First Session Reflections
As part of the wrap up of our final play/create/build classes this week, we took some time to look back and reflect on this experience with parents, teachers, and each other. We are constantly looking to improve our practice, and deeply value the time everyone took to share their thoughts with us.
Some take-aways from our parent and teacher surveys:
“I love that I have learned the best role is one that is quietly supportive. I see the kids more engaged when we give them the space to be engaged.”
“By not using tape or glue, I've learned the value of focusing on playing, creating, and building and not on the end product.”
“There's a fine line between assisting, teaching and just letting them go... sometimes the silence is when they are learning the most.”
Some highlights from our teacher reflection videochat:
“They (the children) seem to be showing up to other classes, like art and science, with more materials - more at the ready than I expected them to have been earlier in the year. If kids don’t have everything they need during math, especially when it’s time for manipulatives, I find that they’re a little more inventive and [can say], ‘Oh! I can grab a whole bunch of different bottle caps or something.’ Or they’ll come with dry erase stuff and use that...not to build, obviously, but to kind of improvise in a way they hadn’t previously where they wouldn’t have had pencil and paper… It’s been a good unintended consequence, I think, across the board.”
“Every time you come on a class, I listen to many things: how you’re asking for materials, what kind…but also the way you are working with the kids, how open-ended you keep it. So I’m learning a lot through that.”
“When I’m throwing out a can or something else, I think, should I recycle this or should I save it? It’s making me think now.”
We loved seeing how children learned to create their own collections and work with these found materials, and teachers and parents learned so much about stepping back and giving children room by watching the way we engaged with them. We were honored to be part of each class’s learning this fall and grateful that teachers, parents, and children set aside time out of each week to play, create, and build with us.