Continued from my post last week about education reform, I have a story to share.
In one of my kids dance classes (ages 3-5), I had some trouble enforcing our classroom rules. I decided to try instilling some creativity and ownership in my students. We formed a circle and I opened up the floor for us to create our own classroom rules. The kids raised their hands eagerly and started contributing rules: no running, no yelling, no hopping, no crawling, and raise your hand to talk. Their ideas were great, with one change - instead of 'No' this or that - which further constraints and doesn't allow open-mindedness, we focused less on action and more on conduct. One of them suggested having time outs if we break the rules, however I suggested: "How about we have to try harder if we mess up?". Therefore, instead of being punished, they are now motivated!
The rules we agreed on as a group were:
The results were amazing. It was one of the best classes I had with this group of students. Of course they ran and talked before raising their hand, because they are children after all! But when I reminded them of the classroom rules that they created, the rate of change was so much faster. Ownership of the rules made them more aware and less afraid. When they messed up, I could see them trying harder with a smile instead of shamefully taking their time out. It was an awesome class experience in which we all created, innovated, made mistakes, and kept trying!
Sometimes my students teach me as much as I can teach them. As teachers we must keep educating ourselves and applying new methods to do better. A child you are teaching could be the next Bill Gates or Thomas Edison or Mozart. Who knows how many Bill Gates there could have been had we inspired creativity in our children instead of leading by fear? As Ghandi said, we must be the change we wish to see in the world - so let's start by how we teach! Even as a friend, parent, sister, or brother, we all can teach with our words! Let's do better!
In one of my kids dance classes (ages 3-5), I had some trouble enforcing our classroom rules. I decided to try instilling some creativity and ownership in my students. We formed a circle and I opened up the floor for us to create our own classroom rules. The kids raised their hands eagerly and started contributing rules: no running, no yelling, no hopping, no crawling, and raise your hand to talk. Their ideas were great, with one change - instead of 'No' this or that - which further constraints and doesn't allow open-mindedness, we focused less on action and more on conduct. One of them suggested having time outs if we break the rules, however I suggested: "How about we have to try harder if we mess up?". Therefore, instead of being punished, they are now motivated!
The rules we agreed on as a group were:
- Walk carefully on our feet
- Speak respectfully and nicely
- Raise your hand when you feel like talking
The results were amazing. It was one of the best classes I had with this group of students. Of course they ran and talked before raising their hand, because they are children after all! But when I reminded them of the classroom rules that they created, the rate of change was so much faster. Ownership of the rules made them more aware and less afraid. When they messed up, I could see them trying harder with a smile instead of shamefully taking their time out. It was an awesome class experience in which we all created, innovated, made mistakes, and kept trying!
Sometimes my students teach me as much as I can teach them. As teachers we must keep educating ourselves and applying new methods to do better. A child you are teaching could be the next Bill Gates or Thomas Edison or Mozart. Who knows how many Bill Gates there could have been had we inspired creativity in our children instead of leading by fear? As Ghandi said, we must be the change we wish to see in the world - so let's start by how we teach! Even as a friend, parent, sister, or brother, we all can teach with our words! Let's do better!
