Honor the path they are on......... #TLAP
#TLAP chat tonight was amazing. Topic was "What is smart?" As art teachers we all know that there is more than one kind of smart. It takes a lot of "smarts" to design/create and those smarts certainly don't all look the same. It's crazy that so many of our teaching "traditions" are the same as they have been for a hundred years. Was there ever a time when one method worked for all learners?
All the questions from the chat really were great, hats off to LaVonna Roth (@LaVonnaRoth) and Shelley Burgess (@burgess_shelley) for hosting a truly engaging chat.
Question five was the one that really set me on fire,
"Q5: What specifcially must change in education for for us to honor the gift that every student brings?"
I didn't hold back and said it the way I see it........
A5: We must stop killing creativity at an early age by taking away time for play/curiosity and giving endless assesments starting in K. #tlap
Yup that's what I think I'm sticking to it. Apparently I'm not alone in this sentiment.
"Q6: In a world of standized testing, what steps must we take to value every child so they leave our schools confident and skilled to go where they want to go?"
A6: to value every child we need to allow for indviduality & choice, we don't all learn the same way nor would we want to CHOICES/EXPLORE #tlap (answer part 1)
A6: Let's look at growth & mastery rather than grades PORTFOLIOS show GROWTH, this honors the path of the indvidual #tlap (answer part 2)
This is where I could go on and on because I start to get frustrated with the system, but there's a siliver lining. In fact it's a very bright lining, as a parent & educator I get it and because I get it I'm going to whatever I can to help my community and collegues get it. It's time to bring more creativity to education and honor the indvidual paths of our students.
