Mary Lisa Harper noticed students in her second-grade class at Mammoth Heights Elementary School in Parker were not engaged.
She knew she had to make a change, so she took a risk and changed her approach to teaching by changing her classroom to meet the 21st-century needs of her kids.
“The old Victorian model of teaching is not working for today’s learner,” said Harper, who has taught at the school for six years, and has been a teacher for 15 years. “Today’s kids are digital natives, they have had technology since they were born and have yearning for things to be instant.”
With a $30,000 grant from the Mortgage Family Foundation, she’s created what she calls a “primary innovation studio.” There are no individual desks. Seats allow kids to move, which she said research shows aids in learning. Every child has access to an iPad and they are encouraged to use it. The classroom is equipped with a flat-screen television for presentations, a touch screen smart board and touch screen computer monitors.
There also is a “makers station,” at which kids are encouraged to flex their creative muscles. There’s also a stage where students who are verbal learners can express themselves. Everything can be moved around quickly, unlike normal classrooms. Collaboration is not only encouraged, it’s required.
“When kids are able to own their learning and explore collaborations with their peers, you’ll be impressed with what a 6-year-old can dig into,” Harper said.
Her classroom has gotten the attention of Douglas County School District administrators, including superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, who has been pushing “21st-century learning,” which is described with the terms such as critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration.
“It’s not about memorization of facts, it’s about what we’re hearing not just from the educational community, but the business community, that we need kids coming out of college who can critically think about what they’re doing and contributing to the organization,” said Bill Moffitt, chief operating officer for the district. “Twenty-first-century learning is about helping our students understand why they’re learning something and taking that to the next level.”
The renovations to Harper’s classroom took place over the summer. She said at the beginning of the year, students overwhelmed her with questions because they weren’t used to that type of education, but they have quickly picked it up.
She said her students learn through problem-solving, and that’s necessary for them to be prepared for jobs that don’t exist yet.
“It’s exhausting, but it’s the right thing to do,” Harper said. “It’s more about evolution than revolution … we want to see how kids thrive in this environment.”
She said she’s not quite sure how testing will fit in with her new paradigm, but that the students are being constantly assessed. She said she uses backward design for her lesson plan, starting with the big picture for what she wants to accomplish followed by key elements she wants the students to learn.
Harper had a mentor in Linda Conway, director of library media programming for Douglas County Libraries, which has tried to adapt its spaces for “21st-century learning.”
“She’s innovative and she’s open and she is really pushing the kids to be 21st-century learners,” Conway said about Harper. “They’re collaborative kids, they’re curious, they’re exploring, they’re creating, they’re learning all these 21st-century skills without the barriers.”
Harper said she hopes her students can continue to get this type of education beyond her class.
“I hope to continue to get better every year and be a mentor for teachers who want to explore that 21st-century learning in the classroom.”
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2671, cwoullard@denverpost.com or
