Themes

The Dynamic Classroom Revisited¹

by Ihor Charischak

Back in 1989, Robert Berkman, Vicky Madden, and yours truly put together a newsletter touting the merits of a wonderful software environment called LogoWriter². For us it was revolutionary because not only was it a great learning tool, but it also inspired teachers to create a kind of "dynamic classroom" where teachers and students blur roles and join forces engage in real learning. In our journal we tried to capture that learning spirit in the articles we created. Since then a lot of other software programs have joined Logo on the high quality software shelf and I work with a variety programs. I realized that Logo was my window to something exciting, discovering how software environments can empower students to want to learn. But Logo itself (or any other engaging software) is not enough. There has to be a synergy between the teacher, the students and the resources. Capturing that synergy is what this website is about. Here's a slightly edited reprint of that article that I wrote 12 years ago that hopefully will help you understand our new endeavor.

Have you ever walked into a classroom where you immediately sensed that good things are going on? It may have been a class discussion where children were interested and participating in a group project or a game. Or maybe it was a particularly charismatic teacher (like the Richard Dreyfus character in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus) doing something dramatic to capture the children's imagination? Most likely it was many factors that contributed to making the class exciting. Wouldn't it be great if there were a way to bottle these attributes and give them out the first day of school to teachers so they can have great classes anytime they wished? This may sound far-fetched, but there is some reality here as well. Good teaching (which actually means good learning) is only partly a god-given talent. Mostly, it is something that can be learned. The Dynamic Classroom is a place where the interaction between teacher, students, and resources produces engagement and learning. Success depends on what the teacher does, the script or action plan that she or he creates, how it fits in with the needs of the students, and the quality and utilization of resources. What follows are some attributes of the dynamic classroom as I see it. We hope these ideas will give you some insights into how you can make your classroom more dynamic.

Dynamic Classroom Characteristics
Teachers are creative³ action planners; that is, they create interesting contexts for learning. Their plan is a free flowing action plan which (1) has an interesting context, (2) stimulates engagement between students and teachers and (3) encourages students to use and explore resources (books, maps, games, computerized materials, etc.) Contexts can be mysteries, stories, problems, puzzles, or games.

The curriculum gets after powerful ideas from all subject areas and the learning of necessary (or basic) skills are built into the fabric of the activity and are learned in the process of doing the activity. Teaching objectives (the kind that are usually written on the board) rarely motivate students to learn. What does is the activity itself; that is, if its interesting. The challenge to educators is to create learning environments that are interesting to children and, at the same time, are rich in learning.

Student's needs (agendas) are respected. What students want most of all is to enjoy themselves. They're even willing to enjoy themselves learning what the teacher wants them to learn! The dynamic classroom is a place where both the students' AND the teachers' objectives are met. That is, the students have a good time and the teacher is satisfied with what has been learned: the classic win-win situation.

Rich resources are used to make learning more powerful and interesting.

See the Six Domains of Teacher "Know How" that are very important for teaching math with technology.

Footnotes
1. This article originally appeared in Scenes from the Dynamic Classroom, p.3 (Take 1.1, 1989), Dynamic Classroom Press, White Plains, NY.

2. One of the several versions of Logo that was available back in the early 1980s. The latest version of the one we liked is Microworlds Pro published by Logo Computer Systems Inc.

3. Many people feel that they are not creative. Here's what one writer had to say about that. Roger von Oech, in his book, A Whack on the Side of the Head(Warner Books: NY, 1983) describes ten mental locks that keep people from being creative.In his chapter on mental lock #10 (I'm not creative), he described some research that tried to discover the difference between creative and non-creative people. It concluded that the only difference between creative and non-creative people was that the creative people thought they were creative and the less creative people didn't think they were. Apparently the only trick to being more creative is to declare yourself creative!Roger von Oech's Tip #36 is: Whack yourself into trying new things and building on what you find-especially the small ideas. The creative person has the self-faith that these ideas will lead somewhere.