learning with different senses

The module this week really made me reflect on what type of learner I am.  I realized that I learn best through a mixture of different activities.  I like reading on my own or with a group as we struggle to come up with an understanding of something but at the same time I also enjoy the directness that lectures give as they present the material without any frills or misconceptions.  The materials we had to work with this week even presented a good mix of auditory and visual sources with readings and videos.  I have noticed in the classroom that the best way for students is incorporating a similar mix.  Even though students do not have really have a preferable learning style and that it is all in their head, but appealing to their senses makes it more effective.

One of the may second “jobs” I have in my house is the handy man.  Since I was six years old I have helped my dad with tasks around our house.  During the past nineteen years I have learned everything on from lefty loosey, righty tighty to how to install electrical outlets, remodel bathrooms, and repair cars.  These skills were learned from reading directions on the items I needed to install, following spoken directions from my dad, and actually having hands on experience cutting, soldering, screwing, and hammering things. 

Inside the classroom I have had similar experiences mixing visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning.  My seventh grade history teacher had an exceptional way to teach us geography.  We would study our maps and fill them out in class but when it came to test day he had a different method to check us.  We would go to the common area of our school and each be given a note card with a country on it.  My teacher would then position himself in the common area and say that he was a country of that region and tell us what direction was north and where any oceans or major mountain ranges would be located based on his country.  We were then given some time to communicate with each other to see what countries our classmates had as we tried to correctly position ourselves in the common area based on the information our teacher gave us.  We used sight, sound, and movement to learn and it was extremely effective.

Regardless of what we once thought about learning styles the best way to help students learn is to differentiate and have them complete different activities that makes learning different.  This makes the class more enjoyable for everyone, including the teacher, and stops them from being caught in a boring routine.  Incorporating activities that appeal to different senses make it more effective because they are learning in different ways.  Some things may be taught better though lecture, reading, or running suicide springs in the hallways.  We all have experience teaching and know what works and what doesn’t.  Trust this experience and your students will learn. 

authentic learning...history style

When it comes to situated cognition knowledge is gained through experiences in authentic learning scenarios.  If you want to be a doctor you should immerse yourself in a hospital residency.  If you want to be a lawyer you should intern at a law firm or serve as a law clerk.  The best way for people to learn is to be immersed in the environment and solve problems in a apprenticeship model of learning.  But when it comes to teaching in a high school, how can we give students these authentic learning experiences? 

            Making history come alive to give students an authentic and meaningful learning experience is difficult.  In order to accomplish this I try to incorporate simulations, games, and immersive experiences into my classroom.  When I teach my classes about Westward Expansion we play a simple PowerPoint game where they are settlers trying to make it on the Oregon Trail and need to make it from Missouri to the West.  The must chose what their job will be, when they will start the journey, what type of wagon they will purchase, supplies, and everything else under the sun.  Each decision they make will impact them on the excursion.  While on the trail they face some of the usual problems that the people of the time had to deal with; no food, bad weather, attacks by bandits, dysentery, the works.  If they can work together as a team and make the right decisions then they will make it through with minimal issues or they may end up stranded in Idaho with no money, wagon, or food. 

Even though I am giving them an environment that is artificial and controlled by me it is still an authentic learning experience.  I am placing them in the shoes of these brave pioneers and forcing them to make life or death.  They are learning about a topic in context and solving realistic problems with this context.  I try to create some form of a immersive activity or project for my students to learn from with each unit.  When we learn about Reconstruction I have them create their own Reconstruction plans.  Once we start the project they know what the actual problems facing our country were and must develop the best way possible to heal the wounds of the Civil War and reunite our nation.  Authentic activities do not stop at the history classroom.  In my Civics class my students complete mock Presidential elections, mock Congress simulations where they must create and pass legislation, and mock trials for hypothetical Supreme Court Cases.  The simulations in my Civics classes deal with current issues and legislation so they are very authentic.  Simulated or not, I give my students authentic problems from the time periods we study so that they can see and experience firsthand what it was like for people in the past.  Trying to solve the issues and make life or death decisions like people once did make my history classroom an immersive and effective learning experience. 

           

How to help students pay attent...hey look shiny stuff

                Have you ever watched a movie that you read a spoiler about or might have heard the twist ending ahead of time?  Most of the time you pay little attention and you’re not really invested in the movie because you already know that Bruce Willis is dead or that Kevin Spacey is really Keyser Söze.  This is what teaching history is like.  It is difficult to keep students attention in a classroom with any subject let alone something that happened 200 years ago.  To keep students interested with history I find the best tactics are modern day connections, simulations, and my personal favorite “weird history”. 

                My job as a history teacher is to give students the knowledge to be intelligent members of society.  When they walk out of my classroom I want them to know how humanity has gotten to this point.  They hear stuff on the news about problems in the Middle East, but do they know how these problems started?  By giving students the necessary background information and helping them discover how decisions from the past impact us today then they can learn from those mistakes.  They can learn how people have dealt with political, social, and economic issues and still persevered.  They can learn that if you don’t like your leaders in office or the direction the country is headed you can get involved, protest, and make changes for the better.

                Simulations always get students attention in the classroom.  When I taught American politics I used computer games on iCivics.org to teach about the Electoral College, mock Congresses, mock trials, and my favorite a three party Presidential Election.  I had the students figure out what their candidates’ stances should be on issues in order to gain enough voters, what states they should focus on, develop print and video advertisements, and even had other students create investigative journalism reports on the candidates to present to the class in order to influence voters.  Anything that allows the students to be creative and do their own thing will hold their attention and produce meaningful work. 

                My favorite way to get student attention is by telling lesser known and weird stories from history.  These always get students attention because it breaks off from the normal history they read in their textbooks.  Things like how the real life inspiration for Chuck Norris jokes that is Teddy Roosevelt had a hand in creating the modern NFL, almost died while charting an uncharted river in the Amazon jungle with his son Kermit, and gave a campaign speech after being shot in the chest.  Or how John Quincy Adams would swim across the Potomac naked every morning and pretended to sleep at his desk in Congress to spy on the opposition.  When studying the industrial revolution I always bring up the awesomeness of Nikola Tesla and how he made Mark Twain poop his pants. These stories make class interesting, fun, and give them interesting things to talk about at parties when they grow up.

test http://www.cnn.com/