Teaching and learning trajectory [September through November notes]:   S tudents to engineer plans for objects that move (drawings)/next steps –> playing with materials first (no nails, no glue) –> introduce tools (no instructions on how to build) — > children free build –> we discuss what’s working and what is not –> share engineering strategies –> figuring out the wheels and axles –> FRUSTRATION (put wheels on with nails or??) –> Aha! moment (screws!) – -> Rob visits to offer us new ideas about aerodynamics and design –> THE HOEDOWN DERBY/ specs –> conversation:  better to build with a kit or no kit? –> constant refinement/retooling/rethinking –> what will this teach the children about movement? –> testable questions/variables arise –> children record specs for their cars –> TESTING on different terrain–> frustration/rethinking/retooling – lather/rinse/repeat…

It has now been several weeks since our class has taken on the daunting task of creating their own cars to think more deeply about movement, and in looking back upon my notes and our process, several things come immediately to mind. When you’re teaching in the constructivist model, you never do know where your project work is going to take you on any given year ( or week or month ).  That is both the surprise and teachable moment for you as an educator that always  keeps you on your toes.  You activate your students’ background knowledge, you offer up rich provocations, and you wait to see what bubbles up…and then you try to discern the path that will take them to a deeper understanding through authentic experiences that cultivate rich intersubjectivity.  On the outside looking in, you may wonder…how do you plan for this? How do you know where to go?  How do you know that learning will happen?  In my now five years of working in this way I can sincerely offer you this: it is never easy, straight-forward, or simple.  Amongst my peers, we talk about the messy disequilibrium of our work and the trust we place in the process.  Sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees and that’s where we help each other suss it out.  The children we are entrusted with share with us their understandings and in so doing also communicate their gaps in understanding.  We listen for those silences and then work with them to fill them in.  Ultimately, the children lead the way.

Our provocation experiences got the children thinking more about making cars to test their theories about movement.

When it became apparent that the children would need to build their own cars to learn more about movement, I realized that I would have to go outside my own comfort zone. We would need to work in wood.

MESSING WITH MATERIALS

Below:  the children trying to figure out how they might attach the wheels:

When we did introduce the tools, we did so carefully, talking through what the tools could – and could not – do, and we discussed safety precautions.  I brought in a work bench from home to help secure items that would need sawing, but also instructed the children on how to safely drill, saw, sand, and hammer.

Center:  One student spent several sessions sawing walnut wood. When it later split, she was determined to try again with a less challenging wood.  A friend saw her jump right back into building, remarking, “that’s showing flexible thinking!”  Right:  New staff member Maeve Shea was invaluable in bringing their woodworking expertise to assist the children.

Maeve:  I was mainly helping the students cut wood with the hand saw.  For many students, it was their first time using a saw, but that didn’t stop them from jumping right in.  I loved seeing the students cheer each other on as they finished a cut.  I think having patience in a process leads to results you can feel proud of.  While working with the third graders while they built their cars, I was able to see their confidence grow throughout the weeks.  Things inevitably failed and new ideas had to be tested out.  As the students tried different techniques to make their cars, I noticed many students giving advice to their classmates.  Wood is a great material to learn from because it forces you to plan ahead, but also to learn from your failures.

Persisting Through Trial and Error

SHARING STRATEGIES

Individually, each child tried figuring out how to attach the wheels to their cars. A variety of wheels were made available to the children – small, medium, large, smooth, treaded – as well as a variety of woods for the bodies of their cars (birch, cherry, poplar, walnut).  Finding the right nails to use proved trickier than expected.  Almost all of chidren tried nailing the wheels in first, but soon found this to be unsatisfactory – if the wheels were nailed in too far, they wouldn’t move, and even if you thought you had nailed them in correctly, the wheels might not turn well… and they had a strange tendency to pop off a lot during testing.  As they continued to work, the children shared strategies. While a few kept their wheels nailed in, there was an aha moment when Reese, Max H., and Neil came to the realization that screws would work better to hold the wheels on, which prompted most everyone to make adjustments to their own cars.  After some initial tries with the screws, the children also came to share their realization that drilling holes into the car first before attaching the tires with screws was optimal.  In all of this, there was a lot of trial and error, moments of real frustration, design discoveries, and a lot of peer support.  And joy.

Left:  Alexander was the only one to try a unique axle and wheel arrangement, threading a wooden axle through a plastic cylinder and then attaching the wheels to the axle on either side of the cylinder.  This was then duct taped to the bottom of the car (the wire beneath the tape is intended to give his car more weight and hopefully increase its speed).

In reflecting on the flexibility required of these tasks, Max P. considered all the design decisions the class had to make and how he and his classmates were able to navigate it all.  “[We had to think about] what things to use, what kinds of wood, nails, wheels to make your car.  Not just sticking with one thing, but thinking of other strategies to use [and] not saying, ‘I’m not going to stretch my mind out.'”  We asked the children how many of them had stretched themselves in working through these initial building phases, and everyone raised their hands.  Later I asked them about working without a pre-made car kit and the challenges they faced in utilizing their own ideas and designs – Why do you think we didn’t give you kits to make your cars?   D o you think it would be better to work with a kit or not?  

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