Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Response to Research
I watched two TED talks. The one that spoke to me the most was Stuart Brown's talk on the importance of play in our lives. Even as a Kindergarten teacher, I find myself having to work very hard (and at times, admittedly, to sacrifice curriculum) to maintain the level of play in my classroom that I know is so vitally important to my student's cognitive and social development. Stuart Brown's talk was empowering and affirming. A goal for years to come will be to harness my five-year-old students' natural tendency for play to help develop ways of making our curriculum even more engaging.
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Karen, your response about working hard to maintain play in the classroom is similar to a response I just blogged about creativity in the classroom. I talked about how free exploration is a time to encourage creativity, and I have to remind myself not to omit this from our schedule as having this free time to explore is an important part of a child's day. Your response reminded me that free exploration is also a time for children to play, and it is so important for them to have that time.
ReplyDeleteKaren and Katie, I agree whole-heartedly! It is such a challenge with all of the curriculum expectations to make sure and include play in our day. Yet, it is so very important. Choice and play are going to be priorities for me this year. Fortunately, many of our learning activities also can feel like play!
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