One thing that I learned from my two years of elementary
teaching experience is that kids are unbelievably curious (yes,
understatement). I would get a bit
frustrated when I’d be giving directions to my PE class and this would happen:
Me: So, at station number two we are going
to (student hand goes up with urgency, so I pause)… Yes, you have a question?
2nd
grader X: Why is that tennis
ball stuck to the ceiling?
In my head I’m furious. I went against rule #1 of teaching elementary kids and that
is to always finish your thoughts before letting a student interrupt because
most of the time the question will not be on topic. As a result, the whole class is laughing, pointing,
forgetting what I had already said, and in most cases laying down, spinning
around on their backs having the time of their lives. It is a minimum of 3 minutes to get them back focused and
even then 5 or 6 kids are now looking at other areas of the ceiling trying to
be the next one to find a hidden treasure to make the class laugh.
When do students lose this level of curiosity and
wonder? Sure it made me
frustrated, but I had to embrace it and laugh it off or else I’d go nuts. Sir Ken Robinson, in his TED talk
titled “Schools Kill Creativity,” provides fabulous insight on the decline of
wonder and creativity as children progress through school.
I showed this video to my class on day number 1 of the
semester and asked them to react.
I didn’t want a summary. I asked
students to state what they agreed with or disagreed with, what they found
interesting, or simply what they thought of during the video. There are slow points of the video, but
for the most part, I think the video assisted in getting my students’ attention
enough to set up the culture of my room as one that welcomes the creativity
that they possess, but may have let go of in recent years.
Their homework was to spend the next 23 hours thinking of
“something you’ve always wondered.”
It could be anything, not just something that directly relates to health
class, then write it down and bring it with them to class to begin day 2.
I never expected this to be one of the more difficult
assignments I handed out. I was
amazed at the number of students who came back with nothing, an “I don’t know,”
or flat out had to say to me “can you just tell me what to do?” (you don’t think there isn’t an entire
post coming on that last statement do you? Yes, yes there is!)
The students were asked to take their question and find the
answer, as well as additional information that would support their answer and
better educate their classmates.
The students had now answered their own question, but unlike
many experiences they’ve had in learning before, it wasn’t just about them and
this one question. We had to make
sure that the information obtained through research was interesting to the
audience to which it will be presented.
So, on day 3, the students got feedback from their peers in the class
(the eventual audience) by sharing what they had found, and asking their peers
what they found interesting, and what different angles they’d be interested in
discovering about the topic. Some
students learned the hard way that asking just their friends brought little to
no useful feedback. The students
that benefitted were those who sought out people they didn’t know and/ or
people that they knew would give constructive criticism.
Day 4 was devoted to taking feedback and redesigning what
they would tell the class during their 60-90 second presentation. They may have needed to seek out
additional information, or they may have needed to just be certain they worded
things in a way that was interesting to their peers. Devoting an entire day to refining and practicing set the
expectations high for the presentations tomorrow.
Friday brought presentations and I was pleased with the
results. While self-evaluating
many students noted that they could’ve worked harder, or that they now know
that what they chose wasn’t very interesting (learning!). A few presentations were great, but
what I was most pleased about was the fact that the students obviously learned,
and the process of the week opened their eyes to the new way of thinking that I
am expecting. As I told them
afterwards, “regardless of whether or not your speaking skills were great,
everyone could tell if your information was great and whether or not you
learned something.”
Going forward, it is that final thought that I’ll be using
as an example. For the first
assignment I required them to do a speech (time constraints of the week). For the remaining units, I am asking
the students to do what they are best at, and to create a project that
showcases those skills. If they are
great at getting information but not at public speaking they may not have given
the best presentation. Since the
students can now create a project that showcases their skills, they can continue
to be great at getting information and select what they are best at as a means
of communicating what they have learned.
“Do what you do best.
Better.”
Take care,
Coach Mo
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