Middle School Monkeys

It has been a few weeks since we conducted our Week Without ‘Made in China’ experiment and I am surprised how long it is taking me to digest the impact it had on me. Every time I went to write this follow up post, complete with the data we collected, I was not pleased with the result and searched for the “delete” button. So if you are reading this - I guess I finally found a way to put my thoughts and reactions into a written format.

In a nutshell, our experiment’s purpose was to measure how dependent we were on clothing/products that were made in China for a week. The total items of clothing for the week was 562 and 313 items were from China (56%). Remember we made a conscious effort to not wear or use items made in China and we still wore clothes from China 56% of the time! I even went out and bought a few things so that at only my shoes would be made in China!

A whopping 78% of our shoes were made in China! We tried so hard to find more “global shoes” without much luck. Many of the boys who wore Nikes did okay, as most of Nike’s shoes seem to be made in Vietnam.

The link below gives a more detailed summary of our data.

china-experiment-data-summary-sheet2.doc

First of all, the scope of this experiment was a lot grander than any of us expected. Trying to collect and manage the data was difficult and some of our numbers still do not balance, but I was not about to start looking for needles in haystacks! In a perfect world, our totals for tops#1, pants and shoes would all be the same as everybody wore these items daily. (I have a strict “must wear pants” rule in my classroom. I know, I’m strict and old-fashioned.) Our totals balanced daily, but when it was entered into the weekly spreadsheet something went astray.

Many of my students had never conducted an experiment that required using the scientific method. Most had never done a science fair project (it was always required and dreaded in most schools I had taught in before) and I found this directly affected the way they wanted to carry out the investigation. (Hypothesis - what’s that??) I could almost hear some of my colleagues and former students laughing in the background, as I was not very good at hiding my distaste and struggles with teaching science through the years as an elementary generalist. However, I am glad  thatI have a basic knowledge of science principles. Learning through inquiry is a lot more exciting than learning through lecture!

At our school we use the terminology “clear targets” to describe what we want the students to learn. After the experiment, we went through our learning targets for this social studies unit on China to see how many targets we met. Here are the main targets we met just from this experiment:

1. I can identify many Pacific Rim countries.

2. I can explain the growing importance of the Pacific Rim countries to Canada.

3. I can show you where China (as well as many other Pacific Rim countries) are located on a map or globe.

4. I can tell you how we share goods and services with China.

5. I can tell you about the “interdependence” that occurs between Canada and China.

This was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to learning opportunities. We discovered countries we didn’t even know existed. (Turkmenistan anyone? Trip to Lesotho next Spring Break??) Obviously, the geographical focus was tremendous, but it was the reflections and analysis that resonated the most with me. I overheard kids saying such things as “Well, I don’t want those factories in Canada, so why not China?” and “How can I be so dependent on one country for so many things?” Sure beats the “It was a good experiment/story/poem” reflections most middle schoolers love to share with us!

We also met countless targets from many different curricular areas. (math, science, language arts)

Here are some quotes from their reflection journals:

“I feel a little overwhelmed at how much “stuff” is made in China. I tried to find clothes that weren’t made in China and it was really hard!”

“Our numbers really changed a lot on the second day. Kids are really trying much harder not to wear China-made clothes than they were yesterday.”

“I found this experiment interesting, but one week is enough!”

“Pants and shoes that are not from China are impossible to find!”

“I am so glad Nike shoes are made in Vietnam!”

“I am thinking about wearing these same clothes all week as they are the only ones I have that are not from China.”

Some of the students extended their learning further by writing a letter to Sara Bongiorni (the author of “A Year Without ‘Made in China’” from which this experiment emerged) and one student offered to record a reflection to add to my blog. Now I just have to figure out how to add it to my blog!

I would say, overall, this experiment was definitely a highlight of my year. The enthusiasm for learning was so refreshing, especially from those students that are difficult to engage. The biggest hurdle for me was the data management. As a card-carrying member of the ADHD Club I get a little overwhelmed by the volume of some statistics. I should have scheduled this experiement while my student teacher was still with me as she would have been a great help to me.

Did this change the way my students and I look at the world? I know that I am trying to look outside my four walls more often and know that we are all in this thing called life together. If my students feel the same, then I guess I would be so giddy- I would just pee myself! Remember - these are Middle School Monkeys and priorities change at any alarming rate! Please feel free to contact me if you want more info about how we conducted our experiment.

Cheers,

The Head Monkey (Mrs. Bowes)