This week in PLC, we discussed play and its role in the lives of our students. We pointed out different ideas from the book and pulled from our own experiences with children. Here are some of the ideas we discussed:
- Kaila mentioned that having students come up with their own curriculum is a great idea, but hard to practically implement. It is do-able but you must have the correct mindset. We then discussed how we let the interests of our students guide us in our teaching.
- "Working" versus "playing" - We, as teachers, often encourage our students not to play, rather they must work. However, the book pointed out that play is not only beneficial, but it is also necessary for child development. The book showed how children are more motivated to learn if they do it on their own and do not see it as "work" or something they have to do. Playing is beneficial for children because it involves imagination, creativity, and freedom.
- Play encourages conflict resolution. We discussed the "helicopter" teacher who does everything for his or her students and does not let the students work out their own problems. We said that there must be a balance between giving the students freedom and helping the students. We want the students to become problem solvers; therefore, we should let them work out things on their own depending on the situation.
- In our society today, play is not emphasized enough. Recess and play time keeps being taken away in schools because the teachers must meet all the standards in their teaching. When this happens, students often struggle to be motivated to learn and lose their creativity. We agreed that children should be given more play time than we give them during the school day.
- Play has changed since we were kids. Many of our students now go home and play video games or play games on the Ipad, instead of playing outside or playing pretend, etc. We discussed our own childhoods and what we see in our students. How can we incorporate play into our day while also meeting all of the standards?
Practical application: We each explained how we could implement these ideas into our classrooms.
- Kaila said that she would have 2 academic centers and 2 centers where the students can simply play. This way, they are getting a balance of play and academics.
- Joyce mentioned that while she is working with a group of students, she often lets the others play with books or toys. Kaila suggested that she let them use manipulatives or toys that go with what they are learning. Therefore, if they are studying the Mandarin words for fruit, she could have play fruit that the students could play with while she is working with small groups.
- Angela explained that she will try to incorporate more play time for the students during the day. She also wants to be more flexible in her instructions. Instead of telling the students to do something one specific way, she wants the students to be able to show their creativity and does not expect each student's work to look the same.
- Bekah stated that she will let the students explore manipulatives, toys, or tools for a few minutes before beginning her teaching. She also will make an effort to making learning more "playful" through games, interactive activities, or exploration.
We all agreed that we greatly enjoyed reading this chapter on play and that schools often do not emphasize how important it is for children, especially for the young ones. We also agreed that incorporating play into our classroom will foster good qualities (such as freedom, creativity, imagination, and exploration) in our children. Play definitely has a purpose and should be a priority in our classrooms!
