Learning in Playful Environments

Lemon poltergeist Got it in two - At least according to   Google who knows all About the digital world. But what of the millennia Before the internet? Did some child in   A distant town   In a far away time Utter without understanding These exact words? Or was it the code-name Of a Russian spy With a penchant For English mysticism   And a love of citrus? Maybe a dying   Colonist at the   End of his tether After yet one more Year watching   His trees and dreams Wither. Two words seem Unlikely. The real challenge Would be to create   New meaning From only one Prodrigue

From time to time a group of my Middle School English colleagues travel down to the Kindergarten to learn with and from our remarkable Kindergarten teachers. We use a protocol from their Reggio Emilia practice to explore student learning and become smarter teachers together.   One teacher presents a brief snippet of learning from their classroom: something they videoed; a piece of student learning; an observation they have made. The rest of us listen as the teacher explains what they have brought and why. Then each of us responds one at a time exploring the learning through the various lenses of the student’s perspective, pedagogical perspectives and conceptual understandings. Finally the teacher who has brought the snippet reflects on what they’ve heard and there is discussion about how to push learning forward for this student or class. When we met recently, we were asked to direct our focus to a new learning space that was being established just outside the classroom. From wher...