Tuesday: Learning By Doing

Architect Straton came to campus today. He met with Daphne and Sister Juvenal to discuss the particulars of the new project of building housing for teachers at Maranyundo. The idea of ensuring that teachers can find affordable housing in the community in which they teach is an issue that is apparent across the US. Architect Straton assures us it is a conundrum in many places across the globe. The fact that the Benebikira order is meeting this challenge in such a forthright way is evidence that they want to attract and retain talented teachers for the school. What was also positive is that the architect is eager to make sure he has an opportunity to talk with the teachers before the final decisions on design are made. He wants to make sure the housing will be comfortable for a teacher and her family.

Students continued to flock to the Maker Space rooms all day today. While Daphne was occupied with architect pursuits, Sara made headway in loading software on to some laptops and tablets, worked with Teacher Foster, and helped students who have so many ideas about how they would like to work in this new novel space.  Sara feels that one of the things that make Maker Space work so satisfying for students is the fact tat they get to see what they may have learned from a text or a lecture actually implemented. She encountered that today when a student, who had studied gear ratios and such in class worked with a gear gadget that allowed her to see how gear ratios work. It is truly awesome when you can see how something that has been words and an idea, really works…and that it is astonishingly useful!

That reminds me of how abstract much of our learning becomes as we move through the grades. The toys and natural objects that we learned from as young explorers of our surroundings become more and more the theories and ideas that we read about, memorize and believe is true in some way. The interest and engagement that the girls continue to show in seeing ideas at work is an important component of learning in the STEM disciplines.

I had a busy day visiting Teacher Esther’s literature class, working in Luladey’s Pre-College Program and keeping an eye on the Maker Space. I also was able to have a Skype connection with my Senior Capstone Seminar at Tufts this evening. I asked Luladey and Sara to join me. (The students were finishing their study time and heading to dinner. So they could not come.) Luladey and Sara were able to describe their roles at the school and what they had learned being a part of the Maranyundo community. I felt so pleased that I cou01ld share this school experience that means so much to me with my class…even through a Skype call!

I really like the way Sara explains the Maker Space as a learning space to her students. She explains that we are used to learning by listening, reading, and looking.  A Maker Space is a space where we can also learn by doing.

At the end of a busy day at Maranyundo School for Girls, I believe that is very true!