Technology activity days
Two-day activity
Whole school – suspended timetable
Wanganui Girls' College
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For two days students at Wanganui Girls' College broke out of their normal levels and class routines to form small vertical (Year 9-13) groups with an activity-based focus.
The idea came from a conference presentation on a three-day activity by a member of the Alfriston College senior management team. Wanganui Girls' Deputy Principal Maartje Morton was there, and was impressed. "It looked really interesting and something I'd want to try," she said. "So at one of our regular HOD meetings I introduced the idea that we would run something similar."
Maartje saw the initiative as part of the College's school-wide approach to implementing the new curriculum. "Taking time out from the regular timetable and not just teaching in subject areas is a different approach to delivering the curriculum requirements," she said. "I wanted staff to match up their activities with the curriculum principles, and I wanted them to show how they would be incorporating the key competencies."
It would also be also a great opportunity to help build a more intimate and personal school community. "Students learn best when they've got a good relationship with the teacher. The opportunity for doing small group activities as a whole school for an extended period would create these special relationships between teachers and students – people start seeing each other in a different light and become much more open and more relaxed around each other."
Alfriston College was happy for Wanganui Girls' College to use its material as a starting point and, having gained support from the principal, Maartje prepared a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the concept to all staff.
"Initially some teachers were a bit hesitant about trying something that was out of their comfort zone, but they seemed pretty enthusiastic once the idea was put to them and they started thinking about what they could actually do."
The decision was made to go ahead with the planning, but with a two-day model rather than the Alfriston three-day one, which they scheduled for the end of term 2.
"About the middle of term 1, we started to have department meetings as to what might be done," says Maartje. "Staff were asked to submit ideas and complete a planning template to help structure their own activities to address the common school-wide objectives – it could be individual teachers or groups of teachers, across departments or within departments. We used the Alfriston planner, but adapted it to fit our own specific requirements."
In the technology department activities planned for the two days included:
- Glass Art: Students using scrap glass to make useful artefacts by learning to cut glass and make patterns to fuse and mould together in a kiln – teacher Mike Jackson.
- Woolly Workshops: Students learning to felt, spin, knit, and weave and use their skills to make jewellery, bags, and toys – teacher Beth Evans.
- Switch on to Robotics: Student using kits to build robots that can sense heat, colour, or be programmed to move – teacher Andy Hynds.
- Random Acts of Kindness: Students learning the principles of jam-making and acquiring the skills to produce kiwifruit jam, lemon honey, and marmalade, with surplus products made donated to the local foodbank – teacher HOD Miriam Borrie.
All students were asked to select their first, second and third choices of activity with most ending up with their first or second choice.
A Technology teacher's experience
Mike Jackson enjoyed that students who had chosen his Glass Art workshop could focus on the activities he had planned without any distractions. "It's one of the best 'taster' exercises I've had the opportunity to do," he said. "It was great being able to do something with the glass in a way that takes students new to the craft through the complete process, without a bell going every hour and having to pack up and put away what they were doing till next time. They could start something, learn a whole range of new skills, concentrate and take their time to do a good job, and there would be take-home value at the end of it."
"It was a nice atmosphere – relaxed, social, co-operative – and a highly successful mentoring environment. You had seniors and Year 9s in the same room, and with the seniors getting stuck in and giving it a real go, the juniors could see the serious work ethic involved."
"Initially I was concerned whether the students could keep up their enthusiasm for the same sort of thing for two days. But they did stick with it and showed a lot of enthusiasm for the Hard Materials environment and the use of glass – so much so that many stayed on through lunchtime and after school to sort out individual problems. By the end of Friday I had to tell them that they really had to go – and many were asking if we were going to offer that sort of a course next year!"
Evaluation and reflection
Both teachers and students did an evaluation of the initiative and the response was overwhelmingly positive. "It was awesome – I'd say 90% thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would happily do it again," says Maartje. "Both groups were particularly positive about doing the hands on activities and actually making something, and working with a different group of students.
"The teachers really enjoyed the opportunity to spend a longer period of time on one particular thing, rather than the bell going after an hour and having to move onto something else. For some it was a bit of an eye opener but they enjoyed the different style of teaching. One teacher commented: 'it went better than I expected'. Some teachers thought it might be totally chaotic, but in fact it wasn't, because students were in smaller groups, engaged in doing what they had chosen to do.
"Feedback from the students was interesting: some commented that they liked the no bells idea, while others wanted to have the bells so they could get their regular morning break and their lunchtime. So some moved outside their comfort zone and had their usual routine shaken up, which in itself was a worthwhile experience for them. But it was all done in a planned, managed, and safe environment, so they weren't thrashing around."
"Some student feedback showed that there's still room for further development – with comments along the lines of: 'I'd like to do less writing and less sitting listening to the teacher and [be] more hands-on'."
Maartje says that for most people, two days was about the right amount of time. "We really enjoyed it, but by the end we were ready to get back into class and get into things again. And scheduling it for around the end of term 2 also worked well – about this time everyone's a bit tired of the routine of things and needing a change."
"Would we want longer?" reflects Mike Jackson. "For the type of things we're doing, I don't think so. A longer project would have to be more directly curriculum related, with measurable outcomes. With two days the pressure is off, and as long as the students are learning, it's got to be a good thing."
The feedback at Wanganui Girls' College was sufficiently positive for the staff to decide to repeat it again next year. "The girls really enjoyed it and want more of it – so we decided to make this an annual event," says Maartje. "Taking the risk worked for us and to other schools thinking about trying it, I'd say 'Give it a go!'."
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