May 12, 2020
A Few Very Surprising Learning Spaces
Please, just for a moment, put aside the vision of a room full of books and desks in a school building as being the best or the only place where learning occurs. Now, after you do this, think about other places where some learning could possibly go on. Take, for instance, your own home. For sure there are places right there in your own home that have some really good learning opportunities to offer.
THINK PLACES THAT HAVE LOTS OF ENERGY OR MAYBE SOME SURPRISES ---
- Is there a jumbled stack of “stuff” somewhere, on a table, thrown on a chair or trying to hide in a corner?
- A drawer that has remained unopened for quite a while?
- The top shelf of a closet?
- Maybe a chair that people rarely sit on?
- How about some long-ago-forgotten books just waiting for company.
Are you getting the idea?!
NOW ADD IN AN INTERESTING INVITATION TO LEARN TO EACH OF THESE LOCATIONS -
- Is there a jumbled stack of “stuff” somewhere, on a table, thrown on a chair or trying to hide in a corner? ---
- Put everything in ABC order or sort it all by size.
- Have a timed folding contest (with a really fun prize).
- A drawer that has remained unopened for quite a while? ---
- Identify everything by feel only --- eyes closed, no peeking!
- Create a rhyme related to each object.
- Guess what each item will look like in the future.
- The top shelf of a closet? ---
- Turn every item discovered into a story, with props of course!
- Maybe a chair that people rarely sit on? ---
- Figure out how the chair is made.
- Discuss the people who owned the chair before you did.
- Re-design the chair to be ready for the future.
- How about some long-ago-forgotten books just waiting for company.
- Choose one of the books and read the last few pages out loud. Then everyone guesses what the story was actually about.
- Choose a book and design a new cover for it just based on the current cover.