The Group! Spooky and Silly Saturday Class!!

 "To be in a Group is a Situation of Great Privilege"
-Loris Malaguzzi

 Yesterday's class had a whopping 38 children!  Usually, I have somewhere between 5 - 10 cancellations the day of the class.  However, yesterday no one cancelled.

 However, this group came together like none before.

 An energy within the group grew and strengthened as the class went on...
I became the go-to...
Kids: "Shannon, Do you have google eyes?"



Me: "Of course!"
Kids: "Shannon, do you have more of the powder stuff (Cornstarch)?"

Me: "OF course!"
Kids: "We need more colored water!"
Me: "Getting it now!"

 This is largely how I see the role of the adult (teacher) at The Wonder Studio (and elsewhere)...

The Getter.

 I spend hours setting up Wonder Studio so the kids have lots of options to choose from...However, I don't always get it right.

 Yesterday's class was full of "Seasoned" wonderers'.
And, even though many of them had not been there for a year or two...they seemed to remember that I would get them what they needed.

 This is how I KNOW that deep learning is taking place...not just learning but also THINKING.

 To me education is a personal quest...Ownership by the Learner is the ONLY way.
What's the point of any of this, if we can't make it our own?

 And, when the "group" begins to emerge...they take it somewhere I never knew we wanted to be.

 Malaguzzi goes on to further explain the importance of being in a "group"...
"The group offers children the opportunity to realize that their ideas are different and not coinciding with the ideas of others, and therefore they discover that they hold their own ideas and unique point of view."

 Without the group, we lose sight of our importance as an individual.

 I can't tell you how lucky I feel that I am a part of this "group".

 This place... brings us all together in our own quest for uniqueness.