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In this project, we were exploring and connecting different styles of art (writing, music and paint) to teach kids to be present in the moment (mindfulness).

This was my first time I have delivered a workshop, and without this project to help build up my confidence, organising ground doing these workshops with the kids, I wouldn't have the same atitude to create and execute the rehearsals for Suedejazz band and to develop the Live Music Event Jazz and Hip-Hop.

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Developing Pitch. 

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We were a group of three, and it all started by us developing a project and pitching it for a panel of teachers in Guildhall. Then Barbican would help us to find a place that we would deliver the project on the next term, which was our first term of our second year of Performance and Creative Enterprise.

I always had interest by meditation and mindfulness, and by that time I just had taken part in a project with London bubble watching how they facilitate their workshops within an intergenerational group made of kids, adults, and people with disabilities. The idea popped in my head when we were brainstorming in class about the project. One barrier at the beginning was that one of my colleagues didn't know much about mindfulness, and wasn't much keen in doing a workshops about it. But after some ideas of what the project could be, and how he could approach it with his skills. He started to understand. 

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On our pitch, apart from the researches we had done about art being therapy, and how it helps kids to develop themselves, also being an exercise of focus/mindfulness, e.g to paint.

The main part of the pitch was the program we had developed explaining how it would all happen, who would lead each session, and what we would be exploring within them. The project lasts four weeks, one day per week we would be visiting to do a session of one hour and half minutes.

 

The pitch was successful, and we just had to wait for the Barbican to contact schools, and find the right one where we could execute our project on the next term.

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Developing Workshop Sessions. 

 

We got an artist/teacher to help us to develop the project further, and the Barbican got us John Scurr primary school, a class of 30 kids of 9 years old.

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We thought that would be nice for me to start every session with some kind of warm up. So I developed a 10/15min part that would mix some yoga and tai chi movements, grounding exercises. Playing with our own body balance, spine rolls. Things that I got from different teachers and places that has helped me to get in the right mindset to focus.

We also wanted to leave a mark that always when they saw us, they would be excited to have fun. So we had to go light and playful mind. 

Each session would have a recap, check in and check out, apart from the facilitator games on the day. Making sure they remember what has been happening and tracking their feelings and thoughts about the sessions.

The games were mainly games that we have had on theatre/ drama classes, games that demanded focus, and open listening, such as counting 1 to 10 with eyes closed, but you can just say once a number.

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1st session - Getting to know each other, "What is mindfulness?", check in, warm-up, Drama games (demand focus), check out.

 

2nd - Recap, Check in,Warm-up, Drawing exercises, and drama games collaborating with each other, checkout.

 

3rd - (My session), Recap, Check in, Longer warm-up, Music rhythm exercises and games making music with our body, checkout.

 

4th - Check in, Warm-up, drama games and feedback from the kids, check out.

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Thoughts from the Workshops.

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It was a good idea for me to introduced the warm up to the kids instead of saying that we were going to do yoga and tai chi movements, I called it Ninja movements, they all got excited and most of them really have listened to me, as heard from the feed back of my colleagues.

We could feel every time after I have done these warm-up, that the kids would be much more calm, focus and ready to work. As the sessions were going, we saw some behaviour changes in some particular kids, boys were letting the girls speak more, and the shy ones were speaking starting to speak more too.

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Having the support from the team was really good to feel confident know that people are there to help you with you need. eg. Someone is leading the session, and needs a help to explain the game or exercise using different words and ideas. The team can easily step in, and help. We really worked as a team at the end, helping each others keeping track of the time, making sure everyone is pain attention to what is happening, and always being spread in the class to be able to help anyone that is having difficulties.. 

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These are some feed backs from the kids... :)

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