Freeing up learning in the junior school

For me the word 'play' means trusting the students to learn from equipment which can be manipulated and used in many ways. Open-ended. We don't often tell them directly what to learn.  They are left to outplay their own learning.  What and how will they learn? That is an ongoing conversation. In our learning community we discuss 'learning muscles' eg. I didn't give up when I built that tower, it fell over, and I was mad, but I built it again.  Stickability.   

 But I am also considering the academic language we use. I could do better I am sure, but things like "I can count from the largest number when finding how many blocks there are altogether". As I roam I can see this happening or facilitate it. I would love the students to be able to see the learning and record on their iPads independently and show others during reflection time. 

I have found that the transition from moving from 'teacher directed' activities to 'free play' takes time. The students sometimes, don't know what to do and need coaching around the social nuances of social play.  As a teacher, it feels weird.  Scary.  Heart pounding.  What will happen if I just leave them to learn through play?   However, when the students start to direct their learning through play, trust being given by the teacher and reflection happening around what learning is taking place, students flourish. There is so much happiness and engagement. It may take time to get this but eventually when it happens - it is magic - the students can learn a concept in 5 minutes. A concept that as a teacher you may have been trying to 'encourage them to do' through rotations, but they just weren't focused so they didn't get it. Not really, they may have mimicked it.   Here's an example, a 6 year old student who hasn't shown any real passion for letters and words, has just had a break through. For a long time, letters and words were not of interest to her she was below national standards.  She came and had a lesson with a teacher every day at school, mum tried at home to teach her, but the focus just wasn't there.  Today though, a year and a half later, she came to me and showed me a sentence she had typed on her iPad.  Six words, sounded out and carefully written.  How proud was this child?  Very.  Engaged, very.  She knew what she had done was something that adults wanted her to do.  I hope she is beginning to understand the power written words can have. I think the process of hearing sounds and writing them down makes sense to her now.

From here I was able to say, you sounded out the words and wrote down what you heard.  Fabulous.  You are a writer.  And she hasn't stopped. 

Here is what I noticed last year.  The students who wrote because they wanted to, who directed their own learning, wrote a lot and they made more progress than any other student.  Internal engagement seems to be a key for learning fast.  The problem is this looks different for every learner. And it doesn't always happen within the first year. My job as a teacher in a learning through play environment is to find that spark, to find the pathway, to provide equipment, provocations, opportunities and modelling so that each student sparks.  Even when I do all of these things well, sometimes, it is a matter of time.  I have to wait for the child to be developmentally ready.  And nothing can change that.  I could force them to 'do the trick' but really, it is not embedded into their lives in a meaningful way.  I wonder later if that is why we see disengaged learners?

Another student who is also six years old, who spent a good six months copying words down from around the class on paper, whiteboards and using chalk, is now writing with clear well formed letters.  Spaces and fullstops.  We don't have teacher led writing every day in our learning community.  But students do write, draw, record.  

Another student, for whom reading and writing has been a struggle started to draw this week.   For the first time.  And when he started he couldn't stop.  He drew five pictures.

This opportunity for young children to drive their own learning is the same for every part of the curriculum.  We have found great opportunity to share some of our academic goals during kai time this year.  The students sit down for a cuppa tea and kai twice a day.  At this moment, I can model writing or number problems, I can read books to a captured audience.  

As a teacher, I am loving this way of learning.  I think the students are as well.

Learning Through Play - embrace the mess!

Mess for me has been one area in learning through play that I have embraced.  Give me a good mess and I feel really satisfied that we have had a great day learning.  But then everything has a negative side right!

We do a lot of the messy play outside on the veranda and just in front of the learning community.  The children are free to move inside and out.  So there is paint that gets splattered on the outside of the building and the veranda has a variety of things left spread on it.  And bits and pieces seem attracted like magnets around the space. It is a challenge for other people. It is a bit of a shock to begin with. For the untrained it looks like chaos.

However, I think we have become messer over the year, but better at getting the space tidy again.

We believe that the learning space belongs to the children and they are free to use it and the equipment without having to ask within that space.  We are fortunate to have an office with shelves on it and another space where we can store our messy play resources.  If some resources are not put out for the day the students can always ask for them.

How did we do it?

1. Remember it is a journey.  Five year olds don't always want to tidy, so it becomes the slow and constant message at the end of the day that this is what we do.  Encourage, model etc.  but realise it takes time to learn this skill.  We also value this time as a learning community.  Learning to sort objects into like attributes is a fundamental math concept.  Similar and different are useful words. The consequence of tipping all the lego out is it takes time to put it all away again.  Learning to do things together is a wonderful way to build community.  Manaakitanga is shown through everyone supporting each other.

2. Less is more. To begin with we put all the equipment out for the students to access.  Now,  we have the basics out but have things available if the students play leads that way.  I always think, do I have the energy to deal with this today?  If the clay comes out then then I know I will need a little water for damping the clay and a bucket for washing hands etc.

3.  We choose resources which suit our environment.  For example, we found play dough stuck to our carpet really badly.  Clay did not.  When it dries, it becomes good old dirt.  We usually have clay as an outside activity but on rainy days, sometimes bring it inside.  I love play dough but just gave it away and embraced clay.  Natural and reusable. I prefer water paints to the acrylic because they are easier to manage, washing up better. Saying that, acrylic paints are much loved.

4.  Storage becomes vital.  Finding the right containers is essential.  I have just found an old teaching station to use for painting.  I brought an old sink from home for water play that goes in the garden outside.  We re-purpose a lot.  Inside, the lego, blocks etc are in containers which are easy to pack up.  The lego goes on a sheet which helps with the pack up.

6.  Labels help.  One holidays last year Carlyn, one of the other teachers, spent a couple of hours a day, sorting and cleaning the mess.  We took time to put labels (photos) on the containers.  I think this helped the children remember where particular things went and gave them a visual reminder.  Amazingly, most things have remained in place since that time.

7.  Don't fight it.  If the children are tired we just do as much as we can together. If there is mess left at the end of the day as a teacher, I'll spend 10 minutes finishing off before I get into my planning etc.
That is just part of the work for a play based classroom.  I think to myself, I value the children playing so I value supporting them by packing it away so it is ready for a new day.  It is so worth it.

8. Pack up once a day.  Last year, we did a pack up every period of which we have three during the day.  This year, we pack up once a day.  The children used to put away what they wanted to keep in our office.  In the research project by Keryn Davis http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2014/04/powerful-play-continuity-and-inquiry-for-children-starting-school.html  the children use post it notes to write their name on and place beside anything they want to keep for another day.  Cleaners are asked to vacuum around these models.  We often put lego up high, and on occasion, keep block cities until another day, but most times, things are just process play so get packed up.  Using the app seesaw http://web.seesaw.me an online portfolio has meant so far this year we are able to take photos to keep many memories.

And so far this year, because we have similar students from last year, many children have returned with the skills learnt previously and have embraced the clean up.  Some just sit and watch or go to the toilet or try and run away and hide, but we just try and focus on the ones doing the right thing and remember, these ones will learn one day to help out.  Be patient. I find for some of our diverse learners pack up time, a time of transition, is difficult and can make them feel uncomfortable. It is not because they are being naughty or trying to annoy us.

I am sure this is an area I will continue to grow in.  I would love some input from Early Childhood Teachers who I am sure have amazing systems for packing up.  What are your top tips for tiding up?

Embrace the Mess….