A gift for my classroom

I was at my new school today, working on a whole school retreat with the theme of' 'changing a culture of violence to a culture of peace'. It was brilliant. I spent the day working with a group of students modelling clay. Other groups around the school were doing drama, rap, music, art, making films, taking photos and all sorts. At the end of the day everyone presented their work. Finally, the leader of the STOMP group, using rhythm to bring people together, got the whole school involved in a BIG SCHOOL STOMP the like of which I have never seen. If you do not know what I am talking about, have a look at the link below.

The man who led this did not speak. He just used rhythm and sign to get over 1000 people to work together to produce something very cool indeed. The sound was awe inspiring. And we were quite good at keeping time too, I thought. There was even syncopation. 

At the end of the day the Bernadine sister I had been working with gave me a beautiful copy of the famous Andrei Rublev icon of the Trinity to bless my classroom. I was very touched. She said teaching at its best is about peaceful communication. I would like to write more about the icon and its symbolism and imagery later, and I will add to this post. But, as I am cooking dinner at the same time as writing this, for the moment, you will have to be content with having a good look at it. It will hang proudly in my new teaching room, and every time I see it I will be reminded of the amazing day I had today.

UPDATE: I wrote about the imagery and symbolism of this icon here.