Fun: Coming to a classroom near you

This was my bed, until I took two cardboard boxes from my learning center, a hanger, a picture, some paper, a little time and effort. It is now my pirate ship, sans the water, and it's free to sail the open seas.

Ok, so it's not really the most sea worthy vessel, but it can hold its own. I am the kind of person who likes to create. When I get an idea, I run with it and see how far it takes me. I decided to turn my bed into a pirate ship, and, although it would never make it in the ocean, my bed is a pirate ship. So, what does this have to do with teaching? And who let me out of the Psych ward?

As a teacher, it's important that everything you do in the classroom has a lesson to it, whether the children know it or not. If I sat down and told all of my children the history of piracy, no one would pay any attention. That's why tests are such a bad idea- all students do is memorize instead of learn, but that besides the point.

If I get my children up moving around and building a pirate ship, and then talk about pirates, they're going to gain so much more than if I just put it on the History Channel. This has been proven time and time again, with many different situations. At work, a child will be playing with something, like a toy dinosaur, and I teach them things they didn't know, like what a carnivore is. Learning can happen at any time with any actvity. It doesn't all have to be book work.

I think I would just much rather not even have desks in my room, and no T.V. Just a lot of random materials and willing students. Fun and learning can go hand in hand if you're a good teacher, and learning doesn't have to be boring. The most memorable learning experiences I have had all occurred when I was doing something fun. I want to make sure that the fun and random experiences are also learning experiences, because every opportunity counts.