Innovative classroom experiential learning is waiting for you. Are you ready?
Experiential learning is an exciting way to transition away from traditional k12 classroom teaching methods and toward real-world, personalized learning experiences in the classroom and beyond.
So ask yourself:
If you answered "YES!" to any of the questions above it might be time for you to begin looking into or fully moving to an experiential learning classroom or homeschool. But let's find out for sure!
I have written several questions below to help you reflect on or play around with the idea of experiential learning. Know that you do not have to be fully ready or even able to transition to experiential learning entirely right now to have interest in the concept and a foot in the door. Try it, see what happens, and above all, be open-minded. Good luck and reach out with questions anytime!
If you're interested in experiential learning but aren't entirely sure what it is or how it works, check out some of my blog posts on experiential learning, starting with, "What is experiential learning anyway?"
So ask yourself:
- Are you interested in experiential learning for your classroom or homeschool?
- Are you ready to be innovative in education?
- Are you looking for engaging and deep learning experiences that don't cost you time that could be spent on your family, your health, traveling, reading, and more?
- Are you ready to be a team leader in experiential learning, helping your team move toward more effective and modern-day teaching strategies?
If you answered "YES!" to any of the questions above it might be time for you to begin looking into or fully moving to an experiential learning classroom or homeschool. But let's find out for sure!
I have written several questions below to help you reflect on or play around with the idea of experiential learning. Know that you do not have to be fully ready or even able to transition to experiential learning entirely right now to have interest in the concept and a foot in the door. Try it, see what happens, and above all, be open-minded. Good luck and reach out with questions anytime!
If you're interested in experiential learning but aren't entirely sure what it is or how it works, check out some of my blog posts on experiential learning, starting with, "What is experiential learning anyway?"
Are you ready for experiential learning in your classroom or homeschool? Find out right here:
1. Do you enjoy teaching?
Whether you are a teacher, homeschooler, principal, etc. the question I want you to ask yourself is if you enjoy your work in education. Do you get excited to come to work everyday? I want you to really think about that. Then ask yourself why you’re happy or not happy in your current teaching situation, and could experiential learning change that situation for you?
I love coming to work each day. I love it because I get excited to see what my self directed learners are going to come up with and teach me that day. Every day is exciting and new.
Was I happy when teaching in a traditional environment? No. Did I think of leaving the field of education all together when I was teaching that way? Yes. Why? Because I watched my kids struggle. There was a huge disconnect between the teaching approach and their lives.
Think genuinely about the things that you love about your work. If you're not enjoying the instructional piece of it, experiential learning is the way to change that.
2. Are your students engaged?
Are your students interested or invested in what you're trying to teach them? I always knew when my students weren't engaged. I heard crickets, observed sleepers, became frustrated with the lack of involvement, my students were apathetic, etc.
Part of engaging students is giving them the opportunity to find relevance and meaning in the content. That is what experiential learning offers. If your students are not engaged, experiential learning is a great approach to try out.
3. Do your students understand the content beyond the test?
You might have students passing the tests and completing the homework, but are they retaining the information? If your students are memorizing the concepts simply to pass a test, they are missing an important part of the learning experience. Your students might need deeper learning experiences, and if so, experiential learning is for you. And just as important, experiential learning is for your students.
4. Do your students see a bigger purpose?
Do your students ever ask "why are we doing this?" or "what is the point of this?" If you do not have an answer at all, or your answer is "because it's required", then it's time to mix it up.
If students do not see the purpose of the learning experience then they are less likely to be engaged, retain the information, or use the concepts beyond the walls of the classroom. Experiential learning helps you and learners define the purpose so as to engage and intrinsically motivate students.
Do you want this? "Yes", "yes", and "yes"!? Then experiential learning is for you.
Read this blog post on how to make learning real world and relevant.
5. Do your students have choice?
Do you currently offer opportunities for students to make their own choices when it comes to the learning process and/or outcome? If not, it might be a good time to start.
Giving students choice is a powerful move for so many reasons. Every student is a unique individual with particular interests and needs. Giving students choice differentiates learning, getting at the core of a variety of classroom management issues. If you can personalize learning by giving students choice, I highly recommend it, and that comes with experiential learning by nature.
6. Is your current curriculum preparing students for life outside of classroom walls?
Being ready for life outside of schooling means having the 21st century skills to navigate life in the real world, from career to home life and more. I don’t necessarily mean being able to manage personal finances, even though that is an essential skill.
I'm talking about soft skills. Does your current instructional approach prepare students to problem solve at work, network to get a job, work collaboratively with the community, or get creative? These skills are necessary for 21st century learners.
If you haven't thought about 21st century skill-building in your curriculum, take a peak at my blog series on teaching 21st century skills. If after reading this blog series you believe that your students should be competent in the 21st century skills, but skill-building is not currently built into your curriculum, then experiential learning is for you. It is a great method for teaching content and developing essential skills for life.
7. Is your current curriculum backed by research?
Is there evidence to support your current teaching method as developmentally appropriate? Is your approach based on how the brain learns? I encourage you to look into brain-based learning if you are unfamiliar with it. Experiential learning is highly backed by research on what works for learners and what does not.
This is an important question for districts and principals to consider as well, not just teachers, because whether a teacher wants to teach based on supported research, they need the thumb's up from their districts. Do your research for their sake and the sake of your student body.
8. Are you tired of lesson planning?
Yes!!?? Let your students do the planning for you! Yes, you still have a job. What I mean by this is that experiential learning is self-directed. Students design their own learning experiences based on their personal interests, needs, challenges, strengths, etc. Self-directed learning not only takes nightly lesson planning off of you, but it engages learners in concepts that matter to them.
Rather than put together a one-size-fits all lesson plan day after day, which can become taxing, you allow your students to do that for you. Your role changes from director of learning to facilitator of learning.
Facilitators are essential and still have a big job to do. But rather than spend cycles creating lesson plans that only impact a small percentage of your students, you can take that extra time to build relationships with them, spark their interests, organize collaborative opportunities with the community, and more. If this method inspires you, it's time for experiential learning!
Check out this blog post on what the teacher does in a self directed learning environment. You can also take a peek at some of my other posts on self-directed learning, including how to personalize learning with self directed project based learning.
9. Do you have an open mind?
If you want your students to have innovative learning experiences, gain 21st century skills, and be engaged in real world content, then you're at a minimum, interested in experiential learning. But being interested isn't enough. You also need to be prepared to surrender to the experience. Experiential learning may not feel comfortable right away, but try to be open-minded. Take your traditional mindset and put it away.
After 13 years in experiential education I still have to remind myself at times to think about the situation from an experiential learning perspective. For example, my son struggled in reading his kindergarten year. I had to take my gut reaction, which was to worry about him "getting behind", and remind myself that he is a unique individual with unique needs and a unique path. He will read when he is ready to read.
All of this to say that if you decide to try experiential learning, be aware of your traditional mindset. Be willing to put that aside, be open-minded, and modify your thinking. It's worth it. Your student's are worth it. Your well-being is worth it. Experiential learning is worth it.
Whether you are a teacher, homeschooler, principal, etc. the question I want you to ask yourself is if you enjoy your work in education. Do you get excited to come to work everyday? I want you to really think about that. Then ask yourself why you’re happy or not happy in your current teaching situation, and could experiential learning change that situation for you?
I love coming to work each day. I love it because I get excited to see what my self directed learners are going to come up with and teach me that day. Every day is exciting and new.
Was I happy when teaching in a traditional environment? No. Did I think of leaving the field of education all together when I was teaching that way? Yes. Why? Because I watched my kids struggle. There was a huge disconnect between the teaching approach and their lives.
Think genuinely about the things that you love about your work. If you're not enjoying the instructional piece of it, experiential learning is the way to change that.
2. Are your students engaged?
Are your students interested or invested in what you're trying to teach them? I always knew when my students weren't engaged. I heard crickets, observed sleepers, became frustrated with the lack of involvement, my students were apathetic, etc.
Part of engaging students is giving them the opportunity to find relevance and meaning in the content. That is what experiential learning offers. If your students are not engaged, experiential learning is a great approach to try out.
3. Do your students understand the content beyond the test?
You might have students passing the tests and completing the homework, but are they retaining the information? If your students are memorizing the concepts simply to pass a test, they are missing an important part of the learning experience. Your students might need deeper learning experiences, and if so, experiential learning is for you. And just as important, experiential learning is for your students.
4. Do your students see a bigger purpose?
Do your students ever ask "why are we doing this?" or "what is the point of this?" If you do not have an answer at all, or your answer is "because it's required", then it's time to mix it up.
If students do not see the purpose of the learning experience then they are less likely to be engaged, retain the information, or use the concepts beyond the walls of the classroom. Experiential learning helps you and learners define the purpose so as to engage and intrinsically motivate students.
Do you want this? "Yes", "yes", and "yes"!? Then experiential learning is for you.
Read this blog post on how to make learning real world and relevant.
5. Do your students have choice?
Do you currently offer opportunities for students to make their own choices when it comes to the learning process and/or outcome? If not, it might be a good time to start.
Giving students choice is a powerful move for so many reasons. Every student is a unique individual with particular interests and needs. Giving students choice differentiates learning, getting at the core of a variety of classroom management issues. If you can personalize learning by giving students choice, I highly recommend it, and that comes with experiential learning by nature.
6. Is your current curriculum preparing students for life outside of classroom walls?
Being ready for life outside of schooling means having the 21st century skills to navigate life in the real world, from career to home life and more. I don’t necessarily mean being able to manage personal finances, even though that is an essential skill.
I'm talking about soft skills. Does your current instructional approach prepare students to problem solve at work, network to get a job, work collaboratively with the community, or get creative? These skills are necessary for 21st century learners.
If you haven't thought about 21st century skill-building in your curriculum, take a peak at my blog series on teaching 21st century skills. If after reading this blog series you believe that your students should be competent in the 21st century skills, but skill-building is not currently built into your curriculum, then experiential learning is for you. It is a great method for teaching content and developing essential skills for life.
7. Is your current curriculum backed by research?
Is there evidence to support your current teaching method as developmentally appropriate? Is your approach based on how the brain learns? I encourage you to look into brain-based learning if you are unfamiliar with it. Experiential learning is highly backed by research on what works for learners and what does not.
This is an important question for districts and principals to consider as well, not just teachers, because whether a teacher wants to teach based on supported research, they need the thumb's up from their districts. Do your research for their sake and the sake of your student body.
8. Are you tired of lesson planning?
Yes!!?? Let your students do the planning for you! Yes, you still have a job. What I mean by this is that experiential learning is self-directed. Students design their own learning experiences based on their personal interests, needs, challenges, strengths, etc. Self-directed learning not only takes nightly lesson planning off of you, but it engages learners in concepts that matter to them.
Rather than put together a one-size-fits all lesson plan day after day, which can become taxing, you allow your students to do that for you. Your role changes from director of learning to facilitator of learning.
Facilitators are essential and still have a big job to do. But rather than spend cycles creating lesson plans that only impact a small percentage of your students, you can take that extra time to build relationships with them, spark their interests, organize collaborative opportunities with the community, and more. If this method inspires you, it's time for experiential learning!
Check out this blog post on what the teacher does in a self directed learning environment. You can also take a peek at some of my other posts on self-directed learning, including how to personalize learning with self directed project based learning.
9. Do you have an open mind?
If you want your students to have innovative learning experiences, gain 21st century skills, and be engaged in real world content, then you're at a minimum, interested in experiential learning. But being interested isn't enough. You also need to be prepared to surrender to the experience. Experiential learning may not feel comfortable right away, but try to be open-minded. Take your traditional mindset and put it away.
After 13 years in experiential education I still have to remind myself at times to think about the situation from an experiential learning perspective. For example, my son struggled in reading his kindergarten year. I had to take my gut reaction, which was to worry about him "getting behind", and remind myself that he is a unique individual with unique needs and a unique path. He will read when he is ready to read.
All of this to say that if you decide to try experiential learning, be aware of your traditional mindset. Be willing to put that aside, be open-minded, and modify your thinking. It's worth it. Your student's are worth it. Your well-being is worth it. Experiential learning is worth it.
Get Started with my Free Experiential Learning Tools Mini-Bundle:
If you're not quite sure, or you'd like to continue learning more, I encourage you to grab my free experiential learning tools mini-bundle which includes:
If you're not quite sure, or you'd like to continue learning more, I encourage you to grab my free experiential learning tools mini-bundle which includes:
- Quiz: Find out which experiential learning activities are right for your classroom or homeschool students
- Experiential Learning Activity Mind Map: Iron out details of experiential learning activities
- Experiential Learning Implementation Spreadsheet: Manage experiential learning activities in your classroom or homeschool with this spreadsheet organizer.
Classroom Experiential Learning Resource Favorites
Experiential learning is wonderful and easy to learn and implement with the right tools, but getting started can feel overwhelming. If you're looking for guiding materials to launch into experiential learning with ease, check out some of my experiential learning tools and resources. Here are some of my favorites.
Experiential learning is wonderful and easy to learn and implement with the right tools, but getting started can feel overwhelming. If you're looking for guiding materials to launch into experiential learning with ease, check out some of my experiential learning tools and resources. Here are some of my favorites.
Join the Experiential Learning Community
Need support, inspiration, ideas, innovative education strategies? Join my Facebook group, Experiential Learning Community for K12 Teachers, to pop in and observe or join in on some experiential learning conversations.
Need support, inspiration, ideas, innovative education strategies? Join my Facebook group, Experiential Learning Community for K12 Teachers, to pop in and observe or join in on some experiential learning conversations.
