Last week I was excited about having students work in teams to create teaching projects related to measurement. I felt that the learning experience had the right amount of structure and creative freedom to meet the students' collective and individual needs.
Then on the the first day there was a lot of messiness and even some tears as children navigated the assignment with their varied team members. Was this a good learning design, I wondered after the lesson.
I thought more about it that night, and then the next day I shared the rationale related to the learning design with students, and after that they were invested and working with care. Today, the project continued and it was one of those harmonious moments in the classroom when everyone was working everywhere with interest and commitment. In fact, one student exclaimed at the end of the lesson, "It's over already!" I replied with the familiar saying, "When you're having fun, time flies."
On Wednesday students will share these creative study projects as one way to teach each other the standards-base skill, concepts, and knowledge. I'll use the presentations as an opportunity to discuss how we can learn from each other, and how to take advantage of presentations as a study and learning path.
I can't wait to see the finished projects and how students react to each others' creativity and effort. I'm so proud of their fine teamwork and creativity.
