Essential Question 4

Essential Question 4: What does the way you play have to do with embracing change and how does this impact you as a professional?

"In a world of near-constant flux, play becomes the strategy for embracing change, rather than a way for growing out of it." (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 48).

As I reflect on my teaching, the moments I felt I had prepared the best lessons happen to be the moments that I prepared the least.  Not to say that I didn't do my research or really think about the objectives I was trying to teach, but I was willing to give my students the tools to complete a lab without knowing whether or not it would work.  Instead, I worked side-by-side with them to find out what was going to happen.  We tinkered together and learned together. 

Unfortunately, more often I find myself expecting my students to give me a specific answer or outcome and I don't take time to include the element of play.  There are many times that my students ask if they can deviate from the lab procedure and try things.  While there are times that this would be unsafe, most of the time I really should be giving them the opportunity to explore.

If I am really honest about why I prefer to stick to facts and labs that I already know the outcomes, it would be because I am afraid to lead my students into the unknown.  As a teacher, I often feel like I should have all of the answers.  I am also taking EDET677 this summer and in that course we are building and coding Arduino's to do all sorts of fun things.  Being able to play and tinker has opened my eyes to a new way of learning and ultimately a new way of teaching. 

In A New Culture of Learning, Brown and Thomas (2011) describe the modern workplace as moribund.  They explain that the need for innovation is recognized, but the key elements of imagination and play are missing.  While I think this is true in most workplaces I kept thinking about innovative companies and their implementation of 20 percent time.  20 percent time was created by Google Founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in 2004. It's designed to give employees one full day per week (20 percent of their time) to work on a Google-related passion project of their own choosing or creation. It has since become a movement in education to "give students an opportunity to look at the big wide world around them and explore their own unique interests in a loosely structured, but supported, way." (Mulvahill, 2018). 

This past year I did try out 20 percent time in a couple of my classes and I loved the outcome.  Not all of my students really got into it, but the ones who did created very impressive products.  It was difficult at first for most my students to understand that I was asking them to create something, anything that they wanted, to share with the class over the course of a semester.  It truly pushed them out of their comfort zones.  Many of them stuck with a slideshow because they do them so frequently.  Next year I would like to require that they produce something physical to go along with the information they share.  Slowly but surely I will get them playing! 

"Giving students occasions to learn through play not only fosters creative thinking, problem solving, independence, and perseverance, but also addresses teenagers’ developmental needs for greater independence and ownership in their learning, opportunities for physical activity and creative expression, and the ability to demonstrate competence." (Conklin, 2015). 

It is important that I set aside time for my students and myself to play, explore, and develop.  Through this exploration of the unknown we can embrace the change of this fast paced world.

Resources:
Brown, J. S., & Thomas, D. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.

Conklin, H. G. (2015, March 03). Playtime Isn't Just for Preschoolers-Teenagers Need It, Too. Retrieved from https://time.com/3726098/learning-through-play-teenagers-education/

Mulvahill, E. (2018, May 22). What Is Genius Hour And How Can I Try It in My Classroom? Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/what-is-genius-hour/

Comments

  1. Dr. FJune 26, 2019 at 5:03 PM

    Interesting. Nice post. Don't give up, thy it again this year.

    ReplyDelete

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