Reflections from Lauren, Room 12 teacher
One morning while in the classroom, Nora wanted to make a drawing for Nibbles. As she sat down to draw, she asked, “What’s her favorite color?”
We found it intriguing that Nora was thinking about Nibbles and what Nibbles would want in a picture. In the past, we observed children choosing colors they preferred, but in this moment, Nora took the perspective of Nibbles and thought about her preferences.
How would you determine a guinea pig’s favorite color? Do guinea pigs see color? These are some questions that Nora provoked us to think about. Nora brought her question to the rest of the children and asked for their input.
We found it intriguing that Nora was thinking about Nibbles and what Nibbles would want in a picture. In the past, we observed children choosing colors they preferred, but in this moment, Nora took the perspective of Nibbles and thought about her preferences.
How would you determine a guinea pig’s favorite color? Do guinea pigs see color? These are some questions that Nora provoked us to think about. Nora brought her question to the rest of the children and asked for their input.
Peter held up a Lego door and suggested creating doors of all colors for Nibbles so she could choose which one was her favorite. His theory was that Nibbles would choose to walk through the door that was the color she liked best. The children and teachers agreed Peter’s idea could help us in our investigation. We all believed that this experiment would give us our desired outcome. By bringing this question to the children, they became co-constructors of their knowledge.
We used 'L' shaped blocks and placed them together to make a doorway. Next, we needed a strategy to make the blocks different colors. The children decided that each time Nibbles went through a door or nibbled on it, we would count one tally mark. Whichever color Nibbles chose the most would be her favorite color.
The first time, Nibbles chose yellow. Would this experiment be reliable if repeated on a different day? |
Thinking of their own favorite colors, the children chose red, pink, purple, green, blue, yellow, and rainbow. Jen, our studio teacher, gathered different colored materials for the children to use in making the doors.
Some chose to wrap the blocks with fabric and tie it together using string, while others chose to wind the colored string around the blocks. |
Nibbles was greeted with the colored doors the next day, but this time, she chose red. Some children reflected on their own preferences for color and how often they change. Maybe Nibbles is the same? Kastl offered the idea of letting Nibbles choose her favorite color ten times. We named this process, “the color run”.
After Nibbles had the opportunity to choose her favorite color ten times, we tallied all the data. We counted the tallies for each color and determined her favorite color was red. This was a very complex, real life math problem that the children were eager to solve. |
“Praxis is a really good word and it’s not used enough in early childhood settings.
It’s different than reflective practice. It’s different than becoming a reflective practitioner. Those are important also. Praxis is bigger than that. It’s really about orientation and commitment to human well being. And seeking the truth. And respect for others - it’s always situated - situated in a particular place at a particular time with a particular group of people. Praxis is what is being evidenced here. There is a continual attempt at the truth - what is the truth about what color nibbles likes - does she like red, or does she like green? That was the initiative to go after that truth. Praxis is risky because in order to engage in experiences where you are trying to find those little truths you have to be willing to take chances.” - Mary Jane Moran, Director for the Teacher Research & Documentation Center (TDRC) at UT Knoxville, closing reflections of the 2015 Boulder Journey School Summer Conference |
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