This fall, my students were tasked with developing a plan based on Google's 20% project - only this time in education. We will spend 20% of our time in class researching and learning about a project of the students' choice. There is a range of topics the students pitched and proposed to the class, with the culmination being a TED-style talk about the process they went through.
We will analyze TED and TEDx talks, and work on presentation skills based on ones we deem "effective." Ideally, the students will have chosen a project they are passionate about, so this will be something exciting and fun for them to do. At worst, they're learning something new and engaging in critical analysis of the delivery and messages of TED talks.
The biggest question I get is "what does this have to do with history?" I answer with a smile, "nothing. Absolutely nothing." Though this project does not align with the Minnesota State Standards in History perse, I believe that there are larger skills at play. Many of these skills I feel are essential to our students' futures, and deserve the same commitment to teaching as those related to history.
One of these skills is exercising student creativity and creative thought. Through this opportunity, they will be able to take their learning style, explore something of interest to them, and share it with their peers in a way best suited to them. When students ask me, "Ms. Staffa, can I make a video documentary about our favorite pieces of the high school experience?" I answer without hesitation, "yes." They ask, "how long should it be?" My response, "as long as it takes to show us what you'd like the audience to know." Hands raise, "can I do my project on [fill in the blank]?" Yes has always been the answer. If they really want to learn more about underwater basket weaving, so be it. Go get 'em kid.
Another skill I hope to see flourish through this experience is that of delivering a persuasive presentation. In my 13 years of teaching, I've sat through an extraordinary amount of students reading from the projected power point at the audience. Gone be the days of the "Ben Stein" voice being used to deliver information that they are going to be the "expert" on. I want to see these students learn how to find their passion, and share it in an enthusiastic manner with others, so as to inspire.
Perhaps this is all a pipe dream, but I long for a world where high school students find it exciting to learn again. Where they want to get to the bottom of questions, and exercise curiosity to see how and why things happen. Where the apathy is left at the door, and they come in excited to share what they've learned, and thirsty for more and more.
This is going out on a limb for me, as I've only recently started to relinquish my obsessive need to control every situation I engage in. I'm starting to realize and embrace the value in student choice and voice in the classroom. For so many years, I taught the way I was taught: the teacher stands in the front of the room, and tells the students everything the teacher knows. If the student can regurgitate all the information correctly, they get an A. This isn't about me anymore, it's about them and what THEY want to learn. Sure, we'll do the normal history stuff -- take the multiple choice tests and analyze documents -- all important skills in their own right -- but there will be a new element this year. This element, the Genius Project, will be driven by students- learning about what they're interested in, in ways meaningful to them, with results they find value in.
Wish us luck.
Austin is checking out the themes in Blogger - I hope he picked a good one :)
:D
ReplyDelete