Prior to this school year, I had not heard a lot of talk about innovation in the classroom. To be fair, this is technically my first year of teaching full time since having children and I haven’t been in the loop as much as I probably should have been. What amazes me is how quickly things can change, even when it has been said that change in our educational system is rather slow here in Manitoba. Since I have been back though, I have been really excited about these new approaches to learning.
At École Garden Grove School, we have been lucky to have Jaymie McLure do some great, innovative work with our students. From Destination Imagination Instant Challenges to Story Starters using Lego, I have certainly learned a lot. Not only are we thinking outside the box and moving away from the incessant worksheets that are available to us, we are providing our students with new, creative and collaborative ways of learning.

Although at times it is hard to imagine how different our world will be in twenty years from now, I know that this shift into different and more innovative ways of teaching is only going to help better prepare our students for their futures. If we can have open minds and learn with and from one another, I think that we as educators will benefit along with our students.
I know that I have already altered my way of thinking about this whole process and having an open mind has definitely been helpful. I look forward to what we have yet to learn in our next sessions!
Nicole Lavallee
École Garden Grove School
Cluster 1871