There is an education crisis in America. This crisis has been around long before schools closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re a parent, teacher, school leader, or community member, you may have recognized the problem. We tiptoe around it, argue about it, and do our best to prove that it won’t hold back our children but the reality is that the crisis lies within the classroom. We can see that, in many ways, schools are failing our students therefore we are failing our children. But what do we do about it? How can we fix it? Well, I believe it is time to reimagine the way we teach and forever shift the way students interact and learn in the classroom.
What if we decided to throw away every school model we’ve ever been taught? What if we gutted the entire school? What if we took everything out? I mean everything from the desk to the ceiling tiles. When you strip everything away, you’re left with nothing but space. Now close your eyes. What do you see?
For me, when I open my eyes, I see the children first. I see their smiling faces, bubbling with excitement as they talk with their friends. I see them growing, changing, and becoming adults that have the potential to change the world. I see human beings in need of guidance. School is not just a building, or high tech computers, or even top test scores. A school is a place for our future world changers to gather together and be guided, treasured, respected and taught by people who see them as people.
As I close my eyes and see the future world changers standing in my classroom, I begin to wonder what they would like to see in their school. School isn’t about me, or my principal, or our test scores. School is about the experience we create collectively with our students and families. Take a moment to ask yourself, “What do they want? What’s important to them?”
Over the years, I’ve spent my career trying to figure out what kids want to do in school. What type of experience do they want to have? At the beginning of the school year, I walk into an empty classroom and imagine what I want my class to look and feel like. And then I make a choice. I consciously decide to put my students’ experiences first. After teaching for over a decade, I know I could easily disregard all the data collected from student surveys at the beginning of the year. I could ignore their request to have more fun, talk to their peers more frequently, and earn movie time during recess. I could choose to give the beginning of the year assessment and push forward with state mandated standards and curriculum solely based on what I’ve done in the past. I could stay within my comfort zone, and reuse the same lesson plans every year. I could go through the motions.
The problem with going through the motions is that we rob ourselves and our students of something special. The first time I taught my go-to lesson that allowed students to review content by playing a game, I crafted it specifically for the students I had at the time. I thought about their needs, their desires, and their personalities. It was a lot of work but it turned out to be absolutely worth it. But, when complacency tempts you to repeat the same lessons, remember that each year brings a brand new set of students. Every year, you have the opportunity to create an authentic learning experience that fits your students’ specific needs and wants. Holding on to the newness of each upcoming year is what inspires me to reimagine school as a place where the students’ experiences come first. So, yes, I spend hours thinking about how to make the lesson more engaging. I spend weeks learning the things that make my students tick. I discover their hopes, dreams, family, and, most importantly, I intentionally learn what they love.
When I leave the classroom for the day, my commutes home are filled with what-if scenarios about what can make my lessons more interesting for each student. I have spent countless evenings wondering down the toy aisle at Target to find inspiration. This is what I did and still do. Yes, I’m a seasoned teacher, and yes, I put the experience over the content. I stand by my choice, and I’ll tell you why. In order to reimagine school as an experience for students rather than a series of hoops to jump through, we have to embrace the fact that the way students interact with content has to change.
It’s that simple. Your students, yes, even the ones that work your last nerve, the stubborn ones, the energetic ones, the quiet ones, and the ones you wish you could adopt as your own, are children who deserve an unforgettable experience at school. They experience the world differently than adults, and we need to celebrate that. As educators, I’m challenging us all to stop trying to force adult expectations on our students and to simply let children be children. Let’s encourage their curiosity, playfulness, and fun. Let’s welcome the mess, bring on the noise, and allow our imagination to guide our teaching.
When you think about what school could be for yourself and your students, what comes to mind? What are you committing to do differently? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
