Assignment 3

Statement of my early years practice

My early years practice is one of building strong relationships with students, developing a love for learning, including play, inquiry and wonder in the classroom

I have always strived to inspire creativity and play within each student

I want students to be engaged and develop a love of learning

Inquiry

Why Inquiry?

• learn through discovery
• project-based learning
• student-driven learning
• this all leads to engagement

According to Jacobsen "engaged teaching and great task design, accompanied by strong assessment practices, result in engaged learning" (2013)

Couros (2015) states "Having the freedom to fail is important to innovation. But even more important to the process are the traits of resiliency and grit" (p.37)

Play

Play was important to me as a child, as a student and now as an educational leader

Brown (1990) found that "imagination is perhaps the most powerful human ability" (p.86)

According to Jacobsen "It is through participatory and playful approaches to learning that deep understanding can emerge" (2013)

Creativity

In the past, I have been trying to find the balance of delivering the curriculum but also inviting creativity wherever and whenever possible

Spencer and Juliani wrote their book Empower for teachers who refuse to teach the way they were taught because that's the way it's always been done

Leggett speaks about Reggio Emilia values in her article which says we should recognize how children can contribute in creative ways

"Creativity now, is as important in education as literacy" (3:15)

"Our job is not to prepare students for something; it's to prepare students for anything"
John Spencer

Dr.Clinton was one of the most impactful parts of this course for me

Dr.Clinton speaks about growth mindset and how teaching students to develop a growth mindset can have a large impact on their resilience

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Changes I Will Make to my Teaching Practice

• Think about the student perspective more - what would I want to do if I was a student and is it engaging?
• Build a deeper understanding of inquiry-based learning
• See Dr.Clinton speak
• Redesign my learning environment to better showcase student learning processes

More changes:

• Use Twitter more frequently and access my Weebly site more often
• Stop being afraid of what others think - speak up in staff meetings, share my knowledge with colleagues and be proud of what I've done!
• Stay positive - change takes time

Challenges of applying this new learning:

• Will it be supported by our school administration?
• Not all colleagues support concepts of play, inquiry and creativity
• There are still standardized tests and those results matter in the CBE
• Some parents do not support this style of teaching and learning

This final project has me questioning - why aren't the aspects of play and creativity important to all educators of all grades and ages?

The research shows that play is crucial to all ages of children and adults yet as students become older, the amount of play in classrooms is often minimal

My Future Goals

I want to create passionate, lifelong learners who can take on the world

I often think about the video that Dr.Keith shared with Oprah speaking about the impact her 4th grade teacher because she was made to feel like she mattered

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Thank you Dr.Keith!

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