New approaches
This year has gotten off to a fun start for me and I am enjoying Western Civ much more than before. I have not radically changed, but my approach has been different. Instead of focusing so much on what I think students should get out of the activities of the class, I have focused on asking the students what they are getting out of the homework, movie clips, etc. I also did an activity early on in which the students came up with a list of ideas about what would make Western Civ a more useful class for them. They listed class participation multiple times, and so far they really have been participating more than previous years. This may be partially due to the activity, or due to the fact that I have very outgoing and smart students this year, or due to the fact that I already know many of them from their freshman year US history course. Maybe it is a combination of all three.
posted by Crosby at 3:29 PM
3 Comments:
What else did they list besides class participation? Anything else you can emphasize in your class to help their buy-in?
Sometimes I think it is also the metal change in the teacher's attitude...your willingness to change and try something new. I think students see that or more importantly, want to be part of that process of change and so the class becomes better.
I agree, Anne. Karl - in regard to what else they listed, it was interesting to see. Many were suggestions that we as educators have said thousands of times: students being prepared for class so that less time is spent on direct teaching and more time is spent on analysis, focusing on why events happened - not just when and where, etc. It was also evident what they have grown to dislike in social studies: the textbook as the "class Bible" of sorts, thousand of notes on PPT, etc.
We did have to compromise. Some students wanted open-note tests!!! I told them that I would not allow that, but I would make a commitment that exams would focus on why events happened rather than the basic facts (dates, places, etc.) about the events. They seemed open-minded to that approach, especially when I told them that I would rather they left Western Civ liking the subject and thinking historically rather than being able to rattle off names and dates that meant nothing to them.
Many also suggested the use of visuals, which has certainly become easier with the projectors. I am making an effort to bring in more pictures, music, and movie clips, and trying to let the students be the ones who make the connections about why the images, etc. are important.
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