Teaching Outside the Box

Does your student’s teacher teach outside the box?

Everyone wants their child to learn—but the “how” is definitive. Children boxed in a sterile classroom for hours on a day does little for their imagination. And, unless your student’s instructors teach outside the box, countless core curriculum mandates often leave teachers with no choice but to power through the material as quickly and efficiently as possible. So how can you be sure teachers are innovatively reaching your student? Here are a few things you can be on the lookout for:

Do they incorporate adjacent material to pique student interest?

The life cycles of butterflies and tadpoles aren’t directly related to library science, but that hasn’t stopped Selinsgrove Area School District librarian Debra Barrick. Each year, the students she teaches can watch as caterpillars transform into butterflies, tadpoles turn into frogs, and praying mantises hatch from eggs. And for many of these students, seeing nature in action has been just the hook they needed to start reading more.

Taking the “what’s interesting outside” back to classroom is a powerful way to engage students. It helps students relate and increases their motivation to learn. Some things are just worth learning, even if they don’t show up on an assessment test.

Do they go beyond the minimum requirements?

Allowing students to engage with interests beyond the minimum curriculum requirements often takes extra time and preparation but this can fuel students’ desire to learn and grow.

Take a look at the work of Adelle Schade. The former science teacher began the Science Research Institute to enable her students to pursue a deeper knowledge of science and even obtain patents for their work. Traditional classroom settings often put limits to teaching and research like this. Yet, does your student’s teacher go beyond the basics at all? Just redirecting students to extracurricular opportunities like the Science Research Institute to get more exposure can be a positive influence. If students show an aptitude for a specific subject or material, this is a key question to ask teachers.

Do they teach what’s expected in an unexpected way?

Listen to the way your children describe their teacher. Find out about favorite subjects and whether lessons make them curious to learn more. Is your student forced to sit in silence and take notes about events like John Adam’s representation of the British soldiers following the Boston Massacre, or does the class break into groups and debate the importance of fair representation?

When it comes to class projects, does the teacher prescribe every aspect of the work, or is there ample room for students to bring in their own creativity and perspective on the information? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself—and possibly your student’s teacher—to gauge the opportunity for creative learning.

There’s no one way to teach, and each student responds to various teaching styles—even those outside the box—differently. The key to ensuring your children receive a good education is to communicate with them about how they are learning and, hopefully, are succeeding in the classroom.