Fort Courtney!

a few things you should know.

• I am a college student
• this is a fort I built in my college dorm room
• it was the most fun EVER!!

Whoever said going to college made you a grown up was severely mistaken. And just because I am in college, my creativity isn't going to be stunted, and that's something I want my students to get.

It doesn't matter how old you are, where you come from, who your friends are, or what people say, you can do what you want. Well, I mean, breaking the law really is a bad thing, and that's not what I'm suggesting. I simply want my students to understand that in my classroom, it's a safe place to break out of their 'social norms' and be themselves. I am a college student, and I built a fort. My room mate thought I was crazy, but now she wants one, too.

When you're a student, I think you get too concerned with making friends, school work, family, and getting the teacher to like you to be able to break free from everything the world throws at you and to just be real. When children learn to not care what others think about them, they become free to be themselves. And they'll typically make more friends that way. If I can set an example to my students about being themselves, building a fort in my classroom would probably be a good way . . .

Children learn by example. It follows that whole 'monkey see, monkey do' principle. If I were a teacher that didn't believe in creativity or fun, my students will be very boring. If I'm the kind of teacher that builds a fort in her classroom and has fun learning and being herself, my students will have fun learning and being themselves. And that's what learning is all about!