Day 3 Help Provide Paint for Playground, Hopping Games, Desks,
etc…
About a month ago the director of
the school came up to me and asked if I had ever heard of BBL(Brain Based
Learning). I said that I wasn’t really sure as I’d learned of many different
teaching techniques in college, and asked him to explain what BBL was. A few
weeks later we had a weeklong meeting after school where we watched 8 videos
that had been recorded as a teleconference all across Thailand to introduce
first grade teachers to BBL. After the director and first grade teachers went
to the teleconference, it had been decided that our school would begin teaching
using BBL, beginning with the meeting to learn what it was. At the break the
second day I talked to the director and said “I know why I had never heard of
BBL before, because that is the system of learning I grew up in and learned in
college.” To sum it up for you quickly, the main points are to have a
playground and have students play at least 20 minutes per day, 3 times per
week. Inviting classrooms, painted desks, bulletin boards, student work
displayed around the room, etc… Teaching materials, things as simple as using
cups to say chants and tap to help them remember things, using counting ducks(I
used bears as a child), etc… Things that students can interact with instead of
just writing on the board and lecturing. There were two more, but my notes
aren’t with me now, and what I want to ask for help with has already been
mentioned.
Basically, Thailand is just
catching up with interactive learning. There is a big push by the education
department to get this started, and my school is jumping on board. However,
many of them have costs attached that we are working on raising, and you just
might decide you want to help out with one of them. So, here they are
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Paint for the playground.
In the videos they made playgrounds out of old tires. Car tires half buried
became stepping stones, or placed farther apart, obstacles to run zig-zag
through. They also became steps to climb up one side with a slide on the other.
Bike tires became jungle gyms and swings. We have many tires donated already,
but wouldn’t it be more fun to play on if they were bright colored? That’s what
the video said J
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This one I’ll write paint
for Hopping Games. In the video and on the internet they’ve found many
different designs of things to paint on the ground that children can interact
with. From hopscotch, to feet painted on either side of a line that they have
to follow, to a cluster of circles in 3 colors that you have to jump from one
side to the other on just your color, to letter and number practice, etc… The
possibilities are endless of what could be made, right now it is only limited
by the lack of paint to create them with.
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Painting desks, the video
also shared that different types of students learn best if their desks are
painted different colors. I forget what they all mean, but the colors are
green, yellow, blue, and pink. Most of the classrooms at the school have old
wooden desks that have seen better days. One fifth grade class has gotten
funding to paint their desks already, and what a difference it makes. Going
from dark stained wood to colors brightens up the room quick, plus I’m hoping
it will stop the carving/writing on the desks as they were the ones to help out
doing the prepping and painting. Only time will tell if it actually helps them
pay attention better, but I’m hoping it will. There are still 12 other
classrooms that have desks that could use some TLC J
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Classroom supplies. I’ve
debated putting this one on here as its something I think they can do on their
own, but who knows, maybe someone is interested in this. In the video they had
a list of things that if you bought once you could use for a long time. For
example, using wooden or plastic eggs and egg cartons, sticking a word on each
egg, then having students sort them by what vowel sound was in the word. Once
the eggs are purchased, they can be used for so many activities. They also
showed how to use ping pong balls, spoons and forks, paper cups, paper plates,
counting ducks, etc… If I remember right to buy the shelves and the recommended
materials it would be less than $50 per set. It would then be up to the
teachers to come up with the activities and use them. This should be something
teachers could buy on their own, but who knows, maybe someone wants to help
provide a few sets for teachers that are motivated to use them.
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I remember another thing
they mentioned, a reading corner in every room. Growing up, I LOVED the reading
corner at school. You know, you finished your work and were allowed to quietly
go to the reading corner and read while waiting for your friends to finish.
Thais don’t really have books in the classroom, let alone a reading corner.
Imagine donating money to buy a mat/chairs, bookshelf, basket for books, money
to buy books, etc… You could suggest what to buy, let me suggest what to buy,
or give a grant for a teacher to buy things on their own. I imagine even $100
would be able to create a simple reading corner of a mat, a basket, and
depending on the type of books, up to 50 Thai books (this could be a really bad
guess, it might be more like 20-30. I don’t really know) I’ve seen some
classrooms have boxes that the student’s milk comes in with a blanket on top, I
imagine this is what they are using as a reading corner. I’ll have to check on
that and prices if anyone is interested in this project.
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