Am I an Innovative Educator

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As I consider the information from Are You An Innovative Educator? By Lisa Nielsen, I believe that I am an innovative educator. I try to create an environment where my students feel free to express their ideas, while also trying to give them the confidence to express them outside of the classroom. By connecting the learning and making it relevant to them, they begin to think as problem solvers and actually apply them to the real world. For some time, my students struggled with multiplication tables, this was something my class was fully aware of. One day one of my students very excitedly told me “I have an idea to help us remember the multiplication tables, we can remember songs.” This was one of my goals when I entered teaching, creating a safe space where the kids can feel safe to express ideas as well as feeling heard. 

I believe I am creating a learning environment where students’ work is meaningful and authentic. By making their work meaningful to them, we are engaging the students which is essential for student achievement. Students will not care as much about a book or article unless it is meaningful to them. For example, the days leading up to the solar eclipse, students studied what an eclipse was and wrote about what exactly was going to happen. This was relevant to them in their life which made them more interested in learning.

References

Nielsen, L. (2016, March). Are you an innovative educator? Here's how to find out. Innovative Educator [Blog post]. https://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2016/03/are-you-innovative-educator-heres-how.html