Creating Engaging Learning Environments: Reflections on ED 504, Day 1

I've realized that this blog's address looks like "You can call Memsk," which sounds like a reference to some imaginary Eastern European city. You can call Memsk if you want. I don't think anybody will be home.

Anyway, "You can call me Ms. K" is something I've found myself saying quite a lot this past week, as we started our field experience at a local middle school. One of the more brazen seventh-graders I encountered walked up to me, looked at my nametag, and said by way of introduction, "Not gonna lie, I have NO idea how to say your name." That's ok. You can call me Ms. K.

But should they? Am I over-simplifying things? Should I have them sound out my (not outrageously hard-to-pronounce) last name, turn it into a literacy exercise? Or is it more important to establish a personal connection first, and does having a simple moniker facilitate that? This is just one of the things I need to explore as I figure out the kind of teacher I want to be.

I'm already learning so much just by observing my own teachers (who, being teachers of teachers, really know what they're doing). On the first day of ED 504, we had a great conversation that really encouraged active learning. As we discussed an article by Bill Sheskey on the impact of technology in teaching, one of our professors, Jeff, walked around the room asking for input from anyone who had something to share. He seemed completely engaged with what each person was saying, taking notes and making insightful comments that expanded the discussion. As a group, we were able to highlight some of the key points in the article, like the idea that technology in the classroom can create a state of accountability; if students know that their work will be shared digitally with the rest of the class, they are likely to put in more effort. We also discussed the power of technology in turning learning into a sensory experience; the vividness of digital images and video can have a huge impact on the extent to which students engage with a learning activity. Additionally, we explored the concept of "digital natives" and "digital immigrants," which drove home the idea that we, as teachers, have a responsibility to become fluent in the current technology in order to "speak the language" of our students.

As we shifted our discussion to an article on the NYC soda ban, something really interesting happened. While our professors were talking, whispers began to bubble up around the room. As the volume of the voices increased, several students turned to glare pointedly at the source of the disruption. Our professor Kristin, however, realized that this was something more than restlessness. After getting our attention, she said that it seemed like we might benefit from some small-group discussion. "One of the things you'll learn," she said, "is that sometimes when people aren't paying attention, it's not because they're not interested." Sometimes, she pointed out, students are just so engaged with the topic that they feel the need to share their thoughts with those around them. With that in mind, she gave us five minutes to talk in small groups about our thoughts on the soda ban. I was really impressed by her flexibility; where another teacher might have obeyed the impulse to scold her talkative students, Kristin recognized that those students were expressing a desire to learn in their own way.

The first day of 504 was a great exemplification of the kind of classroom discussions I want to have with my own students. I may have a lot to learn about the kind of teacher I want to be, but I'm starting to understand the kind of learning environment I want to create- and maybe that's more important.