It’s been a great experience reading Shelley’s blog all year long. Powerful stuff. It’s great to see her reflect on her experiences and share the learning that she’s done.
This year I stopped being a teacher and instead became a co-learner with my students.
This year I stopped making my students jump through the hoops of content consumption, rote learning, and memorization of facts and instead began constructing learning environments that are conducive to fostering the development of skills my students will use as life long learners.
This year, the walls of my classroom became thin and we connected with others around the world.
This year, in our classroom, school became real-life.
This year my classroom ceased being a classroom and instead became a workshop of thinking, reading and writing.
This year, I let go of the reins, and placed my students education and learning squarely where it belongs: in their own hands.
This year I created my own personal learning environment, and began teaching my students how to do the same. This year we changed the world — at least a little bit.