The Paper Quilled Dragon was a project that took eight 45 minute class periods. The first few days involved the normal stuff: direct instruction, application, assess, repeat- and was fairly quiet. The last four days involved students creating their Quilled Dragon that included 3 different colors and 5 types of quilled designs. Here is an example:
During those four days the chatter kept progressively getting louder. Of course, I automatically assumed this could be related to several factors: disengagement, spring fever, bad project. BOY, was I wrong! This was SO NOT THE CASE! Every dragon was turned in on time and turned out AMAZING!
Looking back on the quilling process and those four chatter-filled days, I now believe that the students were working at a much higher level of thinking because they had acquired the muscle memory to quill designs that allowed them the freedom to talk more. As a result, they were multitasking- engaging in the artistic process and the community of the classroom.
What do you think about classroom chatter?
