Why I Do What I Do
If you've looked over this site with any detail you might think all my students do is play games, color and watch movies. That is not the case. That said, I will proudly admit that my students do play games, color and watch movies - and probably moreso than they do in other classes. Students, especially in middle school, learn when they are motivated and engaged. I believe that motivation is the key "missing piece" in education today. Once they are motivated, the rest is easy.
Media in the Classroom
My classroom is very media-heavy. I have a video, song or story to go with just about everything we do. It is all about placing hooks for students to hang their bits of knowledge. I do not, however, show alot of movies in class in full. I rarely show more than one per unit and usually only when I have a substitute. Instead, I chop movies and TV shows into 2-3 minute clips that I use in Powerpoint alongside notes on the topic. Are they all educational? On their own, absolutely not. However, showing Lisa Simpson read her in-flight safety directions and joyously claim "they're written in haiku!" builds an interest in haiku that otherwise wouldn't happen. Introducing Martin Luther using R.E.M.s "Losing My Religion" may not teach the students much on its own but it is a hook that I can call on throughout the unit.
Our students live in a hyper-interactive world that constantly feeds them entertainment. If educators don't tap into that they are doing themselves a disservice. Yes, in an ideal world students would come in, read four pages and memorize every word, but that obviously isn't realistic. Frankly, I didn't learn much that way 15 years ago either. Dry, lifeless, and often incorrect textbooks just are not the best way to teach anyone anything. The only two things I remember from 7th grade are winning a comic book and reading a haiku that wasn't actually a haiku and never understanding why the book said it was (turns out it was a haiku in the original Japanese but not when translated.) In 8th grade though the textbook served only as a research tool that we used to do unit projects. I remember those projects. I remember playing review games before every quiz. I remember naming our newspaper "The Boston Mass." I remember the sinking of the Maine and yellow journalism.
Creativity Drives Us
You will often hear teachers say that creativity has been taken out of teaching today because of standardized tests. I will admit that in some schools this is the case as they are required to follow scripted lesson plans. Those cases, however, are limited. Yes, we are almost all bound by The Test that is always looming out there but so what? My job is to teach my students the state standards that will be covered on that test. How I get them from point A (coming out of elementary school with little to no history background period) to point B (performing well on the test) is completely up to me. Do I wish I could go deeper into the history of the Roman Empire? Absolutely, but that has nothing to do with stifling creativity.
Most teachers are creative by nature and we should encourage that in our students as well. My assignments are all standards-based and encourage creativity. Most of them involve writing and regularly require extra research beyond classroom lectures. My students are given a list of the assignments and then choose which they want to complete for a given unit. The topics are assigned but the way of exploring that topic is not. The excitement students show when given the opportunity to choose their own assignment amazes me to no end. That choice drives their creativity. Their creativity drives their learning.
So what?
So, I make no apologies for my class. My students learn history, period. I enjoy watching them learn it as much as they enjoy learning it. As long as they're motivated they will take it on themselves to learn. I motivate, they learn.