#TLAP Day!

Five teachers.

Seventy-six students.

Three sessions.

What could turn an ordinary early-out Wednesday into an amazing learning experience?

#TLAP Day

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, three 4th grade teachers along with two student teachers created sessions for students to attend that would allow them to use their thinking and learning in a new way. Using skills such as problem-solving, inner-reflection, group-work, and more, students were able to come away with new knowledge about how things work.

Inspired by the book, "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess (@burgessdave), we created #TLAP experiences using our passions and interests to show students that harnessing the excitement we have for learning can result in a memorable experience.

We have been discussing passions all year as we have been creating passion projects (aka genius hour) so it made sense for us to showcase some of our passions through fun learning experiences.

Students ranked their choices from the list of sessions available.

The students were SO excited to make their way from one session to the next. We only wished we had more TIME because as soon as we seemed to be on a roll, it was time to switch again. One great conversation overheard at lunchtime went like this.....

"This is the BEST day!" said Ayden.

"EVER!" added Rudy.

It just made me smile. :)

And smiles are what we saw throughout the day. These pictures tell the story:

Learning about the brain and how it works!

Using Scratch to code optical illusions

Designing "I Am..." posters

We described who we are using words from magazines

Using a Makey Makey kit to play an online game.

17 out of the 20 lights that were eventually inserted into the Squishy Circuit creation

Let's see if we can get this motor to work!

One of the egg carriers in the parachute drop

Hands-on group challenges was full all three sessions!

Parachute egg drop --- did the egg survive?

Our students are now working on sharing their learning through KidBlog and other methods. It's our hope as teachers to expand this experience to the rest of the school and build an even bigger #TLAP Day in the future!

In the meantime, we'll continue to use our passion to engage students in meaningful learning experiences that help them realize their potential.