March 1, 2022
Anyone who has spoken with me about teaching for any length of time will tell you, I'm obsessed with the 4 C's. When discussing best practices, it's all about those 4 magic words.
Creativity
Collaboration
Communication
Critical Thinking
We'll ignore the fact that critical thinking is two words.
Why am I such a fan of the 4 C's? Because teaching with these things in mind, transformed my classroom. I was always seeking ways to provide rich learning experiences that prompted authentic engagement. What teacher isn't? My first year of teaching, I was able to achieve this on a somewhat regular basis, but pinpointing exactly what made those lessons 'work', was something that alluded me.
During our first week of school, students loved the 'Save Fred' STEAM activity that provided opportunities for critical thinking and collaboration. Once we finished our 'Library 'Alphabet' in October, I had students practically begging to create a 'Math Alphabet' because of the creativity and collaboration involved in the process, and our first 'Back to Back' Math challenge, which required communication and collaboration was such a hit, that it became a biweekly routine.
Although I couldn't quite nail down exactly what made these activities so engaging that first year, the closer we got to June, the better I became at creating learning experience that were rigorous yet exciting for my students. While planning lessons, I could just feel when something would meet this mystery criteria for success. Then I discovered the 4 C's and it all made sense.
I think when we talk to teachers about engaging instruction, it can often seem overwhelming due to the vast possibilities and undefined path we must walk to help students engage with the content they're learning. We know what the results of engaging instruction look like, sound like and feel like, but what engaging instruction itself looks like, sounds like and feels like can be more abstract. It's not just about adding energy to a lesson. I've seen plenty of teachers dance around classrooms with little effect. Not only is knowing how to provide engaging instruction a challenge, but many teachers have it in their minds that to plan an engaging lesson they need to do something big, something flashy, something dramatic. Now, I'm all about the big and flashy, but fireworks and a fog machine are not essential elements to facilitate a lesson that excites and engages students. The 4 C's however, almost guarantee engagement and excitement no matter what the content.
Creativity: Allowing for creativity in the classroom opens up a world of possibilities. Students will feel empowered with there is an opportunity to explore and produce work that isn't so strictly defined. When we allow for creativity, we can take away the fear of the 'right and wrong' and let our students demonstrate their learning in ways that are meaningful to them.
Collaboration: Collaboration is essential for meaningful learning to happen. Think about how meaningless life would be if we didn't have people to share it with; the same is true for learning. Collaboration goes beyond having students turn and talk, it involves discussions that dive deeper into the content, building on each others ideas and problem solving.
Communication: Having students communicate their thinking is an essential aspect of assessing learning, but communication of ideas is also an essential skill in the real world. There are many ways we can ask students to communicate and so many ways we can support them in the classroom as they work to develop this skill.
Critical Thinking: Too often we ask students to answer questions or complete tasks that require no critical thinking. It's time we stop and ask ourselves, what are those assignments really teaching our students? How are those assignments helping them grow? Seeing kids think critically in a classroom brings a huge smile to my face. I am amazed at how thoughtful, inquisitive and intelligent these young people are.
While not every lesson must have all 4 C's, when I began thinking about how I was seeing the 4 C's in my lessons, my thinking about teaching and learning shifted, my lessons became more engaging and meaningful for both me and my students, and the learning that happened in my classroom became deeper and more meaningful. I knew once I started teaching this way, I had a responsibility to provide these types of learning experiences to my students as often as I could.
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