Good Student

This is not a posed picture.  It’s a math class in BC public schools with students engaged in their learning.  Teachers create this kind of learning environment.  However, how do you know which ones are good students?  What makes a good student?  Define good.  As their math teacher, I always assumed that they were all good students, they all wanted to learn math, and they all could learn math.  With these assumptions, we learned math.  Asking critical questions, challenging the teacher, and sense-making through dialogue made a noisy classroom, but also a dynamic learning environment.  Pretending to be a good student, doing what the teacher says just because, and being just like everyone else were not valued.  Risk-taking, personal relevance, and inquiry were more important.  I’m excited about the new Math K-9 Curriculum in BC.  Less learning outcomes, cross-curricular competencies, and personalized learning make sense to me. #studentlearning