This week we began a three week unit on persuasive writing with a 5th grade class. Our focus is on creating arguments for or against having tire chips on our playground. Creating opportunities for students to do authentic research is a piece that we needed to focus on, especially with the numerous amounts of vocabulary…
Category: empowerment
The next step…
After my last post on creativity and being open to new ideas, I wanted to stretch my thinking and dive into the creation of a podcast. I didn’t want this to be any old podcast, but one that focuses on student voice, kindergarten to 5th grade. With this in mind, I began to compile resources…
Open…..
We say that we are open to new ideas, but…… that’s a challenging activity for many. I want to put my self into the perspective of a young learner for a bit. A child comes into the world with an incredible perspective, always being willing to explore and find out new information. When the child…
Why are you an artist, Dad?
Why am I an artist? Our daughters posed this question to me earlier this week as I was trying a new way to create. I am always amazed by the way paint works and saw some interesting acrylic pours at our local farmer’s market leading me to try this new method and I asked our…
Innocent Wonder
When you look into the eyes of your students what kind of sparks do you see? Our belief is that we always want to be curious. Curiosity gives us life. Curiosity leads our conversations. Curiosity bridges any age gap. Here’s a conversation I had with my 5 year old daughter: “I want you to know…
A Bridge to Creativity
Ask yourself this question and think about your response……. “What are the interests of your students?” If I were to ask myself this question I could possibly name a few interests of a couple students, but not everyone. That’s unfortunate since I am missing so many chances to engage students through their own interests. The…
Transforming through the 3 W’s
“I Have the Answers to the Questions They Never Ask”sparked a thought in my brain about how many of our students go through the day with new thoughts or questions, and an untapped potential of expertise hiding below the surface. This quote “I Have the Answers to the Questions They Never Ask” came from the book…
Ideas Floating Around
I sit in the twilight of morning wondering what kind of ideas might be heard today. As dark as our world is at times, I know there are ideas floating around in the minds of our students, just waiting to see the sunshine. How will those ideas come to see the light of day when…
Ideas: What are they Worth?
Where do our students’ ideas go as they get older? What stops a 9 year old from expressing an idea compared to a 5 year old? Why do we see smiling and play in a 5 year old, but a 9 year old shows an indifference towards anything creative? Take a look at this…
Caring and Sharing
Why should our students care about their own learning? How can we facilitate learning that is embraced by all students? When will our students begin to look at their learning as their own and not teacher directed? Who directs learning each day? What kind of classroom environment do students need that creates a culture of acceptance…
Thinking Differently
Throughout the day we have opportunities to think differently, to value thought patterns that might not be our own, and ask questions from different viewpoints. The question that I have been wondering about is how often do the adults think differently so that students can think differently? We are in a profession that is helping…
Don’t get ready, get STARTED!
I was listening to the #ditchsummit by Matt Miller this week and focused in on the words of Noah Geisel. I’d never heard him speak before and as I listened it became more obvious to me that we need to make sure our students have opportunities to get started. None of this would’ve happened if…
Curiosity, Exploration, Wonder 