What Innovation Looks Like in an Elementary School Article by: AJ Juliani http://ajjuliani.com/innovation-in-elementary-school/ AJ Juliani writes his article from the perspective of a K-12 Technology Staff Developer. His expertise lies in the middle and high school years but, through collaboration, he has found a way to make his work in the elementary area a success too. Elementary teachers are using innovative strategies around the same concepts and topics as high school teachers. The biggest difference in innovation lies around their use of technology. A big misconception we have about innovation is that it is always directly related to technology. Juliani provides readers with a list of his favourite ways educators are innovating at the elementary level, with or without technology. 1. Innovative classroom rules and behaviour management techniques - A Kindergarten teacher who does not use any rewards or a behaviour management system. Find a system that allows students to be in control of their behaviour and their consequences. 2. Redesign your classroom for a new and improved learning environment - Create a “brain-friendly” environment with calming colours. By creating a comfortable environment, students are more likely to feel relaxed and at home. Some teachers also ask for help from their students when setting up a classroom, where would they like to see things go? 3. Create unique lessons that bring the community together - Juliani mentions a 5th grade teacher who hosted a Math Fair after school. The expectations were clear and participation was mandatory. He challenges us to find ways to bring our community into the learning process on a regular basis. 4. Give and receive feedback to students in an innovative way - Self-reflection and peer feedback are important areas in the elementary classroom that are often missing. Find innovative ways to bring these concepts back into your classroom to build a positive learning environment, improve learning, and provide critical feedback. A few ways that are outlined in the article are called Passion Time, Genius Hour, and Quality Boosters. 5. Hold an innovative class meeting - Most elementary classrooms start their day with a class meeting or morning message. This simple concept can become more innovative by giving students more ownership over the meeting. Students can run the meeting or take part in the rule making. Putting a unique spin on an everyday task can make a huge difference to the learning environment. AJ Juliani shares a few more ideas throughout his article. However, what struck me as the most interesting was how he doesn’t mention any technology through the first five examples. I don’t know why I was associating innovation with technology. My personal definition of innovation was: Innovation is a vital process in today’s society. Innovation is the process of adding to, altering, or modifying an existing idea, product, or concept in order to improve it’s current use. Innovation takes the existing idea and makes changes to make it more effective, useful, and relevant. No where in the definition does it mention technology. It is simply taking ideas from the classroom and changing it slightly to make it more meaningful and interesting to our students. Sometimes innovation seems like a more daunting task than it really is.
1 Comment
Jennifer Crosson
7/21/2018 05:07:33 pm
Hi Chelsey,
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