Gender+and+Digital+Photography+in+the+PreK+Block+Area

Gender and Digital Photography in the PreK Block Area

1. It all began with these cars and trucks. I ordered them as one way of addressing the goal of making sure my PreK classroom was “boy friendly”. - The block area is smaller than I would like, due to the size of the classroom and the 8 other areas (learning centers).I went to Bank Street for my Masters and I have visited LREI – I know what can be done with blocks and believe they are a valuable playing/learning material. - I was going to be flexible about the number of children working together and how far they could build into the open space in the center of the classroom. I had visions of the boys building roads and bridges and whole cities!

2. ALAS, it did not happen. At the beginning of the year a small group of boys worked in the Block area for part of every day and all they did was crash the cars into each other! Over and over. They might take out 5 blocks and arrange them flat on the floor, but nothing more complex was happening. - We first intervened by trying to appeal to their love of building (which we saw with Legos etc.) and talked about ramps and highways etc. They made one or two simple structures…just to provide some variation for their collisions! Later, we talked about the cars getting damaged, the high noise level, and how crashes led to conflicts when fingers got in the way. - We also noticed that only one or two girls ever ventured into the block area and that this was very rare. - In November, we made a bold decision. We took the cars out of the block area and put them away in a storage cabinet. (I did give the boys a few days notice about the possibility).

3. The Block Area in the time A.C. (after cars) - On the first morning the boys immediately noticed the cars were gone and asked where they were. I told them we had put them away, as we had talked about. With groans and pouts, they stomped out of the Block area and went to the Lego table (where they started each morning for the next two weeks, building large planes and flying them around the room – but that’s another story). - The next thing that happened was unexpected and exciting – the girls came into the block area and started BUILDING! One girl (who usually worked alone) and two pairs of girls. - Their process involved lots of pretend play during and after construction. They made castles, playgrounds for animals, tunnels with people trapped inside, and buildings that could repair themselves. - A few weeks later we started seeing groups of boys and girls building together in the Block area – including some of the boys in the original group!

4. Low Tech. in the Block Area - At the first sign of a real building, I was inspired to grab the digital camera and document it – as an individual structure and a possible sign of positive changes. - I did not anticipate the huge positive reaction I got from the children. They were excited about having their buildings photographed and their pride was evident as they posed nearby. They also gave detailed descriptions of the forms and functions of their work. - Currently, many of the children routinely ask us to photograph their block buildings (and sometimes other work).

5. How We Use the PHOTOS - To document temporary block structures (all, because of the size of the room we can’t leave buildings up – need the space for Circle, Rest) - Put in the work drawers – children are so happy about this! Work that is normally “lost” is now tangible and able to be saved in a different form. - Also helps at clean up time! Somehow just taking the photo seems to give the children “closure” on a temporary project they may have worked on for 30-40 minutes and will soon simply cease to exist! - One child always asks us to send the photos to a classmate who moved away in December - Share with parents at conferences (really supports our stated belief that Blocks are an important part of playing and learning in PreK). I’m excited about this because this is important work that parents almost never see – and the response has been very positive! - Creating class books with captions dictated by the children (I have a work in progress) - We have taken some video too (domino game, 3 Little Pigs building lesson), but are not yet sure what to with it!

6. Challenges - Camera goes through AA batteries very quickly (classroom budget) - Classroom computer not connected to color printer, and two floors below classroom (put photos on home computer, email to BC, find another computer to open and print) – LAG in time between photo and printing - Wonder about how much paper we are using