Our minds are being redeveloped and gaining new knowledge by our daily interactions in Jasper room. We are taking our previous weeks work and renovating it to make it a bigger idea. The Lego is being manipulated to create large and complex creations and involving blocks in this process. Our fine motor skills are being put to the test with new stencils and by using different art mediums to draw with. While we test our minds but revisiting past experiences, we are constantly creating new experiences to see where our curiosity and drive to learn takes us. Our newly discovered tool of strategic thinking is helping us along the way. Strategic thinking is defined as process that defines the manner in which people think about, asses, view, and create for themselves and others. With each thing we build, draw, read or help others we are being strategic thinkers. Putting our minds and knowledge to work.
The best way to see the strategies used in Jasper room is our work with building our large wooden marble runs. The children would notice if the marble fell off the track too early and then proceed to seek out the error and work to solve it together. Displaying the children’s disposition to persist, persevering with a challenge and trying new strategies to find the block that did not line up properly. This disposition to learn is not limited to building with blocks, but can be expanded to the art centre. We are figuring out how to cut out our drawings with scissors without cutting into our art work or holding our papers steady to get that perfect line to finish our animal drawings. As our strategies are played out we are also learning how to expand and develop our fine motor skills. Thereby using our greatest weapon, our minds we do strategic thinking without even thinking about it all day long.
We are pushing the envelope on what we know and on what we can do to how can we make this even bigger and complex. Everyone in Jasper room is a co-learner, expanding our knowledge with each trial and error and with each successful moment we are one step closer to gaining a higher understanding in our learning.
We cannot wait to see how our friends take on this challenge of focusing their strategic thinking skills and the different ways in which our knowledge will be tested. Stay tuned for the upcoming week when we expand our provocations to include more complex principles from which development can continue to expand.
Have a wonderful weekend. See you all on Monday 🙂
