National Institute for Play

After viewing a TED talk last night about the importance of play, I decided I wanted to spend more time reading research about play.  I visited the National Institute for Play website.  While exploring, I read about the different types of play and how play can affect your health, relationships, and education.  I found this information to make a lot of sense, however there is not much research cited on this website.  The research that was cited was the same research presented in the TED talk I watched last night.  I was hoping more research would be presented to help validate the institutes beliefs.  Also, many of the references that were cited date back to the 1950's-1990's, not quite current research.  With that said, I still feel as though much of the information presented on the site makes sense.  For example, people who play are happier and have stronger relationships.  One quote that has stuck with me is "the opposite of play is not work, it's depression."  It makes sense to me that children and adults who do not engage in playful activities will not be as happy as people who do.

One belief presented that I don't agree with is that preschool aged children should be allowed to engage in rough-and-tumble play at school.  This includes wrestling and hitting in a "playful way."  While parents may allow their children to engage in rough-and-tumble play at home, I don't believe it is appropriate or safe for school.

Response to TED Talk

A few nights ago, I watched a TED talk by Dr. Stuart Brown called Play is More than Just Fun.  Dr. Stuart Brown discussed how critical play is for healthy brain development.  Dr. Brown spent time conducting research on murderers, and he found a common thread among them: a lack of play in childhood.  Dr. Brown has conducted animal research in which he concluded that play is important for survival.  He described a study with rats in which the control group was prevented from playing and the experimental group was allowed to play.  When posed with a threat (the scent of a cat) both groups went into hiding.  The control group remained in hiding and eventually died, whereas the experimental group eventually ventured out and survived.
I found this video very interesting and pertinent to my classroom.  Last year there were days in which I left out free exploration time because I had to choose between letting children play or engaging them in academics.  This TED talk, in addition to other research about the importance of play, helped me realize just how important it is for children to have time for play.  Daily free exploration will be a priority in my classroom this year.    

Skype in the Classroom

Tonight I spent time exploring Skype in the Classroom.  I was amazed at what is available through Skype.  You can schedule author visits, lessons, and interactions with other classrooms around the world.  Surprisingly, I have never Skyped, so I created a Skype account and a Skype in the Classroom profile.  I have not yet scheduled any calls through Skype because I want to spend more time exploring what's available, but I have already discovered a few calls I want to sign up for.  I am very excited about this resource!

Teachers as "Situation-Makers"

This evening I read an article entitled: Eight Ways of Looking at Intelligence, by Annie Murphy Paul.  In this article, Annie referenced eight factors that contribute to making people smarter, or eight ways of looking at intelligence, as determined by the science of learning.  The eight perspectives listed as making people smarter were as follows: situations, beliefs, expertise, attention, emotions, technology, our bodies, and relationships.

Much of the information listed seemed pretty obvious, or perhaps just reinforced some of my beliefs/past research I have read.  For example, in the section "Our Bodies Can Make Us Smarter," it was noted that an adequate amount sleep is an important contributor to learning.  I believe most, if not all, teachers would agree with this.  Proper nutrition and exercise were also noted as being important contributors to learning.

The article also discussed how two minds are stronger than one, so working with another person can make your smarter.  Technology was described as a tool to make one smarter if used appropriately.  To quote the author, "The problem is that our devises so often make us dumber instead of smarter...we need to help them [students] understand when to take full advantage of their devises, and when to put them away."  I believe this is a crucial point.  I fully support creating technology rich learning environments for students, but students also need to learn how to survive without the constant use of devises. 

The author noted that teachers can be "situation-makers."  This made a lot of sense to me.  People can become smarter in certain situations.  If teachers create an environment filled with positive learning situations then children will be more likely to learn.  On the other hand, if students are regularly faced with negative situations within a classroom, then their learning may be hindered.  Students are faced with situations throughout every part of their day, not just at school.  As educators, we can do our part to create positive learning situations for our students and hope that the rest of their days are filled with that as well.