STEAM Teacher William Jackson shares his experiences,
joy, fun and the learning that students can gain by using
Lego building blocks.
Using Lego to Build Imaginative and Creative Students
STEAM Educator William Jackson
CEO, Minister and Entrepreneur
Becoming Collegiate Academy
Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4KJWK53k2KpjVaof6poQZa?si=ufv46xIIScCJjwCPhGzVJw
Video: https://youtu.be/Aq37LDTaI20
STEAM Class at Becoming Collegiate Academy isn’t just about fun;
it’s a powerful classroom for young minds that is a great place for
creativity and imagination. For elementary children, manipulatives
like building blocks and LEGOs are more than just playthings, they’re
fundamental tools for developing critical thinking, problem-solving,
and creative thinking.
These manipulatives offer a hands-on, engaging way for students
to learn essential skills that will serve them throughout their academic
and professional lives. Brown Bears of Becoming Collegiate Academy
are applying new ways to thinking using Legos and building blocks.
Building blocks, in their most basic form, challenge children to think
spatially with creativity and apply imagination. As they stack, balance,
and construct, kids intuitively learn about stability, weight distribution,
and even geometry. They must analyze why a tower falls and then
devise a solution to build it sturdier, a process that mirrors the scientific
method of hypothesis, experimentation, and conclusion.
This trial-and-error approach builds resilience and teaches them to
view mistakes not as failures, but as opportunities for learning.
CEO Jensen Huang shares the value and importance of failure that
prepares for growth beyond failures. Huang says “we learn that
experimentation requires a tolerance for failure, which is essential for
innovation and long-term success.” He emphasizes the need to fail
fast and cheap, and to possess the intellectual honesty to pivot from
a wrong path quickly. This can be applied to elementary learning and
can be guided to classroom learning and applying learning to real life.
Ultimately, failure reveals ways not to do things, providing valuable
lessons that guide students toward innovation and the achievement
of ambitious goals STEAM educator Jackson states,
“Too many children see failure as a step-down not a set-up to success.
We need to re-train them mentally and provide resources and strategies.”
LEGOs take this a step further, combining reasoning with complex
problem-solving. Providing sometimes a set of instructions teaches
children to execute a plan, developing their thinking and imagination.
When they choose to deviate from the instructions or create their own
designs from scratch, they tap into their creative potential. They must
conceptualize a new structure, plan its construction brick by brick, and
overcome challenges as they arise in their understanding
that they are creative, imaginative and awesome.
This type of open-ended learning fosters innovation, imagination and
self-directed learning. STEAM class should be an opportunity to
explore and expand multiple areas of learning that can transcend across
academic disciplines and experience to guide elementary students to
success and future careers that require the mentality that surpasses
their perceived limitations. The tools provided can create confident,
inspired and engaged learners.