http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/24/teacher-spends-two-days-as-a-student-and-is-shocked-at-what-she-learned/
I just read this and the follow-up article by her father online and it really spoke to me. It's amazing that over the past week, as I've thought about what I would do in my own HS classroom, if that is the path I choose to take, that the thoughts, ideas, and passion keeps flowing and corresponds with the opinions of others. So, before I lose sight of this passion and hope that someday, my ideas might come to some sort of fruition and use, I would like to put them into some sort of record.
I have been thinking that having a no or little written home-work policy would be incredible! So much learning doesn't happen at home because it is so often wasted on finishing the assignment. I felt this very often when I couldn't read thoroughly in my textbooks because I didn't have the time to enjoy really learning and retaining the information and also completing the assignment. I had to focus on filling out the worksheet instead of developing my thoughts and opinions on a subject. I find it terrible that I often did not take much away from my readings because I was just doing what I can only classify as a word-search. I was looking, not to learn and take in the text, but to find the words that would lead me to the sentence my teacher wanted me to find. This is one of the many reasons that I hated worksheets. Especially as I got older.
However, we know that as teachers, we must have a way to not only hold our students accountable for their learning, but also test their understanding of the material. So, in lieu of a written home-work, I would rather ask my students to learn about something through interaction with an actual person or idea and then discuss it in class the next day. The idea about civics is that it is all about communication. One must be able to communicate one's views well to another person and also be able to see another's point of view. Without this, there is little hope of progress in anything.
When students get to class, I will call for them to write down what they learned from their homework and how it applies to them and what they could do with it. The personal application part is my favorite. In many subjects, we forget that students put value on what they can actually use. By asking my students to find what they can use from conversations with others, they are making what they learn matter to them. In short, I hope to teach my students to have passion. Not for everything, but for the things that matter most to them.
I want to know what is important to my students and help them to find ways to make it important to those around them. When I get a group of students for the first time, I would love to give them, with no or little introduction, the citizenship test for immigrants, and see how they do on it. Also, to ask them, what civics means to them and what they want to get out of my class. Then after I've gotten those back from them, I want to have a huge list of topics, ideas, and policies on the board, or a work-sheet for them to look at. Ask them which stand out, if there are any missing that they think should go on there, and why these things should be important to them, at their age. I hope to allow them time to ponder on the adventure that we are starting.
I Love the idea of being bluntly honest with my students. I feel that we should be on the same team. And for that to happen, I have to be open with them. I don't want to worry about breaking the 4th wall. I want to explain to them about how I didn't really like high school and especially not my civics classes. About how I was amazing at B.S.-ing on my homework and even in class. How I got really great at falling asleep in class and even skipping class. Also, about how I know that things can be hard for them too. I understand that they have jobs, families, emotional situations, private lives, other classes, extra-curriculars, and more. That I hope my class will keep them awake, be a place they can learn how to improve their lives, be better employees, students, friends, and citizens. Also, how I want it to be a safe place. That we will discuss passionate topics, really important policies, and that everyone should have an opinion but that we won't always share those. That I don't want to change anyone's mind about what they think or believe, but I do ask that they at least consider why they believe what they do, and why someone else may believe differently. And that they are respectful of other's beliefs.
I want to have class debates where students are forced to debate something they don't agree with. To talk to other students about important things. To see each other as human. To be real, honest, and find and live with integrity. To walk away from my class knowing that they will use what they learned in my classroom throughout their lives. Whether that be the importance of good grammar, being true to themselves, having opinions, respecting others, or how to have a verbal conversation. There is value in each person and seeing that in others is a grand thing.
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