WHAT?
The first session started in Week 3 of Term 1 to give us
time to sort out the ‘space’ in an available classroom which has space
equivalent to two classrooms. Beforehand the teachers took extra materials from
their classes and also requested from the parents, items such as cardboard and
other ‘bits and bobs’ that the children could use in the Makerspace. The
teachers worked in the large area to create working spaces and areas that could
be used for construction, crafting, cutting, painting and large areas for
children to work collaboratively with others.
The teachers worked together to create and share a timetable
for times to be selected but classes could opt in for more sessions per
week. The emphasis for the first session with our children was to clearly
unpack the ‘systems’ in place in the room and respect for equipment. This meant encouraging the children to put
the room back in order and to leave it as we found it.
During the first session, I asked the children to be
creative, an open invitation to make anything they wished, with whoever they
wished. That was my only provocation, I encouraged them to be collaborative and explore and
problem solve, with my understanding that this is an evolving programme. I had
no expectations on what the learning or engagement would look like but I
started the session pointing out the different areas around the room and what
and where everything went. I explicitly taught the children about paint
expectations, what we do with any left over items that could be reused and that
they were free to explore, problem-solve and create.
The children initially went to areas that they wanted, some
boys went to the construction area and started building with the wood that a
parent had kindly brought in. Some of the girls opened the craft drawers and
used the hot glue guns, other went straight for paint and cardboard boxes to
use a mixture of craft and construction. I mainly walked around asking questions to
make the children justify their ideas and explain what they hoped to make in
the time allowed. I also uploaded their creations onto Seesaw so that family
and whanau could see what we had been doing.
The time that I had chosen for the class to use the ‘Makerspace’
is the last slot on a Wednesday before the children could go home. I stopped
the children with approximately 20 minutes time to ‘put’ the room back to its
original state. The children mostly walked away from the area they had been
working in and wandered around doing not a lot. I encourage, cajoled and
insisted that they all needed to help so we could leave the Makerspace room.
The day was extremely hot as well which didn’t add to their enthusiasm.
SO WHAT?
As part of this learning, I wanted to have some data around
whether or not this ‘Makerspace’ would work for my students especially those
Year 4s who has been in my class from the previous year. So armed with my class
list, I scribbled notes on what equipment the children were working with and
whether or not they were engaged or not. The Year 3s who had been immersed in
‘Play-based’ learning for two years were like ‘ducks to water’, they were fully
engaged and working in groups or 2s and 3s. There were a few of my more
academic Year 4s who were totally lost – they were messing around, moving
(running) from area to area, not really sticking with one project at all.
What surprised me the most was that my students in Year 4s
who have low ability and are my priority learners, were really engaged and were
very creative and could verbalise what they were trying to achieve, they were
the most animated I had ever seen them. Some of the quiet children were also
working well with others and seemed to really enjoy the whole experience.
NOW WHAT?
My thoughts about the whole Makerspace and Play-based are
mixed at this time and I was somewhat frustrated with the children’s lack of
care and consideration for the ‘clean-up’. Part of me can see the worth for
those children who don’t always succeed at school in the academic sense but
were totally ‘successful’ in this environment. The other part is wondering
whether or not this is waste of ‘valuable’ learning time as my timetable seems
to be stretched.
I believe that the provocation needs to be more meaningful
and have more purpose to have all the children fully engaged. I also have some
wonderings around whether or not the children will have a default setting,
always gravitating towards the same area all the time.
“The creation of something new
is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” - Carl Jung
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