Hey there!
I am so excited to be writing this letter. As I write this, we’re less than four days away from Teacher Playdate 2015, and based on the people coming, the location, and my partner in planning, we are going to have a fantastic night!
The idea for TPD started like so many great institutions have before it: a couple of Instagram comments at five in the morning. Jen Williams and I were looking for something fun to hold our interest until FETC. Why don’t we get together with a bunch of teachers and play with toys, we wondered? A flurry of texts went back and forth when we both should have been asleep. So many of those texts had us both typing the same thing at the same moment. And the heart of it is, we all need to play more.
Many words have been written about the stress on teachers, the low pay, the over-testing, and yet we know how rewarding this job can be. And we stay. But as we stay, we can choose to dump this stress on our students, or we can rethink our stance, and realize that our most powerful learning comes from play. It builds confidence, problem solving skills, social skills, and new understanding on topics that we’re introducing. Just as importantly, play spawns new ideas, collaboration, and strong team relations. So often, we shove it aside in the name of rigor, but if rigor just means harder (it doesn’t), then we’re doing it wrong. I’ve never seen my students work more doggedly than when they’re engaged in difficult, but meaningful play.
At EdCamp Tampa Bay, our pal Bryan Miller challenged us to schedule in 10 minutes of unstructured play each day. I’ve done my best to make sure that is a protected piece of my students’ day, and I’ve seen benefits. Now I’m thinking that we need to focus on using play throughout the day, in as many ways as possible.
So this Saturday, when you get to the Crayola Experience, please bring your coolest toys (I’m bringing some robot pals of mine), your funnest (yes, funnest) games and simulations, and the projects that have you and your students smiling wide. Let’s engage in play together for an evening. When we get together and focus on fun, we’ll bring it back to our schools. It’s time to be a Hero. Bring Play back to your classroom!
I can’t wait to see you Saturday!
-Sean Farnum
@MagicPantsJones
I am so excited to be writing this letter. As I write this, we’re less than four days away from Teacher Playdate 2015, and based on the people coming, the location, and my partner in planning, we are going to have a fantastic night!
The idea for TPD started like so many great institutions have before it: a couple of Instagram comments at five in the morning. Jen Williams and I were looking for something fun to hold our interest until FETC. Why don’t we get together with a bunch of teachers and play with toys, we wondered? A flurry of texts went back and forth when we both should have been asleep. So many of those texts had us both typing the same thing at the same moment. And the heart of it is, we all need to play more.
Many words have been written about the stress on teachers, the low pay, the over-testing, and yet we know how rewarding this job can be. And we stay. But as we stay, we can choose to dump this stress on our students, or we can rethink our stance, and realize that our most powerful learning comes from play. It builds confidence, problem solving skills, social skills, and new understanding on topics that we’re introducing. Just as importantly, play spawns new ideas, collaboration, and strong team relations. So often, we shove it aside in the name of rigor, but if rigor just means harder (it doesn’t), then we’re doing it wrong. I’ve never seen my students work more doggedly than when they’re engaged in difficult, but meaningful play.
At EdCamp Tampa Bay, our pal Bryan Miller challenged us to schedule in 10 minutes of unstructured play each day. I’ve done my best to make sure that is a protected piece of my students’ day, and I’ve seen benefits. Now I’m thinking that we need to focus on using play throughout the day, in as many ways as possible.
So this Saturday, when you get to the Crayola Experience, please bring your coolest toys (I’m bringing some robot pals of mine), your funnest (yes, funnest) games and simulations, and the projects that have you and your students smiling wide. Let’s engage in play together for an evening. When we get together and focus on fun, we’ll bring it back to our schools. It’s time to be a Hero. Bring Play back to your classroom!
I can’t wait to see you Saturday!
-Sean Farnum
@MagicPantsJones