Changes Over Time

I've been reflecting lately about how the learning the students are doing is changing.  We see different combinations of students working together and students doing different things than they typically might have before.  They seem to have spread their wings.  And this makes total sense.

In the beginning, when we first started providing time for them to explore their own curiosities, they tended to gravitate largely to the materials they were comfortable with. Crafty girls were creating craft-type projects, the boys were big into the lego and building materials.  The students tended to stay away to some of the things that were new that seemed to present challenge to figure out. They also tended to stick with the same partner or small group of students.  

Now when I think about it and after asking them, I understand why.  They were a little confused with the notion that they could go and choose what to do.  They didn't really 'know' how or what that might look like so they stuck to what was safe for them.  They stuck to what they knew how to do.

Recently, after collecting written feedback from the students, I interviewed them about how they had changed.  Many talked about the types of learning they are doing now that were different from what they had been doing in the beginning.  They were learning about bigger, topics and using different materials to explore new ideas.  They told me they felt a little smarter because they could learn in lots of ways and were capable of doing lots of different types of learning that they hadn't done before.  They are more confident!  They've become risk-takers!  And this has happened because they were given the time and support to work through the process of moving from what's comfortable to what isn't.  They are excited by the challenge of trying and learning about new things.

The student interviews were very powerful.  If you even wonder the true impact of what's happening in the classroom, I recommend you hold candid interviews with your students.  I did videotape them too (but asked their permission first because it allows them to say no if they are not comfortable with it.  Plus, it's a great way to model how we must be respectful in our use of tech).