Is 'play' an important part of the educational experience? Why?
I believe that play is a crucial part of education. Play allows students to be creative and has many positive effects on their development, whether it is cognitive or physical development. Peter Smith states that “Play is a spontaneous, voluntary, pleasurable and flexible activity involving a combination of body, object, symbol use and relationships (2013).” Play is disorganized, yet very important in a child’s life. Social play is usually the first type of play that is recognized in children and can be evident between child and parent (Smith, 2013). I personally think that play should be integrated into the curriculum in a more formal manner to ensure that our students have the time to be creative and are not stuck inside at a desk or on a carpet all day. Creating a play environment in an educational setting can enhance a student’s:
1. Motor coordination: through activities such as climbing
2. Creativity: through artistic activities such as painting and creating clay sculptures
3. Mathematical skills: through games such as snakes and ladders
4. Language and reading skills: through activities such as rhyming games, storybooks and playing with toys such as plastic letters (Smith, 2013).
This evidence supports the idea that play enhances a child’s development in many different areas; therefore, I think that the curriculum should focus on a play based atmosphere in the classroom. In my opinion, it would make our students happier and healthier if we focused on creating a play based atmosphere for our students, no matter what the grade is.
Who can I learn from, learn with, learn beside?
Being a teacher candidate and soon to be novice teacher, there are many resources that I can turn to; to help me set my pathway to success. I can learn from and learn with my professors and teachers at Lakehead University. I can learn from and learn with my peers at Lakehead, my Faculty Advisor, the Chair of Education, my associate teacher on my practicum and most importantly, my students. I am not only going into a career of teaching to solely teach young children, but I am going into teaching to be taught by my students as well. I will proudly learn beside each and every one of my students. In my Media Literacy course, I have come across many useful resources that I can also learn from. Some of these include Edudemic: Connecting education and technology which helped me gather a better understanding of the best Web 2.0 tools to use as a teacher. Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy is a wonderful website where teachers can find and add lessons. As well, I can learn about digital and media literacy outcomes by province and many other resources that can help myself and others learn about the importance of digital and media literacy in education. All in all, learning is an ongoing and lifelong process that is not only challenging, but also exciting. I will continually learn from, learn with and learn beside many of my peers and colleagues for the rest of my life.
Talk soon, S.
See links to references on the “links to resources & references” page.
I believe that play is a crucial part of education. Play allows students to be creative and has many positive effects on their development, whether it is cognitive or physical development. Peter Smith states that “Play is a spontaneous, voluntary, pleasurable and flexible activity involving a combination of body, object, symbol use and relationships (2013).” Play is disorganized, yet very important in a child’s life. Social play is usually the first type of play that is recognized in children and can be evident between child and parent (Smith, 2013). I personally think that play should be integrated into the curriculum in a more formal manner to ensure that our students have the time to be creative and are not stuck inside at a desk or on a carpet all day. Creating a play environment in an educational setting can enhance a student’s:
1. Motor coordination: through activities such as climbing
2. Creativity: through artistic activities such as painting and creating clay sculptures
3. Mathematical skills: through games such as snakes and ladders
4. Language and reading skills: through activities such as rhyming games, storybooks and playing with toys such as plastic letters (Smith, 2013).
This evidence supports the idea that play enhances a child’s development in many different areas; therefore, I think that the curriculum should focus on a play based atmosphere in the classroom. In my opinion, it would make our students happier and healthier if we focused on creating a play based atmosphere for our students, no matter what the grade is.
Who can I learn from, learn with, learn beside?
Being a teacher candidate and soon to be novice teacher, there are many resources that I can turn to; to help me set my pathway to success. I can learn from and learn with my professors and teachers at Lakehead University. I can learn from and learn with my peers at Lakehead, my Faculty Advisor, the Chair of Education, my associate teacher on my practicum and most importantly, my students. I am not only going into a career of teaching to solely teach young children, but I am going into teaching to be taught by my students as well. I will proudly learn beside each and every one of my students. In my Media Literacy course, I have come across many useful resources that I can also learn from. Some of these include Edudemic: Connecting education and technology which helped me gather a better understanding of the best Web 2.0 tools to use as a teacher. Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy is a wonderful website where teachers can find and add lessons. As well, I can learn about digital and media literacy outcomes by province and many other resources that can help myself and others learn about the importance of digital and media literacy in education. All in all, learning is an ongoing and lifelong process that is not only challenging, but also exciting. I will continually learn from, learn with and learn beside many of my peers and colleagues for the rest of my life.
Talk soon, S.
See links to references on the “links to resources & references” page.