An Environment of Fun
This weekend I had the opportunity to present my math games website to parents at the annual Peel School Board 'Numeracy and Beyond' conference. It was amazing to see so many parents come out who truly wanted to find ways to help their children succeed.
After talking with the parents, I once again had an opportunity to reflect on my teaching philosophy. I grew up with some fantastic teacher - the kinds that made learning fun and engaging.
I still remember my Grade 7 geography teacher who let me publish my own student newspaper; the science teacher who let us 'solve a crime', which ended with finger print powder ALL OVER his classroom (and us if I remember right); and I think back to my music teacher who helped me through the hardest period in my life by never giving up on me and even letting me take over the junior choir one year when our teacher became ill. It is these teachers that helped me become the person I am today.
But I also remember the teacher who told my mom I learned to read 'wrong' because I was reading books in kindergarten. That my mom reading to me/letting me read each night would cause problems for me later in life. As my 1000+ book collection and over worked Kobo can attest - I still 'kinda' love to read.
My brother, on the other hand, had some of the crappiest teachers out there. He was a quiet student, but one that wanted to play with things to figure it out, not read about it. Every year, he always managed to get the teacher who thrived on worksheets and text books. Rather than run a science experiment, they would watch a video showing other students doing fun things. He ended up hating school, and despite testing as gifted, struggled to find his place in high school and college.
I new that as a teacher, I wanted to created an environment of fun - a place where students were excited to come each day, and talked about each night. An environment that was loud and messy and inviting. An environment that let students figure things out their way.
Some examples of the fun we have in our classroom!
When you walk into my room, the first thing most people think is 'CHAOS'! There are children everywhere, talking, playing, moving. Some are working on clipboards, some are in the hallways writing on our graffiti walls, and other are working with technology. It make look crazy, but every student is on task and can answer 'what are you doing, and what are you learning'.
Some of the fun things we have worked on this year:
1) Our 3 month, cross-curricular Cardboard Arcade challenge! (math, language, science, art, media)
2) Hour (well, really Year) of Code with Code.org, Scratch Jr., The Foos, And Floors (tech, problem solving, links to science and social studies curriculum)
3) Our Literary March Madness Debates (language - persuasive writing, paragraph writing, inferencing)
4) Pioneer Inquiry and hands-on Pioneer Day with snow races, making butter and finger knitting (social studies, oral communication, media, language)
5) Our Imagination Bin! (art, problem solving, creativity)
6) Our Grade 3 musical 'Flakes'! (music, drama, language, art, media, oral communication)
and many, many fun day to day activities that get students up and learning! While it may seem like just fun to them, it is all based on current curriculum expectations.
I can't wait to see what the future brings! All I know is it is going to be fun!
