• Mary Ann "Skipper"
  • 2015
  • 0

What Are You Learning Outside the Classroom?School is starting and it’s hard to believe that it is that time of year again.

Blank notebook (or computer) pages, new teachers and unopened books await.

Students will be learning a curriculum for classes. I recently read a definition of a curriculum. It said, “a collection of good problems.”

Good problems are defined as those that stretch and change our understanding. They do not even have to be easily solved. The value is in the learning process.

We do not need an educator to write our curriculum as we can learn from everyday experiences.

Good problems teach us lessons. They may be new ways we see ourselves, understand a situation or re-interpret a story. Being a good learner requires being curious, reflective and open to new ways of thinking.

What comprises your curriculum? Think about what you are discovering about yourself and others as you encounter problems. What life lessons are you learning?

We are all students. When we get good problems, we continue to educate ourselves without having to incur tuition costs.