I want to create a significant learning environment for students but comply with the district’s commands and guidelines. We have district people coming into our classrooms daily with a clipboard “wall watching.” Teachers anonymously called this “wall watching.” They check out walls and environments for specific items. Teachers anonymously called this “wall watching.”
Students want a better environment, and I try to incorporate collaboration to increase student engagement. Options are limited to two and are not offered often due to time and planning. I see students lose the desire for creativity and imagination. As the district wants us to keep moving through the curriculum, I believe creativity and imagination take time.
I am not sure what my next educational step will be, but I know it will involve student choice and creativity.
According to Douglas Thomas in A New Culture of Learning TedTalk, learning is something we do from the day we are born until we die, and learning is easy, except in school. Students struggle to learn in school, which should be the easiest and safest place to learn.
References
Dwayne Harapnuik. (2021, April 16). EDLD 5313 Module 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4RIBNgK6xI
TEDx Talks. (2012, September 13). A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change (1st edition). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
