- Posted at 12:16 pm on Wed, Nov 23, 2011
Setting The Tone
I've been reluctant to post so far since all of you have a particular “thing” or area of expertise (technology, language skills, video teaching) that makes your teaching special. Not that my teaching isn't as special; I just can't think of what exactly it is that makes my teaching effective, or makes the students in my class enjoy learning. So took some time to analyze my classroom and decided to start at the beginning.
Right at the beginning - of the class, of the unit, of the year. No matter their level of understanding or enthusiasm for Humanities, I want them to come in to the class ready to wonder about the world. Rather than start the year with a static one-way dialogue about the syllabus or the major assessments, I've learned to start right off the bat with a two-way discussion. I love enticing them visually: videos of blood-filled religious ceremonies, pictures of people swimming in a pool of crude oil, short trivia quizzes about current events, political cartoons. They've started their first Humanities class dying to know what the rest of the year is going to be about.
Then I try and start every subsequent class with a video, a song, or a picture that you can't help but wonder about. Guardian Eyewitness is great for photos, National Geographic has some incredible 2-minute video clips, Maps of War is good for interactive maps, Sporcle is great for quizzes.
Sometimes they come right up to the board and discuss their individual interpretations with each other. Sometimes we've already had a full discussion about “what could this picture be about?” before the bell to start class even rings. This even works with staff. Why not start the first full staff meeting in August with a Jeopardy game called: “How strong is your MYPness?”
Apart from all the specific curriculum objectives I have to cover by the end of the course, I want every student walking away with an enthusiasm for wondering about the world. Every time they see a picture, video or map of an exotic place, I want them to start asking: “What's it really like there? Do I want to go there? Why?”
Darryl Anderson
MYP Humanities
No comments:
Post a Comment