Elephants jumping over the moon

by catnguyen919

Do ya’ll remember the Miss Mary Mack clapping game?

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For fifty cents, cents, cents

To see the elephant, elephant, elephant

Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

He jumped so high, high, high

He reached the sky, sky, sky

He never came back, back, back

‘Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

I wonder whether these children songs/games were some sort of improv as in they just said whatever came out of their mouths. I know a lot of children say random things that come to their minds and have the most absurd comments, but isn’t that what improv partially is?

Improve and Delirium

by catnguyen919

My friend and I were hanging out in my room and it was almost 4 am. We were at the point of delirium. We were laughing uncontrollably at everything we said (even when it was not remotely funny). I remember asking my friend what the weirdest situation he could think of would be..he went into some long story about a couple on the beach..something with a shark involved..then something about getting his arms eaten..not exactly sure what was going on but let’s just say that it was definitely a weird story. Mission accomplished. We somehow got onto the topic of abstract situations. Again, I’m not entirely sure what he was saying, or trying to say, but I went with it. I asked the question of whether it was better to scuba dive in Arizona or Antarctica. He said Antarctica because there was a lot more interesting things to see..I replied with on like penguins..he said no hawks..then I said oh and bald eagles (in Antarctica.) Thinking back on this moment, I’m not quite sure what to call it, but part of it did feel like I was in class put into a situation where I just went with it. At the beginning, it started off as not really improv, but as the “play” went on, it felt more and more like we were just saying what was on our mind. It may be partially that we were at that state of delirium, who knows, but maybe improv is kind of like being in a state of delirium where you just say whatever you feel like and whatever triggers your thoughts. Just thought it was interesting. Delirium=improv.

by catnguyen919

Ah Interesting that the flow and conceptual block articles were chosen. In one of my other classes, we had also read these articles. The class I read this in is called “Design your life”We were asked to then think of a time we experienced flow and were trying to find ways to create an environment or use certain things to allow ourselves to be in flow more often. It is pretty cool to see that being in flow can be in an activity as simple as washing dishes..I personally love the feeling of being in flow. I have been trying to create my own environment where it will allow me to be in continuous flow. Still working on it.  Also I agree with the spontaneity 1 article. I feel like at a young age, creativity is put to a stop because of some school who want things done a specific way. However, I hope and believe that some schools are changing their outlook on education. I think some schools..well preschools.. are trying to encourage creativity and spontaneity but there’s still always going to be the other aspect of education where there is one “right” way..

Exploration

by catnguyen919

The reading we read this week was really interesting.I feel like this is a pretty new-ish concept that has come into the development of childhood. I know here at the Stanford Bing nursery, they try really hard to promote creativity in the children ages 2-5. Like the example of  ”I see you are doing (this action)” rather than “Good job! or I like that”  The Bing nursery encompasses this form of learning through creativity and exploration. I know from other experiences that most preschools and schools try to gear learning with a more directed format in the sense that they teach kids to do an activity a certain way so that they can learn what the adults want them to learn. So instead of thinking of creative ways to figure different activities, many children are “forced” to think more white and black. It is definitely interesting to see the differences in the children.

Relax and Free

by catnguyen919

I have recently been becoming more aware of actively listening to others while they are speaking. I actually found that most of the time, when I listen, I am actually only “listening” in the sense that I am there in front of the other person, looking at them, but my mind is sometimes off wandering. I found myself thinking a lot about the past, future, and hypothetical situations of the “what if” question. While I become aware that I am off in la-la land, I yank myself back into reality and refocus myself to what the other person is saying. I get to the point where I try so hard to actively listen that I actually hear myself think loudly in my head. I usually find myself repeating what the person is saying or focusing really hard on making eye contact. All of these actions end up distracting me even further, and I’m back to square one of not truly listening. Does this mean that everything I listen to goes in one ear and out the other? No, not necessarily, but I just think that it is a strange concept when you try to actively listen, you end up not listening. I guess that is where relaxing and letting your mind become free of thoughts and plans would come in handy.

 

Are parents invited to this class??

by catnguyen919

After reading the article about active and empathetic listening, I laughed a bit. I only laughed because I could put myself in every one of those little stories. It seems so simple to  say ” just listen, be empathetic, and understand” but when you actually try to do this in it’s purest form, it’s a lot harder than it seems. Thinking back on some of the conversations I’ve had with my parents, I have always wondered why they just don’t understand me, and why it is so difficult for them not to push their own thoughts onto me. However, now when I try to be an empathetic listener, I experience that exact feeling my parents most likely have. Subconsciously, I find myself listening and thinking about how to respond, or I find myself forming opinions of what the other person is saying with my own personal experience. After becoming aware of this, It is very difficult to separate personal opinions and experiences from other people’s. It almost takes a strong sense of focus to push those thoughts aside when you realize that you are doing. Even then, are we really being completely empathetic listeners?…

Improv in life

by catnguyen919

In this week’s article, there were a lot of concepts that could definitely be used in everyday life. It makes sense that we do use improvisation every day in our lives. There were a few quotes that I found could be related to life.. “When an improviser lets go and trusts his fellow performers, it’s a wonderful, liberating experience that stems from group support.” In the work force as well as many aspects in life, when you have a group that is supportive of you and helps you succeed, you  put your your trust in them, which in the end becomes beneficial for everyone. The outcome is superior to the alternative of no support. Also by making “the other person look good” you are also contributing to the outcome as well as instilling the sense of trust and support of your fellow partner. I also agree that honesty is the best policy in both improv and life. With honesty, you are able to work with what you know to improve the outcome. Many great points were talked about in the article: trust, honesty, support. I also believe that with improv and in life, the sense of awareness is also a major factor in succeeding. Being conscious and aware of your teammates and the people around you will allow you to step in when they need it to progress forwards.