Teachers should look for every opportunity they have to give students life-like experiences in the classroom. The teacher can do this by presenting students with real-life scenarios for the students to engage in. These scenarios should give the students the opportunity to recall their own previous experiences and to gain from the experiences of others.
One of the most memorable learning experiences that I had in high school came from my 11th grade US History class. Our teacher wanted us to understand what situations many immigrants were faced with in this country before certain labor laws were put into place. To do this, he took us into the little gym of our high school with the light low. He had us perform various tasks and made us sit on the floor to do so. As we were completing the tasks he would yell out instructions to us in Czech. After this activity, we discussed what conditions we were under and how we felt about those conditions. We then compared our experiences to those of early immigrants and the work conditions that they were exposed to. I can honestly say that I gained an understanding and even an appreciation for what immigrants went through during that period of history. To this day I can still recall much of what we discussed on that day, and I could give you a good idea of what it was like for immigrant workers before certain labor laws were put into place.
To me, this is a great example of a memorable learning experience. We didn't just talk about the working conditions of immigrant workers, we experienced it, and we were able to share each others thoughts and perceptions on the whole situation. This case-based learning activity is something that I will remember for the rest of my life, and I can honestly say, it is something that took me to a higher place in learning.
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My undergraduate work was in History. While I was finishing my Associates one of the last classes I took was my History 1700 from Dr. Harris at DSC. Of all the History teachers I have had from Jr High on, I never had a teacher that really made History come alive for me until him. I ate up his class every session. Because of him I decided to pursue a B.S. in History and if Seminary fell through then I would be a High School History teacher. Luckily I was hired by CES but none-the-less, It was the good teaching ability of a professor who loved what he did that spurred me in that direction. So, I completely understand.
ReplyDeleteMy 11th grade U.S. teacher was also one of my favorite high schoolt teachers. All he did was lecture, but he had a way of getting to us and we remembered it all. It was great!
ReplyDeleteI also like your idea of making things life-like. The more you can give kids experiences so that they don't have to ask, "when are we ever going to use this?," the better!
By using real life experiences, the student are able to relate and understand the material. If a teacher can "hook" the students using stories, then they can teach the students the concepts or ideas the students need to learn.
ReplyDeletesounds like an interesting activity....what was the role of expectation failure in that activity? did you have to predict something ahead of time?
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