Sometimes you let your students have the stage. They spoke today, told stories, made their peers laugh, made them feel sad, and their audience made noises that you don’t hear in real life.
Pretty fun, whether they think so or not. Got to learn how to speak, and they’re pretty good at it without my help.
So far, I have 57 seniors who all have A’s. The reason is simple–I give them work that reflects the class and their media-savvy lifestyle, and they all do the assignments well, have different answers, don’t cheat, and agree to disagree, when necessary. They had five or six of those assignments over the summer, so everyone came to school with an A. I know once we “read” a book that their grades will plummet, but, for now, every assignment I’ve given has been done by every student.
Sometimes, I just sit and let them get it done. So far they have.
A long time ago at Long Beach Poly, the administration let us have business cards for free. I was Tom Stover, Provider of Knowledge. It was a joke then, but I’m not sure why. Provide some knowledge, spark some curiousity, which leads to learning, which (I THINK) is what everyone wants.
Or maybe they sit and think (and think and think and think).