkilökohtaisen kasvun tasolla oppilaat ovat keskittyneet kuvan tekemiseen ja ilmaisuun. On syvennytty itseen ja omaan tekemiseen, eikä lopputulos ole ollut tärkein. On vain pyritty kasvattamaan lapsen omaa identiteettiä.
- Toisella tasolla projektissa on ollut yhteiskunnallisia tavoitteita, jotka pyrkivät tarjoamaan lapsille sellaisia valmiuksia, joita elämässä tarvitaan. Esimerkkeinä mainitsin empatian kasvattamisen, erilaisuuden hyväksymisen ja ymmärtämisen sekä kuvanlukutaidon.
- Kolmanneksi meillä on toteutunut hienosti kulttuurinen näkökulma. Taide ja kuva kertovat ihmisistä ja ihmisryhmistä.

Kiitos hienosta projektista Arlene ja Jeremy sekä Bullin koulun oppilaat!Kokkolassa Suomen 102. itsenäisyyspäivänä6.12.2019, Auli ja 2a Mäntykankaan koulusta

Observing and recording the ambient sound landscape was an interesting task for my 2nd grade students, although at first there was a bit of a murmur about not being able to record. We tried to make short clips because listening to the sound samples made by others without a picture was quite difficult and boring for some children. They are not used to concentrating, imagining and thinking about what the sound looks like. The visual culture of today echoes the image of everywhere.

The weather conditions in Kokkola varied greatly in November. There were occasional frosty snow or new soft snow. Sometimes it rained by pouring water. The children wanted to record various forms of water outdoors. They observe squishy puddles, dripping eaves and icicles, crumbling ice, creaking snow, and finally, joyful throwing of snowballs. Some students wanted to capture the sound of the wind in their sound sample: how exciting the wind is tearing branches and banging doors.

The park behind our school is very quiet during the winter with calm weather. Birds have moved south. In bad weather there are just a few people out there, except for a few grandmothers who walk outside. It's different in summer.

To our surprise, nobody even tried to portray the darkness of the early winter in Finland as a boredom that eats all the color of the landscape on rainy days and almost paralyzes life (of adults). Children in cold, wet and dark do not seem to mind at all! They arrive cheerfully straight across the puddle and lower the butt as soon as there is even some ice. School drying cabinets have been buzzing for weeks as wet beanies, gloves, socks, pants and jackets are tried to be dry before the next break. Apparently only adults suffer from colic depression! And as soon as it rains a little new, white, and pure snow, the kids are out of joy.

The contrasts with the Australian summer, heat, drought and forest fires were highlighted. While listening to the soundscapes of Bull's schoolchildren, my students immediately paid attention to the birds and the sounds of nature. The fact that we just couldn't find out what the children were saying didn't bother. The cheerful summer atmosphere was transmitted to the other side of the globe and made the children imagine something unknown to themselves, position themselves in the position of another and travel to the warm ends of the world with their imagination. They said that in the summer we also have the hum of the trees and the birds singing.

Information should not be separated from art. That is why we have been studying Australian issues and following the news, for example. on the effects of forest fires on koalas and other animals. It has been a relief to hear Jeremy's messages that our twin school is not in danger. However, we heard that some students have a suitcase packed at home in case of a sudden fire start. It aroused debate and empathic feelings. Indeed, the students said that Bull School students could come to school and live with us if the smoke was hurting. Welcome without danger!

The culmination of media education culminated in the fact that the Finnish Broadcasting Company film group went on to talk about our DearYou project and reached out to Jeremy for a skype. Because of the time difference, we came to school half an hour before school (7.30am) and Jeremy's students waited for our call at five in the afternoon. The students were not too keen to listen to what Jeremy and his students were talking about because seeing the students live in real time was so exciting and wonderful.

In my experience, I told the news story that the three levels of art education have been accomplished brilliantly in this project:

- At the level of personal growth, the pupils are focused on picture making and expression. It has delved into itself and its own making, and the end result has not been the most important. There has only been an effort to increase the child's own identity.

- On the second level, the project has had social goals that aim to provide children with the skills they need in life. As examples, I mentioned growing empathy, accepting and understanding difference, and image reading.

- Third, we have a great cultural perspective. Art and image are about people and groups of people.

Thanks to Arlene and Jeremy for the great project and the Bull School students!

Kokkola on Finland's 102nd Independence Day

Auli and 2a from Mäntykangas School

6.12.2019

The 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola, Finland are making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

The artists from Bulli interpret their surroundings to their friends in Kokkola

We began Project 3 by listening to our Finnish friends and the audio files that they sent via email. The students were intrigued with the cold climate sounds of ice skates scratching on ice and snow squishing between shoes. The concept of a narrator was discussed, what does a good narrator do? I modeled to the class a narration of the classroom surroundings, and focused on the use of adjectives to give the listener a more engaging experience. It was a particularly hot day, with a lot of smoke in the atmosphere from nearby bushfires, we brainstormed what types of words we might use to describe the sounds, sights, and emotions. We had a trial run, using a voice recorder on iPads, of describing the playground outside the classroom. We listened back to these audio files, and debated what the narrator did well, and what they could do to improve. They worked in pairs with their partners giving advice on what aspects to record.

At the first attempt the students focused on creating sounds rather focusing on the natural sounds that occurred. They were scratching tree, stomping on the grass and concrete. Although this was good, I encouraged them to use their voices more and describe the world around them.

The second attempt was much more successful, with the students narrating the environment around them. The project guidelines outlined the approach of acting like a guide for our environment, and to give the listener a tour of the surroundings.

The 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola, Finland are making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

Bringing the light from Australia to Finland

Projektin toisen osan toteutus viipyi meillä Kokkolassa opettajan työtapaturman ja sitä seuranneen sairausloman takia. Huomasimme, miten henkilösidonnaisia tällaiset projektit ovat. Ulkopuolinen sijainen ei pysty sisäistämään ja teettämään tehtävää niillä neuvoilla, joita opettaja kotoa käsin voi puhelimella tai sähköpostilla antaa. Tämä toisaalta todistaa sitä, että kuvataide on luonteeltaan sitoutumista ja innostumista vaativa pitkä ajatteluaprosessi. Ei mikään irrallinen ja helppo jäljennystehtävä, niin kun usein luullaan. Kuvataide on omien ajatusten näkyväksi tekemistä ja opettajan osa on johdattaa oppilaat tähän ajatteluun.

Luokkani oppilaat saivat arvotussa järjestyksessä valita Jeremyn luokan oppilaiden kuvista itselleen kirjekaverin, jonka muotokuvan he jäljensivät kuultopaperille. Ensimmäisenä tarkastelimme kuvien lapsia ja yritimme arvailla, millaisia he ovat. Tutkimme asentoja, ilmeitä, eleitä ja ulkonäköä. Joitain vastauksia saatiin, kun opettaja suomensi, mitä oppilaat olivat kertoneet itsestään. Muiden muassa Jeremyn luokan kaksoset herättivät kiinnostusta, kun huomattiin, että kuvissa on kaksi täysin samannäköistä tyttöä. Koska Bullin koulun oppilaita oli enemmän, kuin meitä, muutama oppilas halusi tehdä kahdesta oppilaasta kuvan.

Jatkoimme myös valokuvaamisesta ja valokuvista kuvataiteen keinona puhumista ja yritimme etsiä kuvista mahdollisimman paljon sävyjä ja värejä valkoisesta mustaan. Tutkimme kuvien valoja ja varjoja. Ensimmäiseksi oppilaat värittivät vaaleat eli valon kohdat kuvista. Sitä mukaa kun muotokuvat valmistuivat, ne kiinnitettiin luokan ikkunaan, josta tähän aikaan vuodesta tulee muutaman tunnin ajan valoa ulkoa. Päivä Suomessa on nyt todella lyhyt!

Oppilast kirjoittivat ystävilleen australiaan myös pienet kirjeen. Tehtävänä oli keksiä vähintään kolme kysymystä ja kertoa vähintään kolme asiaa itsestään. Tämä oli hyvä harjoitus myös kielen kannalta, koska olemme opetelleet virkkeen rakennetta : iso alkukirjain, verbi ja päättömerkki. Käänsimme kirjeet googlekääntäjän avulla englanniksi. Tulostetun kirjeen sai koristella mielensä mukaan. Valitettavasti Suomessa alkaa huomenna postilakko, joten kirjeet ja kuvat eivät nyt lähde mihinkään. Lähetämme huomenna niistä kuitenkin kuvat sähköpostilla, joten oppilaat näkevät, mitä posti tuo heille ennemmin tai myöhemmin.

Tehtävä oli mielestämme kaikin puolin mielenkiintoinen. Oli ihanaa ajatella, että maailman toisella puolella on samanikäisiä lapsia, jotka odottavat piirroksiamme ja kirjeitämme. Olemme aidosti kiinnostuneita tutustumaan Jeremyn luokkaan ja Australiaan ja elämään siellä. Oppilaat totesivatkin, että oppilaat näyttävät siellä ihan samanlaisilta kuin meillä kesällä. Täällä Kokkolassa onkin nyt marraskuun 10. päivänä ennätysaikaisin hiihtokeli ja paljon lunta. Välituntileikit taitavat nyt olla melko tavalla erilaisia!

Parhain terveisin Auli ja 2a Mäntykankaan koulu, Kokkola

The second Dear You project was delayed in Kokkola due to the accident at the teacher and the subsequent sick leave. We noticed how student-centered such projects are. The substitute teacher was unable to fulfill the assignment without the advice of the teacher. This, on the other hand, proves that Fine Art is a long process of thinking that requires commitment and enthusiasm. Not a loose and easy imitation task, as you often think. Visual art is about making one's own thoughts visible, and it is part of the teacher to guide students in that thinking.

Students in my class were given the chance to choose from a picture of Jeremy's classmates, in a prized order, a letter-buddy, whose portrait they copied on tracing paper. First we looked at the children in the pictures and tried to guess what they were like. We studied their postures, expressions, gestures and appearance. Some answers came when the teacher translated what the students had said about themselves. Among others, Jeremy's class twins aroused interest when it was discovered that there were two girls who looked exactly the same. Because there are more Bulli School students than us, few students wanted to take a picture of the two students.

 We also continued to talk about photography. Photography as a means of fine art and tried to find as many shades and colors as possible from white to black. We examined the lights and shadows of the pictures. First, the students colored the light, or light spots, in the pictures. As the portraits were completed, they were attached to the classroom window, which at this time of the year will be exposed to light for several hours. The day in Finland is now really short!

Students also wrote short letters to their friends in Australia. The task was to come up with at least three questions and tell at least three things about themselves. This was also a good exercise for the language as we learned the structure of the sentence: capitalization, verb and ending. We used google translator to translate the letters into English. You could decorate the printed letter as you wish. Unfortunately, Finland will start a postal strike tomorrow, so now letters and pictures will not go anywhere. However, we will email them tomorrow, so students will see what the mail brings them sooner or later.

We thought the task was interesting in every way. It was wonderful to think that there were children of the same age on the other side of the world waiting for our drawings and letters. We are genuinely interested in getting to know Jeremy's class and Australia and living there. The students said that the students there look exactly like us in the summer. Here in Kokkola, on November 10th, there is a record-breaking ski run and plenty of snow. The break play now seems to be quite different!

 Best regards,
Auli and 2a at Mäntykangas School, Kokkola

The 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola, Finland are making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

Transposing friends in Kokkola from Bulli

Nell’s transposition of Alisa.

The students here at Bulli Public School were very excited to see pictures of their art buddies (or “pen pals” as they’ve been saying). They were amazed that a lot of the qualities that they wrote about themselves (friendly, creative, funny, brave, etc) where also qualities that their Finnish friends also mentioned. We’re all different but the same !

For Dear You Project 2 we began by discussing what we thought about the person portrayed in the picture, and what emotions that came to mind. Initially common traits were spoken about, like “funny, nice, cool, friendly”. I encouraged them to think deeper, and to analyse what that person might be like if they met them in person. This prompted better responses like “wonderful, shy, helpful, imaginative, compassionate”.

Next, based on the range of transposition methods outlined in the YouTube clip supplied, we chose to trace onto blank paper via back lighting provided by a window. I modelled how to do this, emphasising how important it was to sketch every line and shadow, and not simply draw the outline of the person’s face. After the sketching stage I encouraged them to write down the qualities that they observed from the transposed image, and to add colour via pencils and pastel crayons.

After finishing the artworks, I encouraged them to write a message to their Finnish friends, in an effort to get to know them better. We used google translator to write our questions in Finnish.

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After reflecting on the finished artworks the students observed that the personality traits a person has are the same no matter if the image is a photo, or a sketch. Also students noted that the transposed sketch intensified the emotions or feelings that the picture showed. For example, if a person looked “kind” from observing the photograph, the person looked even more so in the sketch. An interesting revelation for them.

Regards,
Jeremy Gudze 

1/2G Classroom Teacher
Bulli Public School

The 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola, Finland are making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

"The Early Bird Gets The Word"

“Hello! Here are we in Mäntykangas School in Kokkola, Finland 2a. We would like to tell about ourselves with 3 words. We will take some photos for you with mirrors on Friday. The weather is so awful today and I am afraid, it is raining for a long.... anyways, lots of love.”

— Auli Palosaari

Curiosity, Bravery, Perseverance

Hei!

Olemme tutustuneet vahvuuksiin, joita itsessämme tunnistamme ja löydämme. Oppilaat saivat valita kolme erilaista vahvuutta, joilla haluavat kertoa itsestään australiaisille ystävillemme. Luokassamme vieraili tiistaina myös suuri joukko australialaisia rehtoreita, joille esittelimme projektiamme. Käänsimme vahvuudet englanniksi ja liitimme kuviimme englanninkieliset tekstit. Luokassani on useita tehostettua tukea tarvitsevaa lasta, joten jo tämä edellä mainittu on ollut haastavaa ja vienyt tavattoman paljon aikaa. Emme ole vieläkään päässet ulos valokuvaamaan, koska mm. vierailujen ja koulun muun ohjelman ja yhteisten päällekkäisten projektien takia on ollut talossamme hyvin kiireistä ja koulupäivät sirpaleisia. Olin itse 3 päivää pois The Early Bird Gets The Word- varhennetun englannin kielen koulutuksessa ja senkin takia pakka on hieman sekaisin luokassani. Projekti pääsi alun alkaen myöhässä alkamaan, koska asian käsittely ja luvan (maksusitoumuksen saanti) koulun johdossa viipyi. Nyt on ollut kaksi oppilaiden arviointikeskusteluviikkoa ja olen tavannut jokaisen lapsen vanhemmat koulupäivän jälkeen . Olen kertonut projektista ja kysellyt kuvauslupia. Kaikilta en ole vieläkään saanut vastausta.

Sää on ollut pari päivää myrskyisä ja sateinen, emmekä senkään takia ole päässeet vielä kuvaamaan ipadeilla ulkona. Odottelen valokuvaaja, kuvataiteilija Joni Virtaselta vastausta, milloin hän ehtii tulla luokkaamme opettamaan kuvausta ja kertomaan ammatistaan. Vahvuuksia olemme käsitellet joka päivä eri oppiaineissa. ( Olen kuvataideopettaja, mutta myös perusopetuksen luokanopettaja, joten projektista olisi helppo tehdä kokonaisuus, jos ei olisi nyt niin paljon muuta opetusta rajoittavaa toimintaa koulussamme.

Viikko 42 on syyslomaviikko ja viikko 43 uimaopetusviikko, jolloin kävelemme joka päivä uimahallille uimaopetukseen ja takaisin, joten niillä viikoilla ei taideopetusta voi pitää. Toivottavasti saamme kuvat otetuksi ensi viikolla, ettemme jää projektista enempää jälkeen. Tahti tuntuu tälle integraatioluokalleni aika kiireiseltä. Jos olisi vain tämä projekti normaaliopetuksen tukena, suoriutuisimme aikataulussa, mutta nyt on tässä yhtälössä ollut liian monta muuttujaa. Pahoittelen!

Kaikesta huolimatta olemme projektista innoissamme ja on todella ihanaa tutustua australialaiseen kouluun projektin kautta. Kartasta olemme jo tutkineet, missä Bullin koululaiset fyysisesti ovat ja australian eläimiin mm.kenguruihin, vesinokkaeläimiin, vompatteihin ja nokkasiiliin tutustuimme ympäristöopin tunnilla.

Olemme myös ihastelleet sitä vauhtia, joilla nykyään saa ihan reaaliajassa yhteyden toiselle puolelle maapalloa. Rehtori mrs Paker lähetti Bullin koululle sähköpostia luokassamme ja sai samantien vastauksen! Kaikkein riemukkainta oli tutustua Bullin koulun lähettämiin kuviin ja kertomukseen projektin toteuttamisesta! ´Täällä sateen ja myrskyn keskellä totsesimme, että toisella puolella maailmaa onkin kesä! Onnittelemme Australiaa naisten keihäänheiton maailmanmestaruudesta. Keihäänheitto on aikaisemmin ollut meidän suomalaisten laji ja nyt te saitte mestaruuden! Great!

Tapaan vielä tänään australialaiset rehtorit toisen taideprojektini merkeissä. Teemme Kokkola 400v. juhlan kunniaksi rintamerkkejä paikallisessa ravintolassa illallisen jälkeen.

Lots of love,
Auli ja 2a

Love, Forgiveness, Bravery

Hey!

We have gotten to know the strengths we identify and find within ourselves. The students were given three different strengths to tell about themselves to our Australian friends. On Tuesday, a large group of Australian principals also visited our class to present our project. We translated our strengths into English and included English texts in our pictures. We have a number of students with special needs in our classroom, so the above has been challenging and time-consuming. We still can't get out of photography because visits and the rest of the school program and common overlapping projects have made our house very busy and school days fragmented. I was 3 days away in The Early Bird Gets The Word Early English Training and that's why the pack is a bit messy in my class. The project started late due to delays in processing and obtaining permission (commitment) from the school management. Now it's been two weeks students' evaluation of the debate, and I have met with the parents after the school day for each child. I have told about the project and asking description permits. I still haven't got an answer from everyone.

The weather has been turbulent and rainy for a couple of days, and we haven't been able to shoot it on the ipads for a while either. I'm waiting for photographer, visual artist Joni Virtanen to answer when he will come to our class to teach photography and tell us about his profession. We deal with strengths every day in different subjects. (I'm an art teacher, but also basic education teacher, so the project would be easy to make a whole, if it were not now so much more restrictive teaching activities at our school.

Week 42 is Autumn Holiday Week and Week 43 is a swimming lessons week, where we go to the swimming pool every day for swimming lessons and back, so there is no art education in those weeks. We hope we get the pictures taken next week so we won't miss the project any more. The pace seems quite busy for my integration class. If only this project were to support normal education, we would be on schedule, but now there have been too many variables in this equation. I apologize!

Nonetheless, we are excited about the project and it is really wonderful to get to know the Australian school through the project. From the map, we've already explored where Bull's schoolchildren are physically located, and we've learned about Australian animals such as kangaroos, waders, waders and bumble bees in an environmental lesson.

We have also admired the speed with which you can now connect to the other side of the globe in real time. Principal Mrs. Paker emailed Bull's school in our classroom and received a reply immediately! The most joyful thing was to see the pictures sent by the Bulli School and the story of the project! 'Here in the midst of rain and storm, we said it was summer on the other side of the world! Congratulations to Australia on the world championship in women's spear throwing. Spear throwing has been our Finn's kind in the past and now you got the championship! Great!

I still meet Australian principals today for my second art project. We make Kokkola 400v. to celebrate the badges with a badge at a local restaurant after dinner.

Lots of love,
Auli ja 2a

Perseverance, Leadership Skills, Sense of Humour

The 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola, Finland are making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

Artists from Australia make art from “Words that describe me”

The students really enjoyed the first Dear You project. 

Firstly, we spoke about the word translation, and what it means to communicate verbally or visually over long distances. I showed the class a map of the world and showed them where Finland is, they were excited that our artworks will be travelling so far around the world. 

I showed the class some photographic portraits and discussed what the pictures are translating to a viewer. We got a little stuck on visual appearances, many of the responses were superficial, for example “tall, smiling, happy, sad”. I had to encourage them to look beyond the outward appearance and try to decipher what the person may be thinking. After this guidance some deeper thinking became apparent and the students commented that the people in the examples were “lonely, determined, excited, responsible”.

I then gave the sheet and asked them to write down “Words that describe me …”. I modelled a few examples on the board to assist with spelling. They first wrote down what words that they think about themselves, then I encouraged them to brainstorm, walk around the room and ask their peers what they think that they translate to the world around them.

We then spoke about photography and how we could translate these attributes into a photograph, we talked about using perspective, props, light and shade to communicate meaning to a viewer. We practised picking objects around the room (e.g. book, pencil, chair) to use as props, experimented with our body position to communicate a feeling (e.g. looking away from the camera, blocking our face with our hands, leaning into or away from the camera, etc).

I asked the class to prepare props and choose a site in which to have their picture taken. Once they were ready I took their photograph with the school’s digital camera. I invited them to either take the picture indoors or outdoors, I feel like this was a setback because the majority of the students outside choose to perform athletic tricks/moves/positions, rather than communicate an emotion or feeling like we had spoken about earlier. If I did this again I would ask them to create both an indoor picture and an outdoor picture. This strategy would produce improved results I feel.

Nell, choose to communicate “Sensitive”

I printed the photographs, the students cut them to size and glued them onto the sheets. I asked them to underline what single attribute of themselves they were attempting to translate to the viewer of the picture.

On the back of the sheet the students all wrote a short message to their “sister class” in Finland, “Hei”!

Regards,
Jeremy Gudze 

1/2G Classroom Teacher
Bulli Public School

Harvey, choose to communicate “Brave”

The 2nd graders from Mäntykankaan koulun in Kokkola, Finland are making and sharing art with the 1st and 2nd graders from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia.

Oh my! Our first package has arrived!

1B class in Helsinki, Finland were soooo excited to have received such a big package full of fantastic greetings and pictures from their new friends! Most of the children in the class have not visited NYC yet so their friends’ description of what Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are like gave more juice for the imagination than you can begin to imagine!

Everybody first had a go at reading their friend’s letter by themselves. I think that the kids were too excited to focus on the words! After everybody had read their letter they started their response. Some wanted to start by drawing a picture and others immediately wanted to answer their friend’s questions.

This was wonderful as we got to practice how to be conversational on paper. The questions the New Yorkers asked were just lovely! How many people live in Finland? What is the weather like? Do you have any pets? There was a range of questions, but what was also lovely was how open and sharing everybody was. What a welcoming start to a long distance friendship!

We read and responded to the letters at school and soon realized that this was also a great opportunity to involve the parents. The parents helped the kids write their responses and find out facts for the curious New Yorkers. For example, we learnt that there are more people living in NYC than all of Finland! I think the parents had fun finding all of this information with their child : ).

The package will be sent to USA first thing tomorrow morning. Keep your eyes peeled!

With love,
Arlene & 1B

The students in Grade 2 (7-8 years old) at NEST+m in NYC are making and sharing art with the Grade 1 students at Ressun peruskoulu (7-8 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

The kids in NYC kick off their friendship with their new pen pals in Helsinki!

Amanda Sainsott and her class of 2nd graders from Manhattan, NY have started an exchange with Arlene Tucker and her 1st graders in Helsinki, Finland!

The letters were full of warmth, excitement, and unexpected details about themselves and where they live. Such great questions they asked! The students also included pictures they drew. We could catch a glimpse of what their homes look like and where they like to play.

Reading their letters made me want to go visit all the lovely parks, zoos, and experience the bustle of the city myself!

Let’s see where the conversation and collaboration will go!

The students in Grade 2 (7-8 years old) at NEST+m in NYC are making and sharing art with the Grade 1 students at Ressun peruskoulu (7-8 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

One idea leads to another

As the students in Taizhou listened to their friend's soundscapes their ideas started to grow. Here you can see how each mind map is unique and how we all interpret sounds, images, and emotions in different ways. Loving the translation process in these artworks!

Teachers Miss Wu Juehua and Lisa did an amazing job encouraging their students to be as creative, open, and experimental as they can be. Thank you!

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Dear You at InSEA in June 2018!

I attended a printmaking workshop at Museum of Impossible Forms to make Dear You linoleum prints for InSEA conference in Helsinki. I will be happy to give you one when we meet!

The International Society for Education Through Art (InSEA) is a non-governmental organization and official partner of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNESCO). http://www.insea.org/

Continuing with their mission for "Advocacy, networking and the advancement of research and praxis in art education." this year's European regional InSEA Congress will be held from June 18.-21. 2018 at Aalto University Otaniemi Campus in Finland.

Dear You is honored to be holding a brainstorming session at this great event on June 20th at 11.30am. Welcome!

This year's main themes of the presentations are: 

• Artistic and scientific collaborations
• Contemporary artistic and art educational approaches to diversity and cultural changes
• Digital and new materialist artistic and art educational practices and theories

There will be so many great presenters, speakers, and thoughts buzzing around art education. Learn more about the event and get your tickets here.

Thank you and hope to see you there!

XOXO
arlene

Thank you, Raine Vasquez, for your guidance and patience at the printmaking workshop! https://www.museumofimpossibleforms.com/

Kanelit and the Monkeys make art at MIF!

Kanelit (Cinnamons) and The Monkeys got together at Museum of Impossible Forms in Kontula, Helsinki to make art!

It is amazing that the Monkeys from Your School in Olari, Espoo and Kanelit from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Kontula, Helsinki got to meet in person after months of making and sharing art from a distance!!  What an exciting morning we had at Museum of Impossible Forms!

We first got into small groups of mixed artists from the two schools to listen to the sound art we had made for the previous art project.  This way they could meet and get to know each other by physically making art with each other!  Everybody was so open and kind with each other. 

The first part of this session's artistic process was listening to each other describe what they saw in the environment.  This brought immediate smiles to their faces as they heard their own voices and their friends' on the loud speakers.  The Cinnamon group made these recordings and The Monkeys made these.  As they listened to the recordings they could draw what they heard.  They could be more abstract or more literal with their drawings.  For example, some chose to draw the soundwaves of children laughing in the background and some drew snow and sun as they were mentioned in the recordings.  The artists were free to go in any direction they wish, but the awareness of connecting sound to thought to visual output was discussed. 

After some time of collective drawing, the possibility to collage and build with maps was introduced. Maps were chosen for their symbolic purpose as our artists live in different locations, but have come together to meet and create.  Simple 2D maps turned into 3D bridges, people, and tunnels.  I was so impressed with everybody's creativity!  Masterminds at work!

We closed the day by taking a long caterpillar walk to look at the artworks and made a circle where the artists could reflect on the morning and their experience.  It seemed that everybody really enjoyed meeting their friends and making collages together.  In the closing circle, they realized that they had more in common than their love for making art!  The topic of languages came up and they discovered that their friends from the other school could speak Somali, Russian, Albanian, Finnish, and English!  What an amazing bunch of young artists and teachers that encourage their creativity and help grow their confidence!

The Monkeys stayed at MIF to eat their lunch before hopping on the metro to head back to Espoo.  Marianne Niemelä, one of the artistic directors of MIF, came up with the great idea to make wristbands!  Naturally, these were a huge hit with the kids and now they all want to come back to make more!  Thank you, Marianne!

Thank YOU and Dear You wishes you all and happy happy summer! Hyvää kesää!

With love,
Arlene

The 6 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.