"What we learn with pleasure we never forget."
- Alfred Mercier
Learning should be pleasurable. Our brains are wired to learn and grow, adapt and create. Giving students a curiosity for learning and a desire to discover is what I love to do.
In the classroom I was sometimes called "The teacher who lets us go to recess" and I loved that the kids got to move their little bodies and get the blood and oxygen flowing so they had the capacity to be curious and ask questions.
I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but my favorite students have always been those that ask "why" or are crawling around in the back of the classroom, doing their best to move AND pay attention. These are the students who love lizards and science, who wonder why two words are spelled the same but mean completely different things, or want to get their hands on things to learn how they work. These are the students who change the world with their drive to discover.
As a mom, all of my children are "those" students in different ways. My oldest has the focus of a surgeon. When he sets his mind to something he is going to keep practicing until he gets it. My second born is so tactile. If every lesson could be written in sand or spelled out with slime she would be all for it! My youngest is a creator. Every second of every day he is inventing a game or obstacle or creating Minecraft worlds in real life with his Duplos and also on his game system. Each of them finds joy in learning in different ways and they are all good ways to learn!
It is my joy to help my kids and the students I teach discover the way they learn best and that learning can be a pleasure.
Pictured below is my son with his completed STEM challenge over quarantine last spring.
