| Image found here |
Yesterday, Celina and I had the opportunity to share what we
do in our classroom with others at a presentation for empowering learners. We spoke about the 5 powerful strategies that
are the basis for our program: choice, reflection, self-assessment, students as
teachers, and student voice. The 4 ½ hour
return trip was spent laughing and reflecting on all that we have been able to
accomplish with our students in the last year and half. How we have grown as teachers, how our
students have grown and how our program has evolved into creating an
environment for learning that could work in a multiage context or any straight
grade setting.
Why does it work? It is a mindset, a way of thinking. It is not a canned program or a prescription,
it is about starting with the students first, considering what they need, and
focusing solely on all of the ways we can meet those essentials. We start with our students, determine the
standards they require, and then pull from our curriculum and other resources
in order to meet those needs.
No matter what the
standards are, or what the curriculum is, you cannot make it happen without starting
from where the kids are and what they still need.
Thinking in this manner, with this mindset, means that the
standards and curriculum you work from are basically irrelevant! They just become a set of “building blocks;”
they are those elements that you scale on the path to becoming an accomplished learner.
We started our program last year with the state standards, but easily
transitioned to CCSS when they were put into use. In the past few years our district has implemented
new curriculum in Art, Social Studies, Math, Spelling and World Languages. While this could have easily overwhelmed us,
we instead chose to look at these materials as just a new set of basic
resources from which we could pull (or our students could seek) the knowledge
that was needed.
We pass this mindset on to our students. The realization
that they can achieve anything they set their minds to, they can grow from
where they are, take charge of their learning, and be empowered in their
abilities and choices.
We returned today to our classroom tired, but exhilarated
and eager to share and celebrate with our students all that we have
experienced, shared and received in response. Our students were so proud, so
happy that their Brain Books were shared, so excited that “THEY” were our topic
of conversations. Overall though, I felt
awe in them and from them, the awe in knowing that their words and work have
the power to transform education for all the administrators and teachers who
were at our presentation and eventually all the students who will be impacted
by this new learning. They have the power to change the world for others as
they have changed it for us. It starts
with the students and the learning never ends.
~Ann
PS Thank you to "our people" for making it possible!
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