Smile and learn :)
How does humor support the development of persistence on a daily basis?
General topic of interest
Pollution, war, pandemic, divorces, hunger, competition, expectations, fear. There are so many heavy feelings surrounding our students on a daily basis. Tests, homework, pears approval, body and emotional changes connected to the first teen years. Tired, overwhelmed, depressed are some words that we have heard more than we would like to hear from grade 5 kids. This is the place where a high level of lack of motivation meets our classes, and if we are not very careful and intentional, those feelings can drag our students into a deep whole of fear that directly impacts the learning process. This is the reason why I have been tracking data and registering a higher level of interest about the impacted of developing a happy and joyfull environment as the most important step before the actual teaching process begins.
Participants
Grade 5 students. (10/11 years old kids)
Studying new concepts.
Studying new concepts.
Felipe discussing data about Space Stations, and how to invest in them.
Hands on activity related to fractions.
Maria Helena trying to convince the boys that it's better investing in Gym spaces than in a new Soccer Field.
Kids taking responsible risks, and teaching Fractions to the class.
Kids taking responsible risks, and teaching Fractions to the class.
Kids taking responsible risks, and teaching Fractions to the class.
Literature Review
I've always been interested in the "joy/humor" topic, as I trully believe that happy people are more opened to learning. My research point started from the reading of the book Grit: the power of passion and perseverance, by Angela Duckworth. Once I started working at Escola Concept, I immediately connected to the Habits of Mind, mostly the one named 'FindingHumor'. Because of that, I have dived deeper in the Institute for Habits of Mind website (https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/) as well as the Wonder Goove teaching tools (https://wondergrovelearn.net/about).
Data collecting approach
For the data collection, I used a blend of approaches, such as weekly interactive questions to the students, individual conversations, observation and online tracking (holo tracker). The most valuablle data, however, came from the Habits of Mind book, that we have created along the year. Here is the link for a sample. Habits of Mind
Data collection tools/resources
I ahave collected the learner's perception in a 1:1 conversation with me along the school year, and also had many interactive/metacognition moments, where my learners were encouraged to answer to specific questions in post-its.
Emerging results
As the year passed by, it was possible to see shy and introvert children daring to take responsible risks and expose themselves to the whole group. It shows me that when we create a safe and joyful environment, when we celebrate learning and respect mistakes as a process, and try to make learning something meanuingful for real life situations, the 'oficial'learning happens. Even when we think about home learning, once we make it meaningful and interesting for the kids, connecting them to situations that bring joy to them, the engagement grows in a great manner.
Physics concepts about volume of balls.
The day when a group of grade 5 learners went to the teacher's restroom to try a new experiment.
Teamwork! After teaching Martín, Antonio Augusto celebration! According to him: "This is my boy!"
Teamwork! After teaching Martín, Antonio Augusto celebration! According to him: "This is my boy!"
Reflections
Embrace the jouney! As a runner, I use to be very thoughful about the races I choose to run. I know I'm not going to win a race, but there are so many reasons why I keep practicing to do my best, to perform well, to be ready for each of them. It's not about the prize, it's about the journey. I see theaching the same way. We must embrace the journey. It is amazing to envision all we get from traching, all the emotional and intelectual rewards, but still we have bills to pay, kids to raise, houses to clean and so many other 'side' situations that sometimes can drag our energy. However, as we enter the learnig space we must be able to set some of those obstacles aside, and embrace our daily journey. There are about 20 kids, looking at us, and for many of them this can be the best part of each day. And we are responsible for that. Yes! There is language, Math and Science. There are gossips, broken hearts and arguing about homework. The point is: grades happen 3 times a year, learning and being there happen every day. So the point is how to make it a joyfull, happy and safe journey? And it's about finding humor in the mist of the storms, making lemonade out of the lemons life gives us every day, about choosing to live each day as if it was the last one, making sure that our daily journey is going to create memories that may last forever. We do have the responsibility of being mindful about way we deal with challenges and problems. Let's deal with it taking happiness seriouslly. This is for our learnrs. This is for each us!
Ricardo being Ricardo, and using the Space Station materials to make a mask. According to him, he was a Space Hero!!
