Exploration

I set my students free today. It's a Friday. The only rule: no video games, except for Minecraft - a game I am not completely familiar with, but they shared it with me. It enables them to construct and problem solve. The students "switched on" immediately. All were engaged. Some were collaborating on making movies and music videos, another was using Garageband to create his own music. One student was revising his Math using Coolmath4kids while the student next to him was revising the systems of the human body (part of our current unit of inquiry). I was circulating around the room, asking questions, making suggestions, being taught by them as much as I was playing the teacher's role. It was awesome and a reminder that despite curriculum coverage, timetables and the other aspects of schools that push rigidity, learning is discovery, the product of freedom and curiosity. Why do I still need to remind myself of this?