Critical Questions for an Innovative Educator

One of the important pieces to education, for any teacher, is reflection. Reflection is necessary to understand the good and the bad for any lesson, and I find myself constantly thinking about my past and future lessons. In the car, after school, during my planning period, or waking up out of a dead sleep at 4 AM (which really sucks btw).  The critical questions listed in Chapter 2 of, Innovator’s Mindset, offers clarity for my reflections. These questions are worded in a way for ways I have often thought, but didn’t know how to put into words of my own. These questions are listed below:

Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom?

This question has crossed my mind several times as a reminder to put myself at a desk with my other students. I have such a love for history, that I want others to love it as much as I do. Everything I do, I think to myself, “Would I want to do that if I were a learner in Room 303?”

Last year, I would not have wanted to learn history in my room. It was a weird year, lots of different events taking place, and I lost focus. The tennis player in me doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice. This year I have been committed to changing, taking risks, and becoming more innovative. I have incorporated lego’s, Oreos, mystery bags, blogs, and it’s great when a students come into my room and ask me, “What craziness are we getting into today?” I love that they are excited about history and it drives me to be more and more innovative.

What is best for this student?

Every students learns differently. Compliance and every student doing the same worksheet or project is a thing of the past. It’s downright boring.(Plus, it’s awful grading the same thing over and over and over again). Every students is creative in their own way, and it’s up to us to help them unleash their creativity and knowledge. I have students showing me what they know through great tools such as Flipgrid, blogs, legos, creating art from Oreos. I recently discovered that Google Docs has a voice recorder, and this feature has helped so many students of mine who can articulate their thoughts better through speaking. An innovative educator will be open to students sharing their voice and knowledge multiple ways.

What is this student’s passion?

Understanding my students’ passions is an area I need to improve. I read a great idea from the book, Lead Like a PIRATE, of including a passion wall in your classroom. It’s a simple idea where students can share their interests with one another through images or simply writing. I have a great classroom with metal walls that I can write on with wet erase markers – this would be perfect to use for a passion wall!

I see the power of passion through Sustained Silent Reading. Every day during 5th period, my school has built in 10 minutes of SSR time. At the beginning of the year, I assumed I would have disciplinary issues during this time. BOY was I wrong! My students have used this time to their advantage and are into their books because THEY HAVE CHOSEN BOOKS THEY ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT! Now, I need to figure out how to put this into my teaching more often.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What are some ways we can create a true learning community?

This is a panoramic shot of Room 303. I remember at the beginning of the year, a former student walked into my room and said, “WHOA! What happened to the rows? You have new rules. Everything is different….I like it.” This year I wanted to set up a community of learners. I moved the desks into groupings, I changed to my rules to show words like “we” and “us.” My wall now has a mission statement and a vision (not seen in the picture), but it states, “Work collaboratively, think critically, think creatively, and think historically.” The students know this what drives my class, and what I want them to do when they move on to bigger and better things. The learning curve for me, and the students, is steep, but we are starting to figure it out.

From day 1, I have been encouraging my students to work together, share ideas, and help one another out. If a student asks me a question, I will reply with, “Did you ask anyone in your group first?” Then we go from there. It has taken a while, but every now and then I stop and just watch, and it’s awesome when I see students showing each other how to use Google Sites, Google Slides, sharing deas, discussing history. This is what I wanted to create in Room 303, but I know there is more room for improvement.

How did this work for our students?

I’ll admit it, in the past I have avoided getting feedback from students because I was afraid of the criticism. I placed myself on a pedestal and wasn’t open to hearing criticism. Not this year. I hopped off of my pedestal and push it aside. I changed my mindset, it’s not about me, it’s all about them! This is their education. A way for students to become empowered and own their learning is through feedback. 

Several time this year, I have stopped and asked my students, “What going well? What’s not going well? What should I do more or less often?” At first I could tell they were afraid to say tongs, but after a couple of times they realized I wasn’t going to hold a grudge if they said something wasn’t working. One area I could improve in is allowing shy/quiet students an opportunity to share their voice. Maybe I can include a comment box or encourage using private comments through Google Classroom. 

Why are these questions important?

The questions listed above can help teachers shift from compliance and traditional education to innovative education. I have never understood how students can all work on the same worksheet or project and we expect all of them to be finished at the exact same time. We need to be more open to allowing students to be creative. We need to be more open to risk taking. We need to be open to the fact that education is messy, and it should be. Finally, we need to step down from our pedestal and be open to criticism because every student is entitled to a great education!