The date was March 20, 2017.
It had been a lovely, normal Monday.
Just like every day, the children had gathered, worshiped, play outside, snacked, sang, listened to a story, had a meeting, and started work periods.
The time was 11:20, and just like every day at that time, I rang the chimes and said what I always say...
"It's time to clean and get ready for the next part of the day."
A barrage of retorts and wails came from one of the activity tables.
“But we did so much WORK!” - Elijah
“We CAN’T start all over again!” - Ralph
“It’s so cool. PLEASE, can we leave it here? - Allie
“IT’S TO BEAUTIFUL TO DESTROY” - Cole
Some of them were about to cry…
How had we gotten to this point?
It started simply ... just like every year, we brought out the tiles of a favorite activity and children were challenged to make connections and build a continuous structure that is made up of roads, rails and rivers:
It’s kind of a puzzle, kind of a game, and very challenging.
This year the children were good at it.
Very good.
And they seemed to like it.
A lot.
Day after day, they would come, some definite regulars (you will notice from the pictures) but a growing list of people who were becoming drawn in to the appeal of the activity.
One day their work started getting too big for the table, so I turned the two small tables into one big table.
You would have thought I had just given each of them a new puppy.
The doubly-long table had inspired a manifest destiny syndrome of sorts and their fervor for the activity seemed to double as well.
But now the chimes had rung and I had given the clean-up instructions...
Chaos. Outcries. Tears. Imploring.
So, what do you do when your students are so invested in an activity that they refuse to clean it up?!
The immediate answer that came into my head, in that tone that so many teachers are famous for:
“No. Clean it up. We use these tables — to eat, to have meetings, for other materials and activities. Follow the directions."
But the work was good. I could feel the passion. And I suddenly remembered that we were not here to fit children to the classroom, we were here to fit the classroom to the children.
So I offered them a challenge:
They could leave the Roads, Rails & Rivers built, as long as they developed an alternative system for seating twelve children for snack, with only one table left.
Over the next few days the children developed and refined systems, and a slow transformation of the classroom began.
They counted, argued, listened, moved things around, tried again, listened more, and kept at it...
A few things were working in our favor.
The first was that block area has been closed temporarily so that more energy could be spent in other mathematical areas.
The second was that the children had been asking for a while to have a picnic on our Nest.
They started by creating an extra table out of hollow drama blocks in the block area. This seated four people wonderfully.
They happily snacked ...
And worked...
But, this meant squishing six at the hexagon table, and two at the very end of the Roads Rails & Rivers table.
These other two options didn't satisfy them, as the hexagon table felt too crowded, and the Roads, Rails & Rivers project was getting (gloriously) longer and longer.
So they asked to use the block area benches, and put them together on the Nest for a 'picnic table.'
This allowed four children to it at each table, each with enough room to eat and be comfortable.
It meant moving the benches every stack time, but this was actually just a lot of fun, so much so that we had to make sure and develop and system by which we made sure everyone had a turn.
And so the Trees Class had a new look and a new system!
This system worked beautifully for three full weeks, until they decided they were finished.
We celebrated the completion of Roads, Rails & Rivers with a special vehicle, water and train song fest....
... the activity was put away, and the classroom was restored to its previous set up.
So why did I write a blog that only kind of mentioned a math game and was mostly about moving furniture around?
Remember our list of Twenty Habits?
The Habits of Heart, Mind, Learning and Work
Take a look. Count how many habits were involved in working on this math activity and developing the system to preserve their work from day to day.
I count a clean twenty out of twenty.
The End.
Or is it?
On a rainy Thursday morning during indoor park, after some strong negotiating, some of the children secured access to just a few select tiles and look what new challenge was started ...
“No. Clean it up. We use these tables — to eat, to have meetings, for other materials and activities. Follow the directions."
But the work was good. I could feel the passion. And I suddenly remembered that we were not here to fit children to the classroom, we were here to fit the classroom to the children.
So I offered them a challenge:
They could leave the Roads, Rails & Rivers built, as long as they developed an alternative system for seating twelve children for snack, with only one table left.
Over the next few days the children developed and refined systems, and a slow transformation of the classroom began.
They counted, argued, listened, moved things around, tried again, listened more, and kept at it...
A few things were working in our favor.
The first was that block area has been closed temporarily so that more energy could be spent in other mathematical areas.
The second was that the children had been asking for a while to have a picnic on our Nest.
They started by creating an extra table out of hollow drama blocks in the block area. This seated four people wonderfully.
They happily snacked ...
And worked...
But, this meant squishing six at the hexagon table, and two at the very end of the Roads Rails & Rivers table.
These other two options didn't satisfy them, as the hexagon table felt too crowded, and the Roads, Rails & Rivers project was getting (gloriously) longer and longer.
So they asked to use the block area benches, and put them together on the Nest for a 'picnic table.'
This allowed four children to it at each table, each with enough room to eat and be comfortable.
It meant moving the benches every stack time, but this was actually just a lot of fun, so much so that we had to make sure and develop and system by which we made sure everyone had a turn.
And so the Trees Class had a new look and a new system!
And they worked.
And worked.
And worked.
So happily.
This system worked beautifully for three full weeks, until they decided they were finished.
We celebrated the completion of Roads, Rails & Rivers with a special vehicle, water and train song fest....
... the activity was put away, and the classroom was restored to its previous set up.
So why did I write a blog that only kind of mentioned a math game and was mostly about moving furniture around?
Remember our list of Twenty Habits?
The Habits of Heart, Mind, Learning and Work
Take a look. Count how many habits were involved in working on this math activity and developing the system to preserve their work from day to day.
I count a clean twenty out of twenty.
The End.
Or is it?
On a rainy Thursday morning during indoor park, after some strong negotiating, some of the children secured access to just a few select tiles and look what new challenge was started ...
... until next week!
