Hannah Emmanuele
When David Warlick used the words ‘irresistible’ and ‘learning’ together a few years ago, I instantly knew that’s the experience I want my children to have at school. As a parent I don’t know exactly what that is but I do know the conversations I have with my kids after school each day would not include the words “boring,” “nothing,” or “another worksheet.” There are teachers out there who are turning their classrooms into irresistible vessels of learning everyday, like 4th grade teacher Michael La Marr from San Juan:
Creating a classroom where learning is irresistible as part of its culture has got to be the goal of every classroom in America. Curriculum that has students thinking, solving problems and working together seem to be components of a classroom where learning spawns more learning. The students need to care about what they are doing. When the learning experience is appropriately challenging and interesting, they will care. They need to be engaged in work that has meaning and value to them. They need the opportunity to share their work with others. When students know that what they generate will be given to the world, they will attempt to create work of the highest caliber; students will care, and deeper learning will follow. By giving value to the work that students do, they will perform at levels they didn’t even know they could reach. Success breeds further success, and doesn’t that foster learning beyond the classroom? That’s the essence of irresistible learning.
When students have the opportunity to think in creative ways and develop new ideas that they never knew they could create, they are excited. That excitement becomes infectious in a classroom. Learning, thinking and creating become part of a classroom’s culture. Students build off each other, and when one student thinks in a creative, innovative manner, the entire class begins thinking that way. I’ve often seen one interesting thought become the impetus for a classroom of interesting thoughts. The excitement of learning is genuine. Students want to be heard, they want to tell their insights, and they want to persuade others of their thoughts. They are compelled to strive for their highest possible level of success whether that be in a daily discussion, a blog entry or a website they are creating. They want to create the piece of knowledge that no one else has yet to create. They are thinkers, and they are performing at their highest level. It seems that learning has become irresistible.
Read more of Michael’s thoughts about irresistible learning here.
Also check out Michael’s amazing classroom website.
