Why: The Purpose:
I want to create a learning environment that nurtures a child’s passion for learning through exploration and creation
How: The Process:
To do this, I aim to provide students with a safe space to explore and learn from their mistakes, allowing them to see failures as opportunities and steps toward progress.
What: The Result:
Through the STEAM Club, students will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge they're acquiring in the classroom to hands-on scenarios, further demonstrating the practical use of their classroom learning.
"Don't waste your time." "He is too low." "He's just not going to get this." "COVID did that baby wrong." These are statements that I have heard on repeat since returning to face-to-face learning. These are the statements that break my heart every time. Not only for the child that this is being said about but also for the teacher that has lost their purpose, lost their "Why." Since COVID, we have seen a dramatic drop in students' test scores and teacher longevity. Students are bored, and teachers are overwhelmed. We have to come up with something to ignite our students' passion for learning and do it in a way that doesn't add to the stress of the teacher.
In his video, 'The Heart of Change,' John Kotter reminds us of the timeless saying: 'We have to win over hearts and minds.' In everything we do, we cannot solely focus on the mind; we must also address the heart. He also emphasizes in another video, 'Leading Change: Establish a Sense of Urgency,' that we often fall into the trap of concentrating solely on the mind. I believe we, as educators, tend to do this quite easily because we often assume that everyone's 'why' is the same. We teach to help students, but why do we want to help students? We want to help them reach their full potential. That is part of our 'why.' I want my daughter to have a learning environment where she can explore and learn that it's okay to make mistakes. She is my 'why.'
It is because of her that I aspire to create a learning environment nurturing a child’s passion for learning through exploration and creation. I aim to provide students with a secure space to explore and learn from their mistakes, helping them understand that failures contribute to our growth. (Dweck, 2006) Through the STEAM club, my intention is to offer students the chance to apply the knowledge they're gaining in the classroom to hands-on scenarios.
I want to simplify concepts for students who require a hands-on approach, which classroom teachers may not always have time for while juggling the needs of twenty other students. This relieves teachers of additional workload. As educators, we're building classrooms for our children and grandchildren. So, why wouldn't we provide them with an environment that enables them to learn to their fullest potential?
References
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the new psychology of success. Random House.
Kotter, J. (2011, March 23). The heart of change [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1NKti9MyAAw
Kotter, J. (2013, August 15). Leading change: Establish a sense of urgency [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/2Yfrj2Y9IlI
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