Significant Learning Environments

Growing up and transitioning into adulthood, I was unsure what I wanted to do or "be" for the rest of my life. I was lost, confused, not sure. After some thinking, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I loved learning and school, so it seemed perfect!

In order to ensure this is what I wanted to do, I set out and became a substitute teacher. One day while subbing in a 3rd grade classroom, I knew teaching was what I was meant to do. While teaching a student one-on-one who was struggling with learning about multiples,

I saw the "lightbulb" go off. He was so excited, that he ran to teach his peers the way that I had taught him. After talking to him about why he thought he was struggling with this concept, he said, "I'm not sure, you just helped me see it in a different way than my teacher was making us do it. Your way makes sense in my head."

It wasn't that this student was incapable of learning a difficult concept, he just needed to be shown multiple ways to represent a problem. He needed his prior knowledge to be activated in order to make an authentic connection with a new concept. It is my goal as an educator to inspire students to fall in love with learning, in a space that is safe for questioning, inquiry, and research. According to Dr. Douglas Thomas, “teachers are defying the space to make real learning happen.” In order to do that, I need to Creating a Significant Learning Environment (CSLE) for them all while using a COVA approach to teaching/learning.

Students are not a vessel, waiting to be filled with knowledge. They come with prior experiences, knowledge, and thoughts that increases their schema.

"When you teach a child something you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself."

- Jean Piaget

References:

T. (2012). A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U&list=PLDjE4D9cdpa3LIt88QG6XBtXdXgjR4Ch8&index=99&t=0s