With an appointment at the Woodworking Space, some children are unsure of what to do. When approaching a new material, we often fall back on known successful strategies. Teacher Adriana suggests a familiar way to use a new material: wood and wire.
Mila: I don’t know what to do.
Olive: I want to write in the Paper House.
Teacher Adriana: I wonder if we can write something in this wood we have here.
Mila: We can make a sign.
Teacher Adriana: What should the sign say?
Everly: “Welcome to New School-West”.
Mila and Olive write the words.
Teacher Adriana: Now we can use the tools to add some nails and screws. We are tracing the words.
Emilio: Wow, that’s some hard work.
Theo P: Yeah, well, I practice and practice a lot until I got it.
Emilio: I’m practicing too.
A few weeks later:
Caitlin: I notice there are so many nails now.
Teacher Adriana: Yes, remember last week you added some, then other children came and added more work to the sign.
Greyson: I’m working on “m” like for mommy and a mamma “m.” I’m going to take the “m”.
Paisley: No, it’s our community sign, remember?
Greyson: Oh yes, (smiles) I added the “m”.
The children continued to add to the “Community Sign” as Paisley mentioned to Greyson. Both the East Wingers and West Wingers created deeper relationships as their sign became more complex. As the children continued to persist with their work, they also began to use language that encouraged collaborations. -Teacher Adriana