ordered chaos is a good thing!

dare-to-begin

Walk into any classroom and what do you see? Is the classroom that you observe the same type of classroom that you once learned in as a child? What do the desks look like? What do you notice the students doing? To you, what is the ideal classroom? Why?

These questions are ones that are often not discussed openly. Yet, why is that? How can we change the way that we “do” school? Well, for starters, there is a risk, right? I mean we haven’t made drastic changes to school well, since forever in America. Why is that? Is it because we don’t know how, or we haven’t given ourselves permission?

In Salman Khan’s chapter, “ordered chaos is a good thing!” he shares his dream of a perfect classroom/school. In this classroom of the future (well, I hope in some schools, present day!), the classroom is one that is designed to break down the physical walls to allow students the mental freedom to explore and learn.

Khan describes his ideal “ordered chaos” to have areas where students can learn content more deeply without the restriction of bells, but rather within different subgroups with only one to two hours a day to focus on foundational skills. As a leading innovator of “flipped learning” he does not focus on large groups of students learning via video, rather, he dreams of spaces where students have a focus to their learning. In these spaces the students are leading under the guidance of the teacher who has created spaces within the classroom for ordered chaos.

To many educators reading this, this can be frightening and overwhelming to think about.  How would this work? Where do you even begin? To me, as a leader, and former teacher, I read Khan’s dream and think what can I do to inspire and challenge others to “dare to begin”?

I always ask myself what does it mean to “dare to begin” as a leader. Well, it started three years ago with an office cart and my laptop. My first year as an administrator at my new school, I walked the halls meeting with students and staff using my office cart as my mobile office. This, for me was a risk. I could have spent my time in my office, rather than the halls, but I asked myself, how can I make a small change to show others that I am willing to take a risk and be available?

Then, during my second year, I heard about a walking desk from Amazon (click here to see my walking desk)! It wasn’t that I had a walking desk hold my laptop and coffee; it was that when I am at my walking desk, people know that I am available. Available to listen, share, connect, problem solve etc. People saw that I was there for them and that I was accessible. This small change in where and how I spent my time at school changed my relationships with others. It made a difference in the baby step that I took. I dared to begin.

I am not suggesting that you should get a cart from the cafeteria and walk the halls. What I am suggesting is to think about what daring to begin means to you? It doesn’t have to be big; it starts with taking the first step. What does your first step look like?

Maybe it is starting with the why?


And then the where.

And then the what.

Then, dare. to. begin.  

2 thoughts on “ordered chaos is a good thing!

  1. Kristen – great post and thanks for jumping in with us. Thanks for sharing what you did with the traveling desk. I think that is a cool idea.

  2. Hi Kristen! At Leadership Day, Special Someone Day and recently at conferences, I can’t tell you how many adults remarked, “This is not what my school looked like!” And they meant it as a good thing! Creative use of space and grouping is on the rise and it is amazing. It gives kids the freedom to move and collaborate….ordered chaos. 😉 It’s a good thing.

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