In Logan LaPlante's ted talk, "Hackschooling Makes Me Happy," 13 year old Logan shares his beliefs regarding education. In the video, he poses the question, "What if we based education on the study and practice of being happy and healthy?" He goes on to say that being happy and healthy should be a priority in schools today, yet instead these practices are separate from the school system as education is oriented towards "making a living rather than making a life." I could not agree more with LaPlante. Probably the most basic and fundamental goal of every person is to be happy, and yet this goal is not the focus in education. Instead, we tend to focus on becoming educated, getting a good job, earning a living, and then the happiness will come. We need to focus on what makes students happy now and allow them to explore these interests.
While LaPlante's Ted Talk is very inspirational, I now wonder how I can bring his ideals into a public education system that does not offer the freedom and resources of a home school or private school setting. While it may be a bit more difficult, as the state often mandates curriculum and standards, I definitely think there is a lot of room to include happiness and allow our students to "hack" their education. I liked LaPlante's notion that he takes advantage of opportunities to experience what he is learning and "write through experiences and interests." Some ideas I have for my own classroom are to give students a lot of choice in what they want to learn about and incorporate project based learning that allows them to experience their learning. I also like the idea of including a lot of student reflective writing in my classroom as a way for students to reflect on their
TEDx Youth. "Hackschooling Makes Me Happy | Logan LaPlante | TEDxUniversityofNevada." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
While LaPlante's Ted Talk is very inspirational, I now wonder how I can bring his ideals into a public education system that does not offer the freedom and resources of a home school or private school setting. While it may be a bit more difficult, as the state often mandates curriculum and standards, I definitely think there is a lot of room to include happiness and allow our students to "hack" their education. I liked LaPlante's notion that he takes advantage of opportunities to experience what he is learning and "write through experiences and interests." Some ideas I have for my own classroom are to give students a lot of choice in what they want to learn about and incorporate project based learning that allows them to experience their learning. I also like the idea of including a lot of student reflective writing in my classroom as a way for students to reflect on their
TEDx Youth. "Hackschooling Makes Me Happy | Logan LaPlante | TEDxUniversityofNevada." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.