Welcome to our weLearn PLC book group!!
We are looking forward to reading and growing together. Although this is a no pressure group, we do hope that you will participate in all three discussion sessions, and share some thoughts here on this blog. This is a safe place to share your thoughts and experiences as we take risks and try new things through our weLearn initiative.
Some of the things in this book you might be able to try tomorrow, and some may seem like an impossibility. Either way, the author will get us thinking about our students and how we teach in a different way. We might even look at ourselves in a different way. In what way is each of us an innovator? How can we train our students to ask questions, explore new possibilities, and solve problems?
I'm in.
ReplyDeleteI will join :)
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the problem is not learning how becoming innovative, rather it is the process of recalling HOW to be innovative, a skill we learned in childhood.
ReplyDeleteInnovation is like riding a bicycle, when you know how to ride, you never forget. Unfortunately, many people have experienced an "accident" that may have caused a "fear" of riding that bike. The same holds true with innovation. A failure or perceived failure often results in the individual retreating from innovation and hiding within that which is "easy" or "comfortable".
In education, I believe that fear of being innovative due to a prior "failure" or fear of failure stifles our innate creativity. The best way to foster innovative educators is through collaboration and support. I think that we are not necessarily learning to innovate, rather we are resurrecting our innovative skills.
Are we trying to create innovation? Innovation is intrinsic and in our souls. When we are three years old and play with the box and not the toy or when we are seven building a fort in our backyard. Innovation is not really something that you can create in a student. Innovation starts at square one when the student is driven from inside to seek knowledge and inquire of the world around them. Innovation comes from lack of opportunity and the drive to desire more. When creativity is given to us, we lose the motivation. Creativity and innovation happen when the student owns the project and the consequences of failure.
ReplyDeleteI like the point that was made in the book about finding your passion. When we are most passionate about something, we are more focused on our goal. The book suggests to survey them in the beginning of the year by asking them "When you feel most creative what are you doing? Where are you? What about the student who's passion is Mario Cart 8?
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