As I am sure I will soon find out, not every child is excited for the first day of school. In Kayla Delzer’s TED Talk, “Reimagining Classrooms: Teachers as Learners and Students as Leaders,” a new student of hers was not happy to be there. Saying he was not happy is an understatement, he actually said, “I hate school. I hate teachers. I don’t want to be here.” To me, he really was not happy. I didn’t dread school until later in my education career, like high school, so hearing him so upset at such an early age was surprising to me. Most classrooms, despite the district and income, are the same. Chairs and tables or desks lined up in even rows, white board in the from tot the room, some posters scattered throughout the walls, and the teachers desk in from of everyone.
Over 70 years of no change, I’m happy to say things are finally coming around. When my math class and I ventured to West Michigan Academy of Arts Elementary School, there were no chairs. In place of chairs were aerobic balls I see in the gym. As I go over to sit with them I start bouncing and wiggling, they sit down. They don’t bounce, wiggle, or play with their seat. I was more childish than them! In theory, sitting on a bouncy ball would be very distracting. But in an actual classroom, they were so use to it that they didn’t even acknowledge the lack of typical seating. Not only is this better for their health, but it changes the classroom atmosphere.
Kayla Delzer showed a picture of her classroom during her TED Talk. It has a large rainbow mat on the ground and circular tables with colored crates as seats. The walls are filled with color, posters, and art. Not only is her classroom out of the ordinary, but her teaching methods are as well. She believes in using three methods in order to improve the classroom:
1.) Release the power
2.) Embrace purposeful technology
3.) Reinvent schools today
By releasing the power, Delzer means giving the power to students rather than the teacher dominating over them. The classroom should be student centered where they have say, even if it’s just for an hour a week, to have some control to study what they’re passionate about. Teachers shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes in the front of their students, like learning a new app. Delzer would assign her students an app on their iPhone or iPad and learn it, then they would teach it to the class and herself. This gives confidence to the student who learned it and benefits the teacher and her classroom.
In order to embrace the purposeful technology, it’s knowing when to put it away. “If doing multiplication problems on a worksheet is boring, putting it on a tablet doesn’t make it anymore exciting,” Delzer says. It’s more beneficial for a students to be using paper and pencil to do a project rather than doing it on the computer. On the other hand, it is beneficial to use technology when it’s handy. If students have smartphones, they should be able to keep it with them in order to look up words, research, whatever they need. Delzer uses this one app so the students can record themselves reading books. When another student wants to read that book, they can scan a code and hear the student’s voice reading it to them as they read along. She said this improved their reading fluency scores and gave them pride.
Others apps exist that help further students education. She mentions one app that records virtual tours of the stratosphere, museums, and city parks, etc. Since 90% of jobs are either found or applied for online, it only makes sense to perfect the students skills from an early age, like a second language. Even Twitter is a good app, with caution, that students could use with their teachers. Delzer has a classroom Twitter, she uses it to communicate with other classrooms around the world. It helps the students see and understand how other cultures operate in similar circumstances and helps develop their social skills.
It’s easy to follow the same path of the 70 years before us, repeating the same structure, lessons, and methods. By reinventing schools today, it breaks boundaries and changes the way classrooms are run on the every day basis. Teachers can assess students not only on their grades, but on their creativity levels, their social skills, their determination, and critical thinking. By expanding this assessment, it gives students more real-life skills to perfect. Everything Delzer spoke about in her TED Talk were things I want to bring into my own classroom. I want to change how the setup of classrooms are. I want my students to cry because they don’t want to leave school for the summer, like how Delzer’s day. The same student who proclaimed his hatred for school and teachers, was crying and holding on to her leg because he didn’t want to leave. That is what I strive for.
Ms. Lindsey Freitag from the Lansing Public School district was gracious enough to let me sit in her 4th grade class this morning. Lindsey is about 24 years old and on her second year of teaching independently. It was very refreshing watching a young teacher that wasn’t overly kind, overly enthusiastic, and wearing bright clothing. Ms. Freitag was how I envision myself as a teacher, calm and firm while still being kind and funny with her students. On her desk was a drawing from one of her students, it was a quote from Kermit the Frog that said, “Just because you haven’t found your talent yet, doesn’t mean you don’t have one.” Love it.
kierafilbin 