Once upon a time there was a classroom.
You can fill in the details -
the age,
the way the students looked,
the desk arrangement.
Although the details make the story more interesting, they really aren't central to this story.
Because in the front of the classroom there was a teacher,
a dedicated teacher,
an involved teacher,
a teacher who believed that the future sat in this classroom.
This teacher worked hard,
embraced change,
believed in the students and the work and the future.
This teacher was doing all they could do at that very moment.
But it still wasn't enough.
Glassy eyed students stared back
or laid their heads on their desks
or sneakily eased their phones from their pockets
or nodded their heads as their minds left the dingy room.
Imagine what that feels like - knowing that all you are doing is not really preparing students for the future. Because, after all, how do we know what the future is?
The truth is that everyone knows exactly how that feels.
Because we all walk forward day to day in a world where we don't know exactly what will happen.
So, maybe I've been watching too many Marvel Comic episodes on Netflix.
And maybe I've been lying awake at night imagining the world that might be.
But the reality, my friend, is that we are preparing our students to inherit a reality that we can't actually see. We can't say with certainty what will happen next.
To prepare for a world that is changing means changing the way that we prepare.
And that doesn't happen in rows with a textbook sitting on the desk while we ignore the incredible computer that resides in our collective pockets.
To truly prepare our students we have to stop pumping them full of facts
and start pumping them full of processes
and theories
and maybes
and connections
and possibilities
and and and....
Because facts are easy to test and only limited use to problem solve - to repurpose - to think differently.
For our future to be different
we need to empower the next generation not bore them into compliance
we need to open the door to possibilities not slam it shut with a single answer
we need to create collaborations of individuals not competitions between individuals
we need to celebrate the originality of each rather than strive for the conformity of all
we need to...
Yes - I could go on.
And truthfully if you are still reading this you are probably nodding your head.
Because you have heard it before, thought it before, hoped for it before.
And this is too often where the post or the keynote or the movie stops...with what we need.
Instead, I am here to offer an idea...a process...a solution
Blended and Personalized learning
I have had the privilege to walk with educators across Southeast Iowa as their classrooms change.
As they work to create learner centered classrooms
with their students not
for their students
As they take all the best of their own learning and invite students to the same table
As they experience teaching and learning in a completely different way
this is not easy work
this is not easy work
this in not easy work
because the teachers must become learners and learners must become teachers
because both teachers and learners must revise the way the system works
because both teachers and learners must revamp the expectations of the roles
because fluidity is the new norm
Once upon a time there was a classroom and you need to stay tuned to hear the rest of the story!
