One of two key focus areas for our division this
year is “relevance.” In education, we
must be mindful that the Information Age is now two decades old and giving way
to the Creativity Age. As such, anyone
(our students included), can look up basic facts with just a couple of
clicks. While some knowledge will always
be timeless, we must also challenge students to think in more critical ways to
solve real-world issues, tackle complex problems and provide innovative
solutions as opposed to basic comprehension.
By doing so, we provide relevance, which yields heightened student
engagement.
Of course, saying that we believe in relevance and
engagement is the easy part.
Transforming long embedded practices can prove to be more challenging
for all educators. The first step is to
become comfortable with the idea that a teacher is not supposed to have
all of the answers, contrary to the traditional notion that a teacher is the
dispenser of knowledge. The speed with
which technology moves means that a teacher mastering all concepts before
students is an impossibility.
Instead, structuring lessons in a way that allows
the instructor to learn along with the students (facilitating), designing
collaborative activities, or giving students time to be innovative within the
context of the curriculum will provide students with “voice and choice,”
leading to deeper, more relevant learning.
Not enough?
Well, try this Relevance Top 10
list as a way to be innovative in the classroom this year. If this is a brand new way of looking at
things, start small with only trying one or two items. Have fun and watch relevance and student
engagement grow!
Drum roll please…
#10:
Use a couple of
planning periods to observe other teachers—not for evaluation, but for
observation. How do your peers engage
students? Also, spend at least 20-30
minutes later in the week discussing what you observed and how you might
implement some of their techniques.
#9: Review your own assessments and in doing so, ask
these questions:
-Could anyone with access to an online search
have answered the questions with no instruction?
-Do they help develop critical
thinking skills?
-Are they aligned with the curriculum?
If the
answer to any of these is “no,” then more opportunities for relevance exist.
#8: Structure
a lesson in which students get to be the instructor in an area in which they
have expertise. This can be done in
small groups, as opposed to the full class, for both the sake of time and
lessening the intimidation for students.
You will be amazed at how well students can assist their own peers if it is a topic that they are
passionate about learning themselves.
#7: Have a peer (or a student if you are really brave)
record how much time is spent with “teacher-talk,” as opposed to
student-centric activities over the course of a week. If more than 20% of the conversation is
teacher-centric, then students may need more involvement.
#6: Assess students on both the questions they ask, as
well as the ones they answer. This is a
simple and yet radical idea. Creativity
comes in part from curiosity and questioning, not just in providing answers to
someone else’s questions.
#5: Do students have
voice in creating their own projects, defining goals, developing a plan, or
communicating their results to a larger audience? Of course, all of these items must be done
within the constraints of the curriculum, but the point is that when students
have “voice and choice,” they are more likely to see relevance and stay
engaged.
#4: Can a student make a mistake without
penalty? Some theorize that fear of the
red “x” is what causes us to be cautious in our risk-taking as students and
later as adults. However, as any
inventor knows, without trial and error, progress will never occur. As Thomas Edison said, “I have not
failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that
won’t work.” Many successful businesses
are recognizing the need for experimentation and “play” without penalty. In fact, Google believes that every good idea
they have ever had as a company came from a period of time set aside for
productive play to come up crazy ideas without any fear of failure.
#3: Take a virtual field trip. A virtual
field trip is a guided exploration that organizes a collection of thematically
based web pages into a structured online experience. Teachers can take students
beyond the classroom walls into some of the world’s most interesting locations! If you are looking for a place to start, try www.discoveryeducation.com
#2: Try arts integration in a collaborative approach with teachers in
your fine or performing arts department.
In this environment, students construct and demonstrate understanding through
an art form of some kind (e.g., music and drama). Students engage in a creative
process which connects an art form and another subject and meets evolving
objectives in both content areas. In
fact, integrated approaches in any discipline show the connectedness of the
content being studied, thus enhancing its relevance.
#1: Video yourself
teaching and do a self-analysis. This
one is unnerving at first, much like hearing a recording of your voice for the
first time. However, if a picture is
worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million!
*Note: Top 10 items were contributed from ILS
Directors, as well as from the book Most
Likely to Succeed, by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith (2015).
