KĀHUI AKO, AUGUST 18, 2O23: UNSTICKING WITH A LASER HOOK
In my reflection in the last term I faced frustration with the intersection of unreliable attendance, assessment difficulties and children seeming unsure or unclear of independent projects.
This last point I think was integral to the "stuckness" and speculated on how often these children have had have the opportunity to design independent projects ? How do they spend their independent time? And, are they intimidated or naive of this opportunity which would usually be given to "extension" students?
I have observed most can fill independent non-guided time easily with banter, swagger and relentless and committed attempts to access banned-in-school websites. I knew this about their behaviour previous to selecting them, however was interested in how quickly they changed their behaviour into their out-of-school style, while in class. Having the class at 9AM on Monday definitely contributes to this!
My intervention- to give them all a standard task to get them using and watching the laser cutter, I think, has largely worked. Some negative attitudes definitely remain. However, the speed at which the first ruler was designed in (20 mins), converted to file (10 mins) and especially cut out (40 seconds) by a student who was working in the laser cutter room has definitely motivated the group. There was some disbelief that he had finished so fast and a an instant competition to be the next student using the machine.
Now they have seen the ease and flexibility of this tool, they started bringing independent and unsolicited ideas and questions to their designs such as "Can I copy and convert images online into a laser cut format?" and answering this themselves by trying. This was not their specific brief but is definitely the confidence and enthusiasm I am looking for.
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