No Rest for the Visionary Educator
Halfway through my interview with Remi Cruz, I was left wondering whether my own education was lacking. The K-8 teacher of eleven years at Saint Raphael School in Hamilton, New Jersey described what can only be reported as a visionary approach to problem solving and education. He had weathered the challenges that had come with the pandemic, but COVID had hit where it hurt. Like so many other tech savvy teachers at schools across the country, Remi is finding himself busier than ever before
“I […] run the network, I do all the networks for the school, our website, all our databases. […] I don’t have that time that I wish I had,” Remi lamented. It’s a familiar story. Especially at smaller schools, teachers that have been relying on familiar methods for decades have had to make a quick shift to the virtual classroom, with a vast array of new and unfamiliar technologies. Teachers like Remi who keep educational technology up to date have been required to shoulder an extra load.
Judging from what we learned about Remi’s classroom, he deserves more planning time, not less. Remi uses a problem solving approach to teach STEM — posing problems to his students and having them work to design solutions from scratch. “I like to use what’s in the news,” Remi told me. “For example, a couple of years ago, there were towns being flooded off in Nebraska that were becoming islands. So I asked the students, how do we get materials to someone on an island if the current is so strong you can’t reach them by boat. They’re going to need some food and some things. So eventually the conversation turned to, can’t we throw things? Which is what I wanted, I wanted them to design their own catapults.”
“The youngest kids, they’ll throw away an idea in a moment and start over again. And actually, that tends to lead to quicker success than sticking to one idea and tweaking it.”
While he teaches a wide range of ages, Remi has noted some key differences between his kindergarteners and his eighth graders. “With the older kids, they get an idea and they tend to want to tweak it to death,” he notes. “The youngest kids, they’ll throw away an idea in a moment and start over again. And actually, that tends to lead to quicker success than sticking to one idea and tweaking it.” Creating a classroom environment that allows — nay, encourages — failure and revision can teach kids the skills they need to succeed in a world where your first idea doesn’t always work.
Design is also about presentation — but even here Remi gives his students a lot of flexibility. “ I give children the option, at write — up time: you can explain to me in writing, you can draw on a whiteboard, you can go on an app on your Chromebook and sketch out or type up or make an audio recording or video, or you can present to the whole class with your idea and the process you went through,” he told me. By combining the education of design and communication, both are enhanced.
The transition to a virtual classroom, and now a hybrid classroom, hasn’t deterred Remi from his innovative approach. “It’s been, some, at least half of them have been thought experiments. It’s been less of a hands — on, actual construction and handling of tools and learning things, how strong they are,” he says. But still, he notes that time constraints are a major factor. “If I were to have more time, I would have all my lessons planned a month in advance, so I could order all my supplies, have them here in hand, have them all sanitized,” he notes wistfully. Ultimately, it’s not the logistics but the time constraints that make hands-on classes a hard task — especially with teachers as overburdened as many EdTech teachers are.
“I’m done with paper. I don’t think I’ll ever use paper again.”
Some of the most innovative teachers in the country — ones that could really transform a virtual classroom are pulling double shifts at the moment. But for Remi, this shift has its advantages. He is optimistic about the long-term effects on innovation in the classroom — especially with regards to a greater use of educational technology. “I’m done with paper. I don’t think I’ll ever use paper again,” he says, “Teachers have loved books forever, but we can’t do it anymore. Just to have them accept that there are resources online that are equivalent or better than books and we have digital books that you haven’t been using but I’ve been offering for years. Now, [other teachers are] reaching out for those resources. I think it’s better for education, if you ask me.”
Let’s hope so. With a more technologically adept teacher population, Remi and other teachers like him can go back to doing what they do best — revolutionizing the teaching of design and engineering.
