Last week we sat down as a class and reflected on the changes that have happened in our classroom. I put a question up on the mimio:

Why have we changed our classroom?

• It’s easier for groups to work on the computers;
• We have more computer geeks;
• Groups don’t have to walk back and forth to the computers;
• It’s easier to do our group work;
• Everyone can work at once (instead of having to share a chair);
• There’s more room to walk around;
• We use the computers more often.

Then I asked:

What do we do differently with our new groups?

• We do things in small groups instead of individually or as a whole class;
• We do maths games;
• For our SODA (Start Of Day Activity) it’s both easier – we get more ideas – and harder – we have to co-operate;
• We can see what we’re going to do with our daily schedule on the computer;
• We take turns (learning to co-operate);
• We have a Room 10 classwork blog site.

The next question:

How has your learning changed?

• We are more sensible and focussed;
• We do more work on the computer;
• We do more group work which is helpful;
• Our work is more complicated but it (using the computers/blogs) helps us to learn;
• We are learning to CO-OPERATE and FOCUS.

Finally I asked them if they would recommend this way of teaching/learning to other teachers/students. I got both yes and no.

Yes

• There’s more work available;
• It’s fun & easier;
• Everyone can use the computer;
• You learn to work better together;
• The maths activities are more exciting.

No

• Sometimes we fight over who is going to use the keyboard and mouse;
• Some people fiddle with the keyboard & mouse and they could break;
• It’s hard to co-operate sometimes;
• Don’t want people pinching our ideas.

That last comment about pinching ideas was very interesting. The students are all very proud that we’re the only class in the school (large 600+ student school) who are working like this. I think they like being unique. However I talked about how all the ideas I’ve had for the class came from other people, and that part of working how we do is global sharing. So then they thought that maybe we could teach some others about how we do our “stuff”.

One of the things that’s become so evident to me is that these students think differently to other students I’ve taught. These students are independent thinkers; capable thinkers; ‘outside-the-square’ thinkers – not that it’s all due to me of course but I do think that given the incentive to try things differently has benefited their learning.

(Strangely enough ‘think different‘ is an apple slogan from 1997: “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” What a buzz to think that I might be teaching some of this generation’s world changers!)