What is the most innovative thing you have seen another teacher do in the

classroom? What prompted the innovation?

The ability for students to connect, grow and innovate not only with class content, but also
with each other, the world around them and with me, was the culture I developed in the
classroom. I view culture as one of the most critical aspects to invite innovation and make
the classroom a safe place to create, ask questions, and fail in order to learn.

With various teaching methods, it’s essential for teachers to consider how to use their
classroom space. For example, when I move furniture around the class with ease, they can
find it is a crucial variable for improving student learning. As teaching has evolved, the
classroom space must provide ways for students to work alone, interact with their peers,
and provide areas of collaboration. Many classrooms today are still crowded, cluttered,
loud spaces that lack the space to move around with ease, cause a gap in communication,
and lead to roadblocks when students need to concentrate. Learning spaces should be fluid
and provide flexibility to support one-to-one learning, collaboration, independent thinking,
and group discussions.

I have included, not one, but many of my most unique, creative experiences that have
defined my teaching career. I tried every day to not only utilize methods that motivated and
connected students to their own unique style of successful learning, but inspired and
whetted their thirst and curiosity for learning. I have bolded any reference to a curriculum I
used that I feel is innovative. Although, I have them separated by subject, they always were
cross-curricular in nature.

There are many possible innovative ways to teach, but the best one is the one that reaches
that particular student at that particular time for that specific subject/topic. The best
teachers have a wide range of creative and innovative strategies. Teachers quickly perceive
and understand what each student needs, while realizing that it’s a moving target: students
are different on different days, and different times of a day. Aware teachers realize that this
specific lesson and class is not the centre of that student’s life, and there will be many life
distractions.

The best way to understand that the student sitting there who is not engaged with your
material isn’t learning a damn thing from you. Step one is getting a student’s attention
(what all the social media sites are working hard to do, and are experts at doing). But what
social media doesn’t have is the here and now, physical presence, hands-on experience. The
BEST innovative ways of teaching include as much learning from interesting experiences as
possible while maintaining safety.

The best teacher understands that they first need to connect: students don’t care what you
teach until they know that you care. The best teachers realize students are complex, ever-
changing and growing people just like themselves, and want the same things: to feel
appreciated and recognized, to feel what they do is important, and to realize that others
respect them. The best innovative teachers create that environment so learning can occur.