Authentically Learning. Learning Authentically. I have literally gone back and forth trying to decide the best title for this post. I finally realize the answer is obvious. It has to be authentic before we can really learn. The things in life that are relevant to us, connected in some ways to the things we hold near and dear, the things with impact that move us, change us, force growth, those are the things that are naturally engaging, natural draws for our focus and attention. These are the things we remember forever.
I, for the life of me, cannot remember dates. Don’t ask me when WWI occurred. Don’t ask me who was president during that time. Historical figures, wars, political engagements and their significance, it’s in and right back out of my brain. Even though I’ve taken classes. Even though I read and listen and pay attention to the news and the world in general, these topics are just lost on me. I can and have memorized some of this information for academic purposes. But I never learned it. Never in the sense that it changed who I am, impacted my future, or was applicable to my daily life in a meaningful way. It would be safer to say I know of the Bay of Pigs Invasion than I learned it. It didn’t stick.
But as an educator, I want more than just learning of or about something for my students. I want to go much deeper than rote memorization. I want my students to engage in academic pursuits that are life-changing. I want them to learn and know, feel, move, act, speak, write, create… I want the classroom to prompt movement or growth in their lives.
Ambitious for a fourth grade teacher, you might say, but no. I think it’s what every educator should be striving for. But even as I write that, I think back on my days in my high school history classes. I hated history class. Loathed might be more accurate. And even now, I’m hard pressed to see how knowing about that Bay of Pigs Invasion did my life any good. But what if my teacher had been able to help me connect historical events such as that to my life in a more meaningful way? What if she had been able to recognize that the Bay of Pigs on its own didn’t carry any meaning for me? What if she had been able to provide explorations into historical events that allowed me to pursue the knowledge from a different angle? What if I had been encouraged to look at the human impact from a non-political vantage point? Might I have not only retained the information longer, but also connected the event to my own life in a way that stimulated personal growth? Or maybe helped me to understand that it wasn’t really about the Bay of Pigs at all, but it was about the process of exploring such events, the weighing of viewpoints, the research, the human implications – maybe if I had seen the process of learning as being important, rather than the specific topic, maybe it would be a fonder and clearer memory.
So this is my pursuit. To find ways – big and small – to make my teaching, my classroom, my school more authentic for students. I want learning to be relevant, connected and impactful. I want the experience of learning within the walls of my classroom to transcend the room, transcend the building, transcend fourth grade. I want to develop in these ten-year old kids a lifelong desire for knowledge. About whatever their individual passions are. I want them to enjoy the process of learning, of changing, of growing. And in so doing, I already see the ways it makes teaching more authentic for me. When I bring relevance, when I can connect learning and events and texts and people, the impact and engagement comes naturally for my students and for myself.
Even as I write this, I feel pressure. I hear the buzz words begin to swirl and overwhelm me. Project-based learning, portfolios, simulation based learning… sigh. There’s seminars, webinars, books, programs, blogs… But I’m reminded. Relevant. Connected. Impactful. I am a fourth grade teacher in Southwest Michigan. I don’t have to dive into the deep end; I don’t have to take on a massive overhaul of my district’s curriculum choices; I can make small changes to what I already do. The last thing I need as a teacher is more pressure. What I need is joy. So I need to make the process relevant, connected and impactful for me as well. If I make a tweak here, a change there, a minor adjustment to this or an alteration to that, if I take even the smallest of steps, I am still moving forward. If I am to create learning environments that are authentic, I have to be authentic myself. Small steps are what I can do. After all, authentic learning is a process, not a destination. For all of us.
Relevant. Connected. Impactful.
This is my journey. Join me.
Teaching at 3am 