About the Facilitator:
My name is Aisha Ahmed bin Tami from Algeria. I am a certified facilitator for the Active Deep Learner eXperience. I work as a teacher for grades ranging from pre-elementary to fifth grade at the Martyr Lakhder Bouamara School. My goal is to transform the learning process into an Active Deep Learner eXperience, a positive and enjoyable experience that leaves a lasting impact on the learner and fosters an effective change into their surrounding and environment.
This is My Beautiful Hand (A Learning Journey):
This learning journey, which lasted for two full semesters of the academic year, was an enjoyable experience for every child, full of interaction, movement, and various activities. In this paper, I share with you one of the synchronous sessions which lasted for three hours and targeted five-year-old children in the pre-elementary stage:
Number of students: 34 (23 males and 11 females)
Country: Algeria
City: Boumdefaa / Martyr Lakhder Bouamara School
About the Learners:
They are children with a motivation for learning, a desire to work independently, and a need to possess self-confidence that allows them to approach experiences positively and joyfully. All of this contributes to the development of performance in addition to awakening awareness and assuming responsibility.
One of the characteristics of the children’s age group is that they get tired quickly and lose interest rapidly. Since FIRST-ADLX Framework takes these aspects into consideration and focuses on each learner, the experience was mindful of the situation of each learner. Those who needed assistance found someone to help them. Those who were shy found support, and those lacking self-confidence also found positive support and feedback.
Designing the Learning Outcomes:
It is essential, during the design of a learning journey, to consider the learner in all aspects and to focus on each learner before, during, and after the Learner eXperience We need to place the learners at the center of our attention with their holistic characteristics as we define the outcomes and establish appropriate activities and actions to achieve them. Our role is to enhance the design to improve facilitation and activate the learners’ role, as they are the focal point of the learning process. Consequently, the learning outcomes were carefully designed, so that by the end of the learning journey, the learners will be able to:
Attitude Learning Outcomes:
- sense the importance of their hand and its ability to bring joy to themselves and others;
- value collaboration and enjoys offering a helping hand.
Skills Learning Outcomes:
- speak about his achievement fluently.
Knowledge Learning Outcomes:
- list the hand’s characteristics and things we can do using it.
Implementing the F-Domain through the Activities
I designed a set of activities and actions in which the five domains of FIRST-ADLX were present and applied. I will share with you some of these activities and describe how the domains were implemented.
The Opener:
The opener involved a song entitled “My Beautiful Hand” accompanied by rhythmic hand movements to familiarize the learners with the number of fingers, their names, and some activities performed with the hands. The F Domain was applied through the activity “These Are My Hands,” where the facilitator distributed colorful hand-shaped paper cutouts. Each child chose a cutout in their favorite color and decorated it according to their preferences, expressing their creative ideas. The children enjoyed this activity, and sharing their experiences with their peers increased their confidence and diminished shyness.
Through this activity, the facilitator discovered the talents and abilities of the learners, as well as their creative expressions that bring them joy. She provided them with positive feedback, encouraging each child to proudly showcase their work and achievements, speaking about them fluently. The facilitator invested in these moments by capturing photos and videos. Later, she posted the learners’ photos along with their achievements on the school’s page. Additionally, a display was created featuring all the beautiful hands, which was then hung on a bulletin board.
In the application stage, we asked the child (with the possible assistance of their caregiver) to create handcrafted works, highlighting the qualities of the hand through an enjoyable activity chosen by the child themselves. This adventure was leveraged to teach and reinforce the learners’ skills and values through an Active Deep Learner eXperience. Hence, they were given the freedom to choose activities that demonstrate the qualities of caring, active, generous, trustworthy, clean hands, and more. Upon returning to the classroom, each child shared pictures and spoke freely in front of their peers about their chosen activity and the beautiful qualities of their hands displayed in the activity. Despite building on their peers’ experiences, each child’s adventure brought a unique element to the overall experience.
Here are some examples of the learners’ activities:
- Rouya and Yaqeen both applied the caring hand by feeding a hungry cat.
- Haleem did the same by feeding a dog.
- Rasha fed the chicken and its chicks.
- Yusuf fed the cows.
- Osama fed the rabbits.
- Ibtihal helped her mother.
- Amani and Fatima chose the active hand quality and engaged in a drawing and coloring activity.
- Yaqeen watered the trees.
- Iyad chose the generous hand, giving a portion of the pizza he made to his grandmother.
Each learner embarked on their unique adventure, similar to or different from others. The attached pictures show the learners’ activities and the enjoyment they derived from their performances.
The Closure: What Can I Do with My Hands?
- Coloring Activity:
Children engaged in coloring, and those who completed their artwork had a picture taken with their achievement, which was then displayed on the board to be read at the end of the day.
- Modeling Activity:
Learners showed their creativity by molding with clay, shaping various objects with the dough, and then presenting them to their peers.