"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." ~Margret Mead
I agree with this quote wholeheartedly. I feel that the way of the world has changed the way that our children think. This world makes it more difficult to be a free thinker, and a easily fall into a structured, guided thinker.
My students are a wonderful group of 25 six and seven year olds.
They are funny, caring, and eager to learn. My students are excited to come to school, and have already made leaps and bounds in their educational knowledge this year, thus far.
My school is located in rural Arkansas, in a poor community. We have a large population of English Language Learners. My co-workers and I strive to know as much as possible about our students to ensure all of our students' basic needs are met, to ensure our students come to school prepared to learn.
My Project
The materials requested will be added to our STEM stations. Currently my students have the opportunity to complete a different activity each week on such topics such as weight, buoyancy, computer coding, engineering, and other similar topics. This time is for free thinking. They are encouraged to come up with a method or strategy and try it out. For example, one task they currently have is to build a bridge for the goats to cross to avoid the nasty troll. They are expected to build it, test it, and rebuild if necessary. The K'Nex classroom set, Tinkertoys, and Magna tiles will be added to encourage free thinking. These materials will be presented without a direction to encourage the use of their imaginations to build bridges, buildings, and so much more. The Magna Tiles will get the students to use engineering skills to build. The Tinkertoys will encourage students to build imaginary creatures, with movable parts. The K'NEX will allow free thinking and building with different types of materials.
These materials will put some free thinking into our structured school day.
My job is not only to educate, but to teach my students how to think. The world we live in today limits the amount of free thinking our students do. My goal is to teach the academic skills, but also allow my students to learn to think for themselves; come up with an idea, test it, and revise the plans and try again. STEM stations not only teach academic skills, but it also teaches cooperative learning, and how to think.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Garner and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
