Pre-covid, I used to work every week in a junior school, with students ranging from 7-10 years old. In the early days, they were almost all complete beginners, which made my lesson plans reasonably straight-forward. However, as terms pass by, some students stay, new ones come in, which causes problems for a teacher. The way I’ve adapted it is to have two tables, one for beginners and another for more experienced students. The “experts” are given a variety of resources – books, diagrams, access to the wonderful “Origami Club” website. I make sure they have something to do, then spend the majority of my time with the newcomers.
It’s fascinating to see how different students work best. Some fold in small groups, some don’t really fold models, but get creative, often with scissors, glue and crayons, usually coming up with a wide variety of wacky and engaging models. Some students prefer to fold in isolation, reflecting their personalities.
Something else that proves popular is to encourage students to make smaller and smaller examples of a model. It’s a perfect way for them to practise a specific model and to learn how decreasing scale requires extra attention to precision. Their ability never ceases to impress me, with my failing eyesight, I often need to put on my glasses to even see the smallest examples! There’s usually a healthy air of competition amongst the “mini” folders which encourages them to keep trying for an ever smaller example.
These classes are tiring and make me constantly amazed at the professional skills and energy levels of the full-time teachers. However, I always come away having learned something myself, the creativity of children is truly unlimited. They also challenge me as a teacher and as a person – they say the most remarkable things, ask penetrating questions and constantly make me smile!
Nick Robinson