Practical Learning

I used my Scholastic Book Fair dollars to get some new shelving units for the library.  They've been sitting around, unbuilt, for awhile now, so this week I decided to have my 5th grade STEM class put them together.  What a great decision!!  The kids are having a great time and I am amazed with the collaboration I'm seeing.  Talk about real life skills!  They self-selected groups and are working remarkably well together.  Today I heard one kid explaining a cam screw to another, who listened attentively then replied with, "Wow, cool." They are following directions, some of which are minimal at best and one set is written in Portuguese!  Fortunately it's also illustrated.  The kids have come across some problems, they've had to redo parts, and one group even had to take it all apart and start from scratch.  I've heard some frustrations, but no one has quit.  One girl, upon finding out they had to go backwards several steps, again, said, "I'M NOT DOING THIS AGAIN. I'M DONE!" but even as she was saying it, she started undoing her work and she proceeded to work with the rest of her group to fix the problem and carry on.  I didn't even have to intervene.  At the end of each class I ask if I should finish it for them or if they want to keep working on it, and I always get a resounding "We want to do it!"  So we tuck things out of the way and leave it until they come back again for their next STEM class.  I'm in no hurry to get them done.  In fact, with the effort I'm seeing from these kiddos, I'm tempted to buy more furniture!!  :)