Hanging out in our graduate class #ED677 #clequity on Wednesday with @chadsansing about ” I lost the game”made me think more about the need to inject unstructured play into our classes but also the idea of remixing our educational system itself!. In one way, I am so lucky to be a science teacher because a good part of science relies on using open-ended inquiry. Being able to investigate and explore nature to answer questions is the key to making discoveries in science and should be an important part of any science curriculum. When I was observing the Biology classes at some local public schools this fall none of that was taking place. I was a bit surprised how teacher directed and structured everything was. Students were passively filling in worksheets based on copying highlighted text from power point presentation. The teachers in one school told me that they can’t afford the time to do anything else except a lab once a week because the constant need to have the students be able to pass the Keystone Biology test. In other school, no hands on science was taking place at all. Such a lost opportunity! Even so, less than 50 % and even lower of students in many schools across the city have been passing this test. So I say , doesn’t that make you think that the method being used is not working. Instead, why not try to do more student directed methods. Let’s remix, reduce, hack, reinvent, re-work, reconceptualize, and make it better in ways that Involve the students in a more participatory model. Permitting students to get involved in this democratically also could result in more student buy in which could be the ignition point to make progress. And even if the student’s test scores go up, is that really the benchmark that should be held up for showing that we are successful with our students? This question I came up with after reading Missy W.’s blogpost.
Why is it just assumed that the “drill and kill” method is the best way to go. Anyway, after reading Lizzy’s blog, “Beyond Jeopardy: How to Play in Algebra” it made me really appreciate the fact that I teach science because it is not too challenging for me to visualize ways to incorporate play into science class. I still feel comfortable giving students some structure, such as how guided inquiry and project based learning works. Now algebra is a different story. I definitely see how Lizzy’s challenge is much greater. It seems the assessments the students are given really drive her content, leaving her less choices. I will be on the lookout for any ideas that come my way about “how to play in algebra”.
Another area, where student directed play experience is an essential tool for learning is in early childhood education and K-2. I have been developing an awesome unit of motion and balance for my summer program based on children making their own discoveries as they build “Ramps and Pathways”. I wrote about it in my blog post on 1/23/15 “Knowledge Explosion: What’s next.” Amy’s work in her new job sounds very exciting in her “Playing and Learning” post on 2-2-2015 blog post. and perhaps she will be able to try out the Ramps and Pathways play learning experience with her students. Also, my organization, www.youthengineeringandscience.org has all the equipment if she or her colleagues would like me to consult.
Another example of play and the idea of “Thinking out of the box”, re-mixing and reducing came to me after reading the blog post, Hitch and His thoughts, where the OK go videos are mentioned. I have always loved those videos. These guys are masters of thinking creatively about objects in new ways and putting it together with awesome music. The other thing I love is music. Music is like one of my multiple intelligences that can pull me right into any topic. It’s better than any drug for me. Anytime learning can be tied to music I am happy. So doing remixing or new ways to connect learning opportunities with music greatly appeals to me. One year in my conceptual physics class, I had the students design and make their own musical instruments then create a orchestral creation in which they use their made instruments to create a song or remix a song with new words that teach the core concepts about the unit on sound.
Also, I loved this remix music video #GoodGrades by none other than one of our talented classmates. Check it out to see who! Amazing. I also like the comments of people who watched the video. My twofavorites were the students (they may have been Lizzy’g own students) who weighed in who liked the video and DJ Robert Drake, a musician in Chicago, who said: “I love any teacher that can take pop culture and turn it on its ear, all for education! Well done :)”
One our classmates blog, “My First Hack” reminded me of the movie Into the Woods, I saw this December with my extended family. Although I didn’t like the movie that much, I liked parts of it. It was a remash of fairy tales in which the authors re-imagined how characters would interact and stories would unfold, based on these interactions from their December 2014 perspectives.
The other idea that came to me from the play, hack, remix, re-mash, reduce, game theme of this week Is that anytime you do these things creatively you are making deep and meaningful connected learning. Play in all these forms leads to new ideas and real learning. In the engineering education world that I am involved in Tinkering, upcycling, and reverse engineering are all legitimate ways to work and come up with innovations because they get you to make new connections and think about things in new ways. That leads to innovation. If you can start with the students-their ideas, interests and passions, and give them the option of “play” in ways that give them a voice and ownership of their learning, you are making education more equitable.
I will be exploring these ideas further as we go along.