The Penelope Project: Weaving Rizz

Remember our original idea to weave large sunshades for our school - it was going to be the finale for the Penelope Project? (It's ok if you don't.) Welp, it didn't work out as I thought it would. It worked out BETTER!

Just as we got to the phase of the project where I had to organize getting giant frame looms constructed to serve as the base for our shades, the school district decided that our school needed a large, black, industrial chain link metal fence surrounding it. The students immediately started to complain that they were being "imprisoned." Although I knew that the fence was actually about keeping them safe (we had a very open campus before), I thought they had a point. The fence was not particularly "aesthetic" (as the kids like to say), no cap. 

Then, as we were eating lunch one day outside near this fence, Athena struck me with an idea. Why didn't we just weave designs on the fence?! When I shared this idea with my students, we all agreed it would be a great idea to "rizz" it up. (I can't wait for my students to read this paragraph and melt to the floor in puddles of outrage that an adult is using already out-dated youth lingo. LOL)

So we started investigating materials that we could use for outside installations. I had originally settled on something like paracord, but the more I read about it disintegrating in sunlight due to it being plastic, I knew we had to find something else. When I looked up macrame yarn, I stumbled upon recycled t-shirt yarn. They take old t-shirts and slice them up to create yarn. Knowing that we would be spending many hours with this material running all over our hands, I wanted it to be comfortable so I ordered some to play around with. The kids and I both agreed that the t-shirt yarn was AMAZING. Bonus - it came in all kinds of pretty colors.

The next step was for the kids to design a pattern that we could easily transfer to the fence. They all turned in designs, and then we voted on the ones we liked best. We wanted the colors to match a mural that the art students installed years ago to beautify the front of the school. We also settled on an exact location: the main gate entrance to the school. Our weaving art would welcome visitors and students to the school.

We began weaving in late March. It was slow-going work but fun. The students got to work in small groups to weave the fence. They enjoyed chatting with each other as they worked side by side.

Because my classes are so large (3 sections of almost 30 each), not all the students could weave the fence at the same time. I had to devise small group station activities for students to work on while some wove the fence. Here are the stations we worked in every day: 1. fence weaving, 2. online reading program mandated by the school, 3. personal weaving on small frame looms, and 4. interpersonal skills (UNO or another card game in which they actually have to chat with each other and not interact with screens.) Thus, every student in every class got to weave the fence for at least 15 minutes per day. Some kids were better at it than others. Some were super fast and focused; others needed a lot of help. Weaving right alongside each other allowed that extra support for students who needed it.

Another cool aspect of the project was the opportunity to go outside for class. Anticipating seating issues with such a plan, I wrote the grant to cover outdoor seating. Every day when we go outside, we pick up our plastic lawn chairs and take them with us to the fence weaving space. Students who are working on their reading program on Chromebooks can comfortably sit while they do so.

As we wove, we got lots of questions and comments about our project. "Why are y'all doing this? Wow, that's pretty! That looks so nice - thanks for beautifying the fence." Kids who walk by it nearly always ask why they can't be in this class. (Hint: they CAN; they just didn't sign up for it.)

Now that we are nearly done with our fence weaving project, we have received so many compliments. It's really beautiful, and the students and teachers love it. Just recently, parents were discussing the newly installed fences on a social media app. One parent pointed out how we had beautified our fence and "made it so welcoming." We have achieved our purpose!

Advice to all teachers with "big ideas" - be flexible. Sometimes, things don't work out the way you want them to, but that doesn't mean they're not still awesome. Look around you - is there something that needs fixing? Something that could be better with just a little extra effort? Learning to notice those opportunities is a great skill to work on. 

Another bit of advice. Sometimes, projects take a REALLY long time so be patient. One day, my principal walked by as we were working on the fence, and she asked me, "So...when is this gonna be done?" I jokingly told her that we'd be finished at 2:25 PM on Wednesday, May 22. (That's the last minute of this school year. LOL) And may Athena help us, it seems as though that may actually be true. We've also had to take time off from class to celebrate the end-of-the-year achievements that happened because of this class - lots of silver and gold medals on the Pegagus National Mythology Exam!

We got so good at our work that the kids decided we needed to weave another section of the fence so that the gate is completely framed by the colorful panels. And our grant (from ADF) paid for plenty of yarn if we need more. See the bottom right corner of this picture? I'm regretting the use of that dark green and really want to redo it. Every perfectionist fiber in my body wants to. But, I'm going to try to live with it and let this project go.

As we finish out the school year with this project, it's good to know that we helped our school in some small way. My students learned to weave, they reflected on how long that process took in ancient times and in modern times too, and most importantly, they learned alongside each other.