Big Idea

Play

Sparks continues to enlighten me; every chapter provides a thinking tool that if embraced, will revolutionize one's pedagogy. Play, simply put, is engaging in an activity simply for the fun of it, without any real responsibility. According to the text, "There is no success or failure in play, no holding to account, no mandatory achievement. Play breaks the rules of serious activity and establishes its own.”

Professional Play

While reading the definition I got goose bumps. Immediately, my mind wondered back 5 years to 2005 when I created and implemented a volunteer student-driven retention program. A major aspect of the program was researched based. That is, a group of students were given the freedom to mix entertainment and education, a theatric team, a small budget and unlimited creativity to close the achievement gap between majority and minority students.

Practice Play

Every Thursday a group of 10 or more students and I meet in an open office space with apple computers, audio equipment, white boards for two hours to mentally walk through an entire program. Each student closed their eyes and imagined they were in character to determine what aspects of the program worked theoretically but needed more development, and what aspects were ready for immediate implementation.

Symbolic Play

When I think about symbolic play, Dr. Ben Carson, John Hopkins Medical Center. In his book, Gifted Hands, he recalls a time as a medical student where he dreamed the night before a major exam. In his dream he said he had a vision of the professor writing both the equations and answers to the test on a 3 dimensional white board. More amazing than the dream was Dr. Carson’s test experience. In his book he explains that the test was exactly as it was in his dream.

As an educator and a student, I believe we can use symbolic play in the way Dr. Carson did for his medical examine. Through visualization, we have the power to explore and test our environment without risk, without failure. As educators we can teach an entire class through visualization and access the students’ reactions to test if our initial methodologies are best or if they need to be altered. Students have the same opportunity. They have the power visually to test their environment and all the actors in it to gauge their academic skills and make the necessary adjustments at the appropriate times.

Transformation

I recently witnessed transformation in action while serving as a motivational speaker for a charter school on the east coast. Specifically, the institution used a number of transformational techniques to assist their students in their walk toward academic success. Among their transformational thinking strategies was a focus on pupil preparedness versus instruction. Case and point, I observed that the first period of class was not dedicated to academic instruction. Instead, the entire students body and the school’s faculty and staff met in the gymnasium for daily fitness and affirmation. The director of the program believes physical fitness activities enhance brain activity and overall brain development. He also believes the affirmation segment sets both a positive tone for the students and staff as well as alerts the staff of students who may have some emotional challenges that need to be addressed prior to them attending class. Students who fall in the aforementioned group generally meet with a counselor or are placed in support based classrooms.

I currently use similar transformational techniques. My freshmen seminar course begins with a motivational minute, followed by a “your personal time” segment and ends with a “Big Idea” segment which gives students the opportunity to make connection regarding their learning, instead of regurgitating information.

Both thinking tools are extremely helpful in assuring the instructor and the student use creativity as a means of academic development as well as a way to foster “personal ownership.” Play and transformation allow the students and professor to become active participates, stakeholders in their personal education and ultimately, innovators.