Ingredients...

There are many things needed in order to make a classroom an active learning environment. And like the teachers they hold, each classroom may vary from small details, to major themes. The teacher brings with him or her what they hold important into the classroom and obviously they don’t want a classroom where their students won’t learn. My own “ingredients” for an active classroom vary from others because of my own upbringing and experiences. I bring parts of what worked for me while I was a child and also parts of what I have learned and am learning within my own education.

First and foremost I want to state that it is important to have a clear set of guidelines and expectations within the classroom. By these guidelines I do not mean “sit and be quiet”, but expectations necessary for everyone to learn. I believe that it is important to begin the year with help from the children to create a list of classroom expectations. This way they know what I expect from them and what they expect from each other. Likewise I want to encourage the children to tell me what their expectations are of me for the year (realistically this may need to wait for a couple of weeks before they know me well enough to feel comfortable doing so, but this is the goal). But I feel that having clearly set expectations let both parties know what is acceptable and what is not within the classroom.

Tried closely to this idea of expectations, is the idea of creating a tolerant environment. To have the children know that they will be safe within the class and that they can voice their ideas, concerns, and views without ridicule, is an important ingredient to help them grow as thinkers.

As for an ingredient that is more in my hands as the teacher, I want to create an environment that encourages curiosity. If a student is hearing about something in class or at home that they find interesting, I want to have the flexibility within my classroom to embrace this interest and bring it into the lesson. A lot of this has to do with how strict the school is with their guidelines and standards, but it is important for a child to take their learning outside of the classroom and have that passion to investigate their world. I believe that this is a dual action style of learning. If I have children bringing interests to me from their world and I address them within the classroom, then the classroom may elicit a curiosity that the child then takes home and decides to learn more about on his or her own time.

Another important ingredient in an active classroom is to have a variety of materials, ways, and styles of teaching lessons. Even before taking this class I have read and learned a lot about the different types of intelligences. I agree with these theories and feel like even without the formal knowledge of them, it is a fairly intuitive idea. I know that the way I work best and learn best is different from the person next to me. It needs to be encouraged within the classroom. To have a variety of materials present for children to learn with, and for the teacher to have the ability to teach a lesson in different ways, allows children to find which way works best for them and allows them to become a more active participant in their learning.

Finally, I believe that an active classroom needs to have a base within the community. I want my classroom to encompass the whole school, the neighborhood, and the greater community. I do not want my students to leave the community five days a week and come into a closed box that is so far removed from their own lives and community that it feels like two different worlds. Having connections to bigger things than the classroom will instill a sense of being a part of something greater, and that sense is important to each of us at any age.

So from reading through this response you will see that I believe children need to have well established expectations so that they feel safe to grow as thinkers. That I believe teachers should encourage students to become active members of the community and know that it is great to expand their knowledge of the world through individual curiosity. And that I believe schools should support teachers in their efforts to integrate the outside world into the classroom.