Annissa Boussaada

ECED 4101
Building Forts and Drawing on Walls: Fostering Student-Initiated Creativity Inside
and Outside the Elementary Classroom
Reflection
David Rufos article was mainly about his teaching practices and his
classroom. Both catered to childrens imaginations, curiosities, and explorations.
His classroom was definitely child centered and infused with art. It was interesting
to read and learn about this, unfortunately, nontraditional classroom. In this
reflection I am going to review this article a little. I am going to give my opinions,
and then I am going to reflect on what I have learned from this assignment and how
I can apply that to my own teaching practices.
David Rufo is a fourth grade teacher. He has been teaching in elementary
school for sixteen years. His main teaching philosophies include art based learning,
discovery learning, and inquiry based learning. He allow his students to make their
own choices about their learning. His classroom often participates in elaborate
discover type learning projects, where students are learning through doing, taking
risks, and creating. Some examples of these types of projects would be outdoor fort
building, and maze creations on his own classroom walls. Rufos theories and
philosophies behind the way he teaches and operates his classroom are in fact
supported by research, which is evident throughout the article.
I agree with what Rufo is doing in his classroom. I personally have never seen
this type of creative practice in an older classroom (4 th grade). It was refreshing to
read about his classroom. I definitely think he is giving the students what they need.
The only concern I have is I feel like this type/style of teaching isnt the norm. I feel
like it is frowned upon. I have been in three 4 th grade classrooms, for entire

semesters, for practicums. I have seen mostly textbook work and a whole lot of test
prep in this grade. This deeply saddens me. I feel like there so much pressure on
teachers from schools and principles to teach this rigid way, especially with older
elementary grades (and beyond). I hate that! I feel like it is always effective and
beneficial to use arts based teaching at any age. I am a college students and still
enjoy creative projects. From what I have seen though, arts based learning is
deemed more acceptable for younger grades, and less acceptable for older grades. I
dont think that is fair.
I have taught in very early childhood classrooms. I have taught in toddler
and pre-k classrooms. In those classrooms and settings there is play, creativity, art
everywhere, and a good amount of teacher freedom. These classrooms are child
centered. Art and expression are literally everywhere. I wish there was not such a
disconnect between the way that very early childhood is taught and the way that
elementary education is taught. I really loved Rufos classroom and definitely want
to foster child based learning. I want facilitate learning through exploration, and
creation. I know that I am going to incorporate art and these things into my
teaching. I feel strongly about that. I just envy what freedom Rufo had in his
classroom.
Rufos classroom was child centered. Art and expression were big
components of his class room. His students were invested in their learning and
thriving. I read Rufos article, I reflected, and I took away some values that I can use
in my own teaching. I am going to be sure that my classroom in always child
centered. I am going to allow children to explore problems and create. I am going to
find ways to integrated art. I am going to make sure to involve art in the older
grades, and not lose sight of the fact that discovery and inquiry learning are still

important to older children. These are the main things that I took away from
reflecting, and I cannot wait to apply them to my own classroom one day.