Innovation

I had the pleasure of reading an article this week called “The Steep Unlearning Curve” which really got me with this point, “We need to unlearn our fear of putting ourselves and our students “out there” for we’ve proven we can do it in safe, relevant and effective ways.” I am a strong believer in this philosophy. I want to create an environment where students can fail, they can try new ways of doing something and maybe it doesn’t turn out the best but that is simply the best way to learn. So many times people think that failure is it, you’re just done and you don’t understand something. That is quitting, very different than failing. Failing is simply another opportunity to try again, try something new, and to learn. The best ways that I remember learning is though failure, I don’t remember the perfect volcano that went off perfectly in my science class, I remember the one that exploded all over the two students who put too much chemical into the bottle. I will simply remember the failures, and the lessons that go along with it, much more than the successful ones many times. I think that being able to be an innovative educator will open doors for much more failure in classrooms and people not looking down on the work failure. Innovative learning also includes failure as a teacher, maybe a lesson didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to or you didn’t get everyone involved. Being able to fail in any situation is a great life lesson to be able to understand what you actually want out of anything.

As an innovative educator, I think that “The Mindset of an Innovator” really hit the nail on the head with, “I will utilize the tools that are available to me today and I will continue to search for new and better ways to continuously grow, develop and share my thinking, while creating and connecting my learning.” I think that connecting learning and making sure people understand exactly why they are learn what their learning and what impact it will have on their lives makes it easier to understand a lessons importance. Innovation really comes into play with this quote because you, as an individual and as a teacher, can make sure you create an environment filled with all the tools that students need to help them succeed. Whether it is in your classroom or the real world you can be confident that your students are innovative thinkers and that you have helped to give them the tools they needed to get there.