Learning Log – Week 21

Todays lesson began by getting into pairs, in these pairs we had to discuss our favourite project on this course so far. I paired up with Giulia and in agreement we decided that our best project so far had been our week seven F.A.I.L project. We chose this project because we enjoyed the creativity, we were able to draw on our experiences from exploring the university and then capture it all in a creative way and present it to the rest of the class. As a recap for week seven we were given the task to explore the university, we were looking at formal and informal learning spaces taking many things into consideration for example space, smell, lighting, colours etc. We explored each of the different zones, the rocket, multiple classrooms, the canteen, the library. Whilst we went around we took pictures and recorded our findings. Myself and Giulia even made an online poll for students to take part in, here they were able to vote for where they feel they learn best. With all the information and evidence we collected, we made a poster in order to present it all, our poster was themed as an interactive white board.

“We chose to do an interactive white board theme as we found that in the majority of the classrooms, there was an interactive whiteboard with an additional whiteboard usually hidden behind it. What was a shame is that there were no pens or erasers available to use, so if I wanted to write on the whiteboard, I wouldn’t have been able too. We felt that this didn’t promote language or literacy development or the use of our fine and gross motor skills. So we decided that we would make our very own interactive whiteboard, we felt that by creating our own, it would encourage our expressive creative and reflective skills plus look pretty”

We then decided the title of our project would be called F.A.I.l.

“We chose the name fail as to us we believe that failure is just a First Attempt In Learning and is truly what learning is all about. It’s a process of trial and error, for example when a baby begins to walk, they are constantly falling over and bumping into things or grazing themselves, there’s tears along the way and frustration (because they really want to be able to reach your keys but are not quite there yet) but that does not stop them. They pick themselves back up again and continue because their determined, we believe adults should be exactly the same. Sometimes failure can be a real setback for adults so they chose to stay safe, be comfortable, and not take risks in fear of getting it wrong and failing. So to that I say grow a pair! (Not literally) but be brave, take risks, do something you normally wouldn’t! Don’t be afraid to be different because being the same is boring!!”

Giulia and I really enjoyed this project as it was very hands on and very creative. Asides from it being creative, on a personal note, its developed my confidence, I now volunteer to help out more willingly then I would have beforehand, I’ll quite happily stand before the class and speak to them because I feel comfortable in doing so and I personally put it down to week seven. When I first began this course I would shy away from public speaking of any sort and never dreamed of speaking in front of a large group of people. Once we moved on to the seminar we were presented with three bags of recycled materials to which we were asked to get into groups of four. In our groups we had to make a game with our recycled materials and for our game we used

– Egg cartons

– Rubber bands

– Paper clips

– Masking tape

– Paper

– Balloons

– Recycled Christmas cards

– Recycled yoghurt pot

The basis of our a contraption from the recycled materials that would be strong enough, if dropped from a certain height to protect whatever it contained on the inside for instance, ours contained an empty balloon. Although we would have liked to use a water balloon or an egg so we could see if our contraption had any effect at all. We decided that if anyone had won the game, they could pour a cup of water over the teachers head and f they lost vice versa. The aim of this game was to teach kids to be resourceful, the importance of teamwork, its a fun incentive to get children to learn and for them to remain engaged in an activity, teaches children to be graceful winners or losers.

We decided that our product would be called “around the room in one day” just because it looked like a hot air balloon and our slogan was to be “blow your mind” as we used balloons. Each group took turns in presenting their games and some of us were able to play the games to see how they worked. My favourite game was one that I was able to play first hand, this game was made into a football pitch, in order to move the ball you had to blow through a straw. You were only allowed to blow through the straw if you had answered a question correctly. They also had a referee for this game so if you move before its your turn or are found to be cheating they would give you a red or yellow card. I have posted some pictures from today, please see below.

After we had finished making and presenting our games the lesson came to an end. Tom and Sandra have kindly booked us all a room for us to use at our disposal for our end of year performances, this is were many of the groups migrated to. Were able to use this room each week so make the most of it people!! We have chosen the week of the 26^th to put on our performance and we have nominated Perry to be our group leader!! 🙂 Our whole group will be divided into three smaller groups and each group would be in charge of their own topic as well as providing some superb improvisation for other groups. For anyone who missed our group meeting, minutes were taken and you can find them in the google doc.