My professional focus this year is purposeful play. I believe that purposeful play is open ended learning opportunities for students to choose to engage in. Students choose where to go, and for how long and they are free to move among the play opportunities.
An examples of a learning opportunity:
Learning Goal: I can represent numbers in different ways
Numbers on a 10 frame
Before students are off to play I ask them "I wonder what numbers look like on a 10 frame using playdoh."
Students are free to enter into this and all activities using their own thinking and ideas.
I then observe their play and document their learning.
Examples of Student learning representing numbers in different ways:
Two students took the fall books off the shelf and began to label each book with a number.
What I noticed: students had labelled and written numbers up to 32.
Some of these numbers were out of order and I wanted to take them and put them in the right order.
This, however, was MY agenda, and my vision of what "right" learning was. What these students have shown was an incredible example of THEIR collaborative learning. If I had of taken the books and put them in order the students would have thought that I didn't value their thinking and might have thought that what they did was "wrong".
When I first looked at this students work I thought that they made an error. But when I looked closely, I saw that the student wasn't using each sticker to represent one, but rather the number of pencils that were on each sticker. I never thought of this. And because I never thought of showing learning this way, then I could have never offered it in my teaching.
Students worked collaboratively to show "MORE".
Earlier in the year students were using 2-D shapes to make a picture. There were some pre-made sheets of a flower, a ship, a train etc.
These two girls worked together for over 30 minutes making their beehive.
Again, this was not what I had intended, but it as better than anything I could have thought of.
Typically, in my class, purposeful play is set up on Monday. It begins with a read a loud or smart board activity to activate their thinking on our learning goal. Students are sent off into play with WONDER statements from the educators in the room: I wonder what numbers look like on a 10 frame with playdoh. There are typically 5 or 6 purposeful play activities. We then observe and document their learning. Learning needs are identified and instruction is individual, small group or whole group depending on the specific needs. Purposeful play is adapted throughout the week to encourage students to continue to extend and demonstrate their learning. When we feel that their interest is waining, we take a snapshot of where they are (assessment of learning) and move on. I know that I will come back to the learning goal later on in the future and I continue to document and observe students.
What I don't do is "teach" and then send students off with a follow up activity that has only one purpose. I don't teach. . . . . so I know what to teach. I look and listen and provide learning opportunities so that students address their own misconceptions. I am interacting with students all the time asking them to tell me about their thinking.
I want my students to know that I value and honour their thinking and I step out of their way every day. Tossing my own agenda and preconceived ideas aside so they can show their learning in new and exciting ways.
