Following on the success of our first session enthusiasm we put out the Makey Makey equipment.
After a short intro detailing the equipment available to them and the goal of using the makey makey to power a game of Mario, the Grade Four children were set loose!
For the first 15-20 minutes there was a low level of noise piqued with the odd excitable voice. Heads were bent over collaborating and each group was fully focussed.
Then it began.
The first excitable cheer of success.
The buzz passed around the room and children hurried to see their peers success and celebrate with them.
How? Then what? Why?
Questions rung out across the groups and the concentration, excitement and determination was written all over their faces.
More and more groups found success with their circutary, groups then started experimenting with different items to see what they could find to make their controls from. Paperclips, scissors, a line of calculators, playdoh, food wrappers. You name it, they tried it.
By 3pm no one was moving to pack up, end of day jobs went undone……
What I have learnt
Wow what a week. I have learnt so much about how letting go and being in the moment with your kids learning. The conversations, questions, solutions and risk taking that I have seen the children experience and share leads me to think where to next……
Next Steps
To infinity and beyond as Buzz would say. That’s how I am feeling at the moment. Next step for our learning community is a timed team STEM challenge to explore the dynamics of working together and how we can best listen, team up, further skills and knowledge and collaborate when working towards a common goal.
YES my class are learning science
YES my class are learning technology
YES my class are learning engineering
YES my class are learning maths skills
BUT there is an added bonus of social emotional skills development hugely playing on my mind. Stay tuned to find out how I reap the benefits and enrich their learning opportunities!