The Rookery

Today in meeting we played "The Hand Game."  Our class master, A.P. chose it and it was a great choice for the beginning of the year.  We play a game every day during our meeting.  It's just five minutes of our day and to an outsider, it might seem like "down time."  But it is included very purposefully in our day.

Games allow the students to be silly and laugh together.  Students are rewarded for being a little goofy and taking risks.  Often, a game is at its most fun when it's hard and we're struggling.  And this is the crucial tie to learning.  True learning means risking failure.  To create a learning community, we must create a space where children are willing to fail in front of each other.  They have to be willing to tackle an idea and work it out together.  If it is not safe to fail, then children will refuse to take risks and they cannot learn.  The hard work of learning is not done when a task is comfortable, it's done when something is new and awkward and uncomfortable.  We must learn to be uncomfortable together.

Which brings us to today's game in which students squish together, interlink arms and try to pass a tap around the circle.  If you've ever crossed your wrists, turned your palms together to interlace youre fingers, turned your hands in towards your body through your arms and then tried to raise the finger someone else points to, you'll know how difficult this game is.  (It's also important for kids in a classroom to be able to tolerate physical closeness which is something else this game accomplishes)

As we played it we argued a bit, we were frustrated, and we were really close to our neighbors (it's also important for kids in a classroom to be able to tolerate physical closeness) - but mostly, we laughed.  And in laughing we built connections we'll rely on as we tackle the hard work ahead.

Today was also an important day because we got our Blue Books – the place where we capture our learning for the year.  It's exciting to have a beautiful new blank book…it's not so exciting to number the pages so that you can find your work as the year progresses.  All the Big Birds set about numbering the 240 pages of their book — it was such a funny scene to hear 60 children mumbling numbers under their breaths as they frantically turned pages in an effort to be done.  I thought you might enjoy a peek – I think it may be the most boring video I've ever shot: