Second grade painting

        All painting intro begins with playing with color mixing. We often begin with just 2 primaries and work ourselves up to 6 colors, primaries, white, black and brown. Yes, I know the students can make their own brown yet, I this is the only mixed color I provide. I am working my 2nd grade class to learn each center separately and after they have 2-3 media down I will make these centers available daily. Here students paint in their sketchbooks, which is a composition book. Notice all the amazing colors this student made with her limited palette. 

Classroom set up: I have 4 kids per table and have 6 tables. I place 2 palettes per table and 2 3/4-filled jugs of water per table. They are placed diagonally from each other so that each child has easy access to the paint and the water. Various width brushes are placed in the center of the table so students can begin to choose the right width for their work. Notice also that I do not cover my tables. I use either wipes OR squeezed-out sponges to have students clean their hands and the table at the same time. NO ONE washes their hands in the sink; with 35-minute classes that would not be possible. 

            Each palette is shares by 2 kids and the students learn to keep their palettes clean and mix on their papers. The students learn fast and these palettes last 2-3 weeks without issues. If a child does get the colors "dirty" you simply wipes the mixed color with a tissue or wipe and place new color. Students learn fast not to mix the colors on the palette for if they do they limit the amount of colors they can make. I use half an egg carton, either plastic or styrofoam for palettes. They store easy and can be replaced easy too. 

Kindergarteners, all the way to 2nd, when they first start mixing colors become more obsessed with the change of color in their water than in their own paining. This is normal and it's a great learning experience for them. Here two students are sharing their findings and trying out new color mixes. Total engagement. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 

 

Benefits of Choice based/ TAB and maker classrooms

I am currently reading "MAKER-CENTERED LEARNING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF THE AGENCY BY DESIGN PROJECT

A WHITE PAPER PRESENTED BY AGENCY BY DESIGNPROJECT ZERO, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION. In it the benefits of maker-centered is listed as the following:

"Many of our interviewees talk about how maker experiences help students to:
* learn to pursue their own passions  
* become self-directed learners, 
* proactively seeking out knowledge and resources on their own. 
* problem solve, to iterate, to take risks, 
* to see failure as opportunity, and 
* to make the most out of unexpected outcomes. 
* build on each others’ strengths and interests, 
* to persist in difficult tasks, and to be confident of their capacity to learn new things. 
* learn together synchronously and asynchronously, in real as well as virtual environments, and from a wide variety of people, including their peers. 
* to see themselves as capable of effecting positive change in their own lives and in their communities. 

"The Big Takeaway

Students learn a tremendous amount through maker-centered learning experiences, whether these experiences take place inside or outside of makerspaces and tinkering studios. There is no doubt that students learn new skills and technologies as they build, tinker, re/design, and hack, especially when they do these things together. However, the most important benefits of maker education are neither STEM skills nor technical preparation for the next industrial revolution. Though these benefits may accrue along the way, the most salient benefits of maker-centered learning for young people have to do with developing a sense of self and a sense of community that empower them to engage with and shape the designed dimension of their world. "