Put simply, I believe that children should be able to be in a creative
environment in which they feel special, loved, encouraged, and comfortable.
But what about the learning? I believe that if they have these attributes
in their environment, then they will want to learn to their highest potential.
There are a couple of things about the direction that our educational system
is headed that worry me. First, there is such an emphasis on constant
diligence to read more, faster, and better, because it is believed that
only through this will students be able to have higher testing scores.
And, because the students must have the higher test scores, there doesn’t
seem to be as much fun creative learning going on. Instead, it seems
to be more ROTE based. This is not an environment that is conducive
to learning that the students will remember. Reflecting back to my
high school classes, the only things that I remotely remembered involved
hands on activities and projects.
However, regardless of how creative the classroom work is, if the student
doesn’t feel special, loved, encouraged, and comfortable, I don’t think
they will want to learn. Kids are real people with real emotions.
If they feel that they are unworthy or unappreciated, why would they want
to take that extra effort to please you? Some kids will need more
praise, and other less. The teacher needs to be alert and aware of
the differences in each student. I think that is one of the most
challenging roles of being a teacher. For some students, a hug or
a pat on the shoulder is what they need to feel special and encouraged.
Others might only want a smile. Then there is the problem of discipline.
There has got to be discipline to keep the class in order, but its got
to be discipline in such a way that the students know that it is for their
own benefit. Hopefully, done correctly, discipline will not make
the students feel uncomfortable. This is one of the things that I
personally am concerned about. I hope that I have the patience with
the students I know I will need on some days.
So, this being said, where does that leave me? What can I do
to ensure these feelings in my class? One of the things that I hope
and pray for is that my class is filled with smiles and laughter.
I think that just sets the tone for a comfortable enjoyable class.
Hopefully, if the students are having fun, they won’t mind the fact that
they are learning something too! I also want my class to be able
to talk with each other on a fairly regular basis. This way, they will
also become better friends with the people in their class. If it
is an easy going atmosphere, hopefully they will feel comfortable also
talking to me if they need to, or just to chat. If this happens,
then not only can I really get to know my students as people and also have
the ability to work lessons around their personalities, but hopefully,
in addition, I will be able to be a mentor to them. Along similar lines
of enjoyment, creative lesson plans are a must. I’m a little nervous
about this because I’m not the most creative person out there. But,
thanks to the internet and my wonderful creative friends in C&I 302,
I am feeling more confident that I will be able to come up with lesson
plans that mean something to them. However, I’m not quite sure what
to do about those days when there just isn’t much that can be made fun
out of the lesson for the day. I’m going to bank on the laughter
that will be in contagious in my room! So, I’m sure this is just
the tip of the iceberg of my beliefs and when I really start teaching,
there will be a much more for me to comment on.
