When we started the Lego Lab in the Summer of 2010, there was little information on how to begin. This is the way we built the Lego Lab AG but each situation is different and the most important thing to keep in mind that this is not about the parents nor about the teachers and the educators. Lego Clubs are about the students! Planning is key and getting some great support from the beginning really helps!
The Nelson Mandela School
First of all, the Nelson Mandela School is considered an all day school in Berlin, Germany. This means that the school goes from 8 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon. On Fridays, classroom instruction is over at lunch time but there is still care until 4. Because of the all day school concept, the school has built in times during the week for a different kind of instruction. Free internal workshops coordinated by the school's educators include 8 week courses on all kinds of crafts, cooking and even extra playground time at an area park. Also, during this time and on Friday afternoons, outside providers can make a contract with the school in providing extra weekly courses in things like ballet, art, french and chinese. These club like groups are called AG's (Arbeitsgemeinschaft) and are contracted privately between the provider and the parents with terms and a monthly fee. The AG's usually run through the entire school year.
The Lego Lab AG is a hybrid of the two types of workshops because it involves the school's educators and parent volunteer coaches. Last year, we worked the Lab as a semester based program. This year, for the Lab we are going to use the internal workshop concept for the Monday (Flex 1 & 2) and Thursday (3rd & 4th Grades) Labs and hold alternating 6 to 8 week labs with all girl and all boy labs with no more than 12 students in each lab. Only three girls were present in the lab last year and quickly left the lab for whatever reason. In this way, girls can explore technology in a safe setting as well. The Friday afternoon Lab will be now for Flex 2-4th graders and we will only accept up to 15 students.
The Nelson Mandela Primary School currently provides a great sunny room for all the Lab activities where we can also store the Legos when not in use plus have the assistance of the school's educators in organizing and coaching when needed during Lab times. Parent volunteers, however, are still the cornerstone of the Lego Lab coaching staff.
Early History of the NMS Lego Lab
Early Excitement
NMS teachers/educators/administrators/parents and especially students have all been extremely enthusiastic from the beginning of working out the details of the Lego Lab AG. That has made this much easier for the organizers and could not have been done at all without all this enthusiasm.
Questions
But then came the questions that we had to answer.
1) Where would we hold the Lego Lab AG and where could we store the tubs of Legos that we would need?
2) Who and how would we work out the coaching arrangement between the Educators and the Parents?
3) How many Legos do we need and where do we get them?
4) Once we get them, how do we organize them to optimize storage and student use?
5) How would the Lab be structured to create a sense of a teamwork and friendship among the students?
Location of Lego Lab AG
Initially, the school had a struggle to find a place to hold the lab and finally we decided with the principal to try the Little Menza (cafeteria). The Little Menza had tables and chairs but not very good light and ventilation. It also had a distinct odor of broccoli most days. But no matter...the Lego Lab began and we stored the tubs in a nearby storage area and had to haul them to the Little Menza before and after each lab. Within three weeks of beginning the Lab, the school found us a better space, a multi-use classroom that is used for movement activities. It has little furniture and great natural light, and windows that open for air. We still had four tables and the students could now build on the floor. What a difference a room makes! And we highly recommend that having the students build on the floor promotes better teamwork and collaboration and much easier clean up.
Coaching Arrangement
The first semester of the Lego Lab we had enough parents and educators coaching. In the beginning, we averaged about 1 coach per five students and all the coaches but one are parent volunteers. This is a great ratio especially for the younger students. Our coaches don't always work with the students, we have one coach who also takes photos of the group, others help with the administration (attendance, putting away elements that didn't get put away last time) but we also encourage the coaches to build themselves to show the students some new ideas in design or thoughts on using a certain element, etc. Sometimes a coach will work with a self made team or with just group of individuals who are working and playing in the same area. Sometimes coaches have to dispense discipline but most of the time, the students love being there with their friends in total free play.
Second semester was a bit tougher. For most of the parent volunteers, their job or life situations changed and they were no longer able to coach. So it fell basically to one primary parent volunteer per Lego Lab. With 16 boys who are in the 1st and 2nd grade, this is not a great ratio. I would recommend that you have at least 2 coaches for any Lego clubs over 12 members. Too many things to do and to many children to assist in this active environment. Also, if you are not a teacher, sometimes the problems in the group dynamic can be a bit overwhelming.
Lego Elements
One of the issues that came up early on concerned the fact that students wanted to keep sometimes their creation to the next week to either rebuild and then play with their friends or expand on the idea morphing it into something else. We have now given each student a 3 Liter Zip Lock bag with their name on it and they can put their creation inside. That system is still a bit rough but it improves each week. We will soon be purchasing XL tubs from Ikea to keep the creations inside instead of in with the XL Lego Elements.
Lab Structure
The Nelson Mandela Primary School currently provides a great sunny room for all the Lab activities where we can also store the Legos when not in use plus have the assistance of the school's educators in organizing and coaching when needed during Lab times. Parent volunteers, however, are still the cornerstone of the Lego Lab coaching staff.
Early History of the NMS Lego Lab
Early Excitement
NMS teachers/educators/administrators/parents and especially students have all been extremely enthusiastic from the beginning of working out the details of the Lego Lab AG. That has made this much easier for the organizers and could not have been done at all without all this enthusiasm.
Questions
But then came the questions that we had to answer.
1) Where would we hold the Lego Lab AG and where could we store the tubs of Legos that we would need?
2) Who and how would we work out the coaching arrangement between the Educators and the Parents?
3) How many Legos do we need and where do we get them?
4) Once we get them, how do we organize them to optimize storage and student use?
5) How would the Lab be structured to create a sense of a teamwork and friendship among the students?
Location of Lego Lab AG
Initially, the school had a struggle to find a place to hold the lab and finally we decided with the principal to try the Little Menza (cafeteria). The Little Menza had tables and chairs but not very good light and ventilation. It also had a distinct odor of broccoli most days. But no matter...the Lego Lab began and we stored the tubs in a nearby storage area and had to haul them to the Little Menza before and after each lab. Within three weeks of beginning the Lab, the school found us a better space, a multi-use classroom that is used for movement activities. It has little furniture and great natural light, and windows that open for air. We still had four tables and the students could now build on the floor. What a difference a room makes! And we highly recommend that having the students build on the floor promotes better teamwork and collaboration and much easier clean up.
Coaching Arrangement
The first semester of the Lego Lab we had enough parents and educators coaching. In the beginning, we averaged about 1 coach per five students and all the coaches but one are parent volunteers. This is a great ratio especially for the younger students. Our coaches don't always work with the students, we have one coach who also takes photos of the group, others help with the administration (attendance, putting away elements that didn't get put away last time) but we also encourage the coaches to build themselves to show the students some new ideas in design or thoughts on using a certain element, etc. Sometimes a coach will work with a self made team or with just group of individuals who are working and playing in the same area. Sometimes coaches have to dispense discipline but most of the time, the students love being there with their friends in total free play.
Second semester was a bit tougher. For most of the parent volunteers, their job or life situations changed and they were no longer able to coach. So it fell basically to one primary parent volunteer per Lego Lab. With 16 boys who are in the 1st and 2nd grade, this is not a great ratio. I would recommend that you have at least 2 coaches for any Lego clubs over 12 members. Too many things to do and to many children to assist in this active environment. Also, if you are not a teacher, sometimes the problems in the group dynamic can be a bit overwhelming.
Lego Elements
We held a Lego Brick Drive near the end of school in the 2009-20 year and received about three donations probably for a total of three to five kilos of Legos. So, one parent took it upon herself to purchase used Legos via Ebay. She bought several conglomerate lots of 20+ Kilos and was successful in not spending over 10 Euros a Kilo. Most new packages of Legos sit at around 20 to 25 Euros per Kilo. Now, when you buy used Legos...you get a variety of stuff. We have in our collection more than enough hinges, hitches and panels but not very many arches and zigzags (very special elements). We have some technical elements but since most of our students tend to right now to be first and second graders we really want to give them a chance to build with the basic elements first before introducing the fun and complex world of the Technic Legos. Buying legos in bulk from Ebay takes a great deal of energy, time and effort plus some cash to put into the program up front.
Last year, we charged each student a 20 Euros per semester and that has nearly helped pay back that upfront expense. Also, other items that need to be purchased before the first day includes storage tubs to keep the Legos in, large building plattes (these are about the same new as they are used and can break easily--recommend buying new and trying to buy--and average about one per student). This coming year, we will need to begin to build the technical Legos so that more students can experiment with gears and all the great things with technical Legos. Again, we will have to charge a materials fee to help find these Legos used on Ebay.
Last year, we charged each student a 20 Euros per semester and that has nearly helped pay back that upfront expense. Also, other items that need to be purchased before the first day includes storage tubs to keep the Legos in, large building plattes (these are about the same new as they are used and can break easily--recommend buying new and trying to buy--and average about one per student). This coming year, we will need to begin to build the technical Legos so that more students can experiment with gears and all the great things with technical Legos. Again, we will have to charge a materials fee to help find these Legos used on Ebay.
After the two week frenzy of buying the Legos off Ebay, the real fun then begins and that is sorting.
The reason why we thought it important to sort the donated and the used Legos would be:
1) To find out how many elements there were in each category.
2) To find out if there was a need to purchase more in a certain category.
3) To figure out how to store them so that it optimizes the gathering and cleaning stage for the students.
4) To clean them. Easier to clean if the are the same type.
We can't really tell you how many kilos of legos we actually have but we have guestimated that we have enough Legos for 50 students to use comfortably (would never want that many at one time).
We bought clear plastic tubs with matching lids from Ikea plus other plastic boxes (usually with no lid) that was received in the donations and Ebay purchase. Most of the tubs are filled half to 3/4 full which is a good ratio for students to explore the box. Here is the breakdown of how we store the Legos:
Size Details
XL 2 x N Bricks (2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8 and 2x12 plus 2 x N decorative and elbow bricks)
XL 1 x N Bricks (all 1 by N bricks excepts 1x1)
XL Plates--small ones only
XL Slopes--all
L Arches, curves and zigzags (not very many of these)
L Hinges/Hitches/Panels (too many of these)
L Doors/Walls/Windows
L Random set pieces from kits
L Accessories for Auto/Boats/Planes
L Tires
M 1x1 and a 1 liter bag of smaller items (pips, headlights, etc)
M Poles/Axles/Pins
M Cones/Cylinders
M Tiles
We also have a large flat under the bed bin for large platts/plates
One of the issues that came up early on concerned the fact that students wanted to keep sometimes their creation to the next week to either rebuild and then play with their friends or expand on the idea morphing it into something else. We have now given each student a 3 Liter Zip Lock bag with their name on it and they can put their creation inside. That system is still a bit rough but it improves each week. We will soon be purchasing XL tubs from Ikea to keep the creations inside instead of in with the XL Lego Elements.
After the Lego Lab is finished, we stack all the bins together using the XL as the base and then cover with a plastic tarp. The storage occurs in a multi-purpose room where students sit on the floor to create. In the beginning of the Lego Lab, students would grab huge amounts of Legos to begin building a small creation but towards the middle of the first semester, the students began exploring for elements in the boxes sometimes taking more time to find just the right piece than actually building their creation. We utilize small tubs (recycled ice cream, yogurt) for each student to use to move elements from the tub to their self assigned workspace on the floor.
At the beginning of the lab all the boxes are pushed to the sides of the room in a row for easier facilitation by the student builder.
Lab Structure
We try to keep the Lego Lab simple and the same each week so that students know what to expect.
We have an opening short talk and we do a Lego 101 session talking about the different elements so that students become familiar with the vocabulary. We utilize the book THE UNOFFICIAL LEGO BUILDER GUIDE and the Lego 101 information came from the Brickopedia that is located within the book. We put together small bags full of the same kind of elements to show what they look like. This is part of the permanent collection of how we coach so we can use this Lego 101 over and over again.
Then we do what we call the Lego Lock before we get started. We all lock arms and one of the coaches says, 'This is the Lego Lab Team and everyone on this team gets to Play.' After that the students get busy building their creations and obviously this is the longest part of their Lego Lab time. About 15 to 20 minutes before the end, we then have presentation period that involves each student presenting his or her creation to all the other students. Followed of course by a group clean up. And then at the very end we close each Lego Lab with another Lego Lock.
This coming school year, we hope to continue to have a free build situation but have the students work closer together in teams. Also, there are two bulletin boards that we never utilized last year which we hope to change at the beginning of this school year.
Since this is a new program, it is a work in progress! We'll keep you posted!
We have an opening short talk and we do a Lego 101 session talking about the different elements so that students become familiar with the vocabulary. We utilize the book THE UNOFFICIAL LEGO BUILDER GUIDE and the Lego 101 information came from the Brickopedia that is located within the book. We put together small bags full of the same kind of elements to show what they look like. This is part of the permanent collection of how we coach so we can use this Lego 101 over and over again.
Then we do what we call the Lego Lock before we get started. We all lock arms and one of the coaches says, 'This is the Lego Lab Team and everyone on this team gets to Play.' After that the students get busy building their creations and obviously this is the longest part of their Lego Lab time. About 15 to 20 minutes before the end, we then have presentation period that involves each student presenting his or her creation to all the other students. Followed of course by a group clean up. And then at the very end we close each Lego Lab with another Lego Lock.
This coming school year, we hope to continue to have a free build situation but have the students work closer together in teams. Also, there are two bulletin boards that we never utilized last year which we hope to change at the beginning of this school year.
Since this is a new program, it is a work in progress! We'll keep you posted!
