Participants:
Andrew Zolli (moderator)
Elizabeth Streb
Michael McCauley
Mary Culllinane
Dr. Francesc Pedro
What I took from this workshop
A 21st century school should do the following things:
- foster creativity and innovation in it’s students (and in its staff)
- be a place where it’s OK to fail
- help students think outside the box, think beyond the known
- focus on learning, not on technology
- foster the concept of lifelong learning where teachers and principals are key learners
My thoughts:
They’re all great points. I’m going to comment on half of them (think integers in computer science).
Point 2 is so important. How many of us enjoy failure? Rhetorical question right? But stop for a minute and imagine life without failure. Would we experience growth? Ever had the experience of not answering a question or not trying something because you were afraid that you were wrong, or you were afraid to fail? Have you seen other people do what you were afraid to do and then realized that you could have/would have succeeded if you’d tried? If you answered yes to those questions, doesn’t that point towards the necessity of creating an environment in our schools where failure is used as a catalyst for change rather than as an instance for disgrace and embarrassment?
Point 5 is of crucial importance, and often ignored in schools. As educators, we often speak of inquiry based learning, problem-solving, creativity, resourcefulness, innovation but how often do we get a chance to apply those concepts to our own experience as educators, as people. I know from looking around me, from looking at myself that we often don’t have the time and support to be creative and inquisitive. How can we structure our schools, our lives, our days, our hours, our minutes, any time that we have, so that we can be learners.
My students often ask me for free time in my classes. I generally tell them that any free time in excess of 5 minutes in my classroom must be spent constructively, in an activity that will either better themselves or their larger community. I’m struggling, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, with how to make the most efficient use of my time so that I too am a lifelong learner, not just in my role as computer and math teacher but also that of inquisitive, multi-faceted, intelligent human being.
I’m curious to know what you think. Please post a response to this post.
dpresident
Be First to Comment