Creating thinkers who can apply thier understanding in a purpousful way and connect it to the world around them makes this a 5 star strategy in my book.

My name is Kimberly Faulkner, I teach third grade in Anchorage Alaska. I have lived in Alaska for 7 years and am originally from Colorado. I have been teaching for 14 years. I have taught kindergarten, first, second and third grade. I have only taught at Title 1 schools and greatly enjoy the kids. Many of my kids are from low income households. There is a lot of diversity in our school, which makes it such a great environment to teach in.

I chose this video because I love having my students do partner work, so when I saw the title I was intrigued. The video was great! It highlighted a school in New York that really focuses on teaching kids from a young age that if they want to know something or learn about something, they have the ability to that. They start in kindergarten teaching the students how be researchers. The learning they do is very hands on and done in groups, which I believe is the best way kids learn. They are teaching the kids to be critical thinkers from a young age and they are learning how to work with other people from all different backgrounds. It is so important for kids to learn that they can learn from each other and accomplish great things together. It really built a lot of confidence in these kids.  

Creating Shared Experiences

What a great video. You can see thr light come on in these young people. The magic of the imagination. 

Creating Shared Experiences: Loved this video! High expectations and critical thinking were implemented at Kindergarten and applied as teachers took the students on a journey outside of the normal classroom enviornment.

All of the kids were very engaged in learning. They were excited to be at school. I love how the kids are immediately introduced to research and held to a higher standard. The teachers kept the students interest. I really liked how they did not look at kindergartens as students who cannot learn. They provided different opportunities for the students to learn.