I enjoy working with students as we navigate the path from unknowing to knowing in multiple, student-centered ways.
Our learning journey includes technology, reading, math, writing, knowledge, research, craft, creation, presentation, exploration, and investigation. We have multiple tools to access, and the learning grows with our collective synergy, discussion, and effort.
Hence, as I look forward in my career and as I focus amidst the multiple paths available, I continue to find myself engaged and empowered by the theme of child-centered learning design.
That focus finds me centered on the following study points:
- composing story, opinion, essay, and informational text with paper/pencil, drama, craft, and digital tools.
- reading and discussion story and information from multiple genres and authors.
- mathematical models, problems, and understanding.
- project base learning related to culture, biology, environmental studies, and geography.
- the study of learning, cognition, learning design, child development.
Fortunately, it seems like the systems that support my work and the work of other teachers are becoming more streamlined and focused on providing us with the tools and support necessary to do our job well in efficient, effective ways. Similarly, as we embrace the notion of learning community rather than school, we are enlisting the support of so many more educators including families, community members, and local educational institutions and organizations.
The state of education today holds great promise, and the more we work to provide every school community with the "conditions of excellence" necessary for optimal learning, the more we will create a strong, flexible, capable populous--the kind of people who will develop a sturdy, peaceful, caring nation and world.
