This is in response to Krissy’s post on Half Baked Ideas.
What if all students (and I!) kept an Explorer’s Journal? It’d be like a sketchbook with prompts given. Students can write, draw, collage, etc., but the big idea is looking at the world in a different way. I just need to find the right kind of book for my supply list, come up with prompts, and decide how often students will have these “assignments”.
What if I did all the projects I assign my students so they can see I am learning and growing with them?
What if one of the cabinets in my room became a “Cave of Wonders” where students could find things to help them explore and think – like Lego bricks and puzzles. It could also have ideas that prompt students to think and ask why, how, and what if?
What if instead of having help sessions or tutoring sessions we called them “Guided Expeditions” where we walk the path together?
What if it was okay for students to find a quiet place in the classroom and then curl up and dream?
What if collaborating with other classes across the hall, across the street, across the county, and across the world became the norm? What if students expected their voices to be heard by scientists and engineers?
What if we provided our students with periodic challenges that were optional but so completely fun and irresistible that they couldn’t help but take them on? (And on that note, I just found this site while perusing Twitter: Kinds Who Think!)
I still have a few weeks before I go back to school. Hopefully that will be enough time for some of these ideas to become full baked! What half baked ideas do you have? Let’s keep brainstorming together like Krissy suggested!
