Authentically TCS: Randy Brookins
As Randy scans his fourth grade classroom and sees globs of glue stuck to the tables and scissors askew on floor, it’s hard for the perfectionist in him to leave it untouched. Instead, he takes a deep breath and remembers that a messy space is the result of meaningful, student work.
Before joining the TCS team, Randy worked as a Resource Specialist in a school that supported Project Based Learning, (PBL) where he began to view education–and the world in general–from a completely new perspective. Observing the positive and transformational qualities of PBL encouraged him to find a teaching position in a school that supported this philosophy, and The Children’s School was the perfect fit.
Randy describes PBL as a type of instruction that supports different learning styles and allows for creative freedom, self-expression, and self-reflection. Randy has established a clear process of what it means to incorporate PBL into the classroom, the first step being the most important: Establishing community. Once the teacher gains the trust of students and creates boundaries, the students feel safe to self-express and create truly amazing work! The second step involves carefully developing a central question allowing students to blaze their own trail along the way to arrive at a final product.
One of Randy’s fondest projects was the “learning chairs” his students completed last year, and presented at Maker Faire in October of 2014. The task was to make a chair for their individual learning style. After the class brainstormed an inventory of different types of learners, they went to work on creating a chair that portrayed their style of learning. Randy’s class won first place at Maker Faire for most innovative and creative project!
Randy has learned just as much as his students about perseverance, self-expression, and confidence by implementing Project Based Learning into the curriculum. He believes that maintaining faith through the process and keeping an open mind are two essential ingredients to carry out this type of instruction and learning, and the end product is always worth any obstacles along the way.
Since Maker Faire last year, Randy has been collecting materials to add to the designated “Maker Space” in his classroom. He has received several donations and now has a slew of tools, fabric, old computer parts, wire, and much more to keep his students creating! TCS is excited to see what he has in store for his fourth grade students this year!
