As we began our puzzle for the first time as a group I noticed that many of the group members took initiative in different aspects of the puzzle making right away. We all seemed to gravitate to certain tasks which were comfortable to us. I was comfortable starting by sorting out all of the edge pieces and the pieces in the box which had remained stuck together. Vince went to work on starting to construct the outer edges and Keeley dabbled in a few tasks. The activity began to relax me, and on that Monday morning it allowed me to slip into school mode in a way that was not too alarming. In the beginning stages of our puzzle building I notice my group has not became too frustrated yet and are seeming to enjoy the experience. So far what I can take from this experience to teaching is the idea that learners will tend to gravitate toward their skill sets right away and that as teachers we should monitor this carefully. If we know our student's skills we can also know where they can improve and where they will thrive.
Monday Feb. 8
I haven't blogged in a while about the puzzle experience but some milestones and roadblocks have come along. My group feels very behind and we are not completing the puzzle very quickly. Some of us are excited about it, but we quickly loose our motivation easily and become frustrated. I think Vince is the most positive motivator in our groups as he always has a positive outlook in the mornings. I am not sure if it is the puzzle itself which is so difficult or the lack of motivation by our group. I am not sure what it will take to get over the bump we have encountered but we have no choice but to keep working hard at it and know we still have a lot of time to complete it.
March 20, 2010
Our puzzle is coming a little quicker now but that is because of all the help we are getting. I find myself getting frustrated only after a short period of time. If I take small breaks during looking for where pieces go I am more productive. I hope we finish before the end of the year and that I start to understand what I am supposed to be learning from this experience.
April 2010
The final pieces of our puzzle were placed so kindly by Chennelle who took the time to finish it for our group! I was so pleased to see it was finished because it was really stressing me out that it wasn't moving along. Some final reflections on the puzzle experience include my realization that asking for help, accepting help and having a lot of input from others is crucial. Our group really had a hard time with our puzzle, but the rest of the class was very generous with helping us out. We could have not done it without them. This is true in school environments as well. As teachers we will have to learn to accept help from others, collaborate with other classrooms and even sometimes we (as in Chennelle) will just have to sit down and get it done for the betterment of the group. I also learned that I am just not a puzzle person.
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