Today the children chose team mates and began working excitedly on their constructions. The children began with a fervor as if they had been thinking about their next move since the last time we did the activity. They really seem to enjoy using blocks and other props, sometimes for function and sometimes for decoration. I asked a lot of questions today regarding those props. “What are these doing?” “Tell me about these.” “What are you trying to do?” “How could you use those?’ “What happened when you used these?” The children never tire of explaining what they have done, what they are trying to do, and what they are planning to do.
This entire experience has helped me to practice the art of being quiet and observing. At first I found this difficult as I squelched desires to praise their efforts and offer suggestions. Instead I learned to either nod, smile, or I stuck to asking the questions inspired by the project guidelines. This restraint on my part encouraged children to keep their thinking on what they were doing instead of focusing on my response or waiting for me to solve problems for them. It was apparent that children were thinking scientifically in every step of their constructing process. The limited questions encouraged thinking and verbal communication. They would talk with their teammates, to others around them, and to me excited to show what they had done or complain that that something did not work or ask how another did something, just like a scientist might do during experimentation. They may have begun by collecting the pieces they wanted to use that day haphazardly, but after beginning, I saw many children pause, do some sort of mental calculation or planning, and then go back and gather more wooden pieces and blocks. During the next steps I watched them use the skill of observation. They would often stand back and look at what they had created thus far, observe others’ creations, watch to see if what they had constructed would do what they had predicted, and look around the room for possible resources.
I attempted to stimulate children’s thinking in two ways, by asking limited open ended questions and by providing parameters in which the children needed to work. Here are some of the questions I posed to them to stimulate thinking: “What are trying to get this piece to do?” “Can you make your path turn?” “Can you make two, three, four turns in your path?” “How can you keep your marble from falling or flying off the track?” “How can you make your marble move without pushing or blowing on it?” When I asked the children open ended questions, they were encouraged to review and explain what they had already done. These explanations would come with lots of descriptive vocabulary. Evelyn once told me,”I put the wooden pieces going down so that the gravity would pull the marble down the slide instead of me pushing it across the path. And the ones that were slanted more down went faster the other ones!” Some of the parameters I set included requesting them to use a limited space, requesting make their marbles move without pushing or blowing on their marbles, and requesting that they make more than one turn. These requests presented challenges for the children. They had to think about how to do what I was asking. Many children resisted and objected. I held fast to the parameter and continued to encourage them to meet the challenge. Many of the children went after the challenge with excitement. Some would stand back and look at what others were doing. This would usually spark an “AH HA” moment for them and they would excitedly get after a new attempt.
I believe the learning goals for this project were definitely met. Though I do not consider the project finished, as I continue to allow children to choose “wooden pieces” as a learning activity, I believe this segment of it was successful, for the children and me. The children were excited every day during this activity. They physically investigated the wooden pieces, marbles, and a variety of props. They explored the feel and weight of each piece to decide how they would use it. They explored through trial and error. They planned, executed, refined their plans, and tried again. They communicated about what they were doing. They solved problems. The objectives of a physical knowledge activity were met in these ways.
If I were to do this experiment again with a new group of children, I would attempt to think through the experience from child’s perspective. I believe I would then be able to set up a greater variety of parameters to challenge my students. I have seen what the children in my current class can do and assume that their choices and behaviors were similar to other kindergarten students who have been introduced to this activity. This will help me to reflect on my prior experience with my current class and plan appropriate questions and parameters for the next group.
The only issue I have with integrating this activity regularly in my classrooom is having enough time for it. At the school where I teach, much of the schedule and curriculum is planned for us. This is not to say that I am not allowed input, but we are given little time for free choice learning activities. I have managed to integrate this activity into my current schedule so I know I will figure out a way to include it in the future. If I could create my own ideal schedule, I would give this and other physical knowledge activities priority in my class. I know that effective physical knowledge activities incorporate logic-mathematical thinking as well. I plan to include more physical knowledge activities into my academic day from now on. I have already introduced a couple of commercial games that encourage the construction of physical and logic-mathematical knowledge: Pick Up Sticks and Ants In The Pants. These games require the user to use fine motor coordination, physics, decentering, turn taking, and strategizing. I am in the process of altering some games I have read about which will also require the use of those skills: Jenga, Don’t Break The Ice, Card Dominoes, and Sorry. In additions to these, I plan to incorporate sensory tubs (water, sand, rice) with accompanying tools, wood working, cooking, and ring toss to start.
In conclusion, I have enjoyed and learned a great deal from this project. As I am at the beginning of my education about constructivist teaching, this project allowed me to dive in and authentically experience an activity in which I could incorporate constructivist teaching principles. It has inspired me and given my evolving new teaching philosophy some meaningful foundation. I feel now I have a better grasp on what constructivism is and how to better explain and defend my use of constructivist principles.
INTRO TO RAMPS AND PATHWAYS 