Very recently, my professor shared with me this video:
My absolute favorite thing that this boy says is, "you have to touch [students] hearts". How profound is that? I one hundred percent believe that the only way to teach is to excite. You have to draw emotions out of your students. They have to feel something about what they are doing in class or it won't stick. They will not remember and they will not learn if they are not somewhat emotionally involved in what you say, do, or teach.
In one of my classes the other day, a small group of students (myself included) came up with a phrase that I believe accurately portrays much of today's teaching strategies and that phrase is "The Game of Consumption". While I was in high school and middle school, it seemed to me that in order to succeed all I needed to do was remember certain things long enough to do well on the test. I didn't learn very much in the classes that I wasn't inspired. I didn't learn anything when all I was asked to do was consume and then spit out. Recite this and recite that, answer these questions, fill out that packet, listen to this lecture... I consumed and consumed, but I did not remember. I consumed enough to do well and then I forgot.
However, in other classes, I didn't win the game of consumption because the teacher wasn't playing that game. Instead, those teachers had us build roller coasters, care for animals, enter writing contests, and compete in trivia nights. I remember most of what I learned in my high school chemistry class because my teacher related it to our every day lives. In the 7th grade, I remember my language arts class because we got to choose what we wrote about. Everything I have ever learned has been stored into memory because I was emotionally involved. I often think that many teachers get caught up in the curriculum and all the standardized tests, but I think its important and necessary for teachers to stop brainwashing their students about what to think and start teaching them how to think.
In one of my classes the other day, a small group of students (myself included) came up with a phrase that I believe accurately portrays much of today's teaching strategies and that phrase is "The Game of Consumption". While I was in high school and middle school, it seemed to me that in order to succeed all I needed to do was remember certain things long enough to do well on the test. I didn't learn very much in the classes that I wasn't inspired. I didn't learn anything when all I was asked to do was consume and then spit out. Recite this and recite that, answer these questions, fill out that packet, listen to this lecture... I consumed and consumed, but I did not remember. I consumed enough to do well and then I forgot.
However, in other classes, I didn't win the game of consumption because the teacher wasn't playing that game. Instead, those teachers had us build roller coasters, care for animals, enter writing contests, and compete in trivia nights. I remember most of what I learned in my high school chemistry class because my teacher related it to our every day lives. In the 7th grade, I remember my language arts class because we got to choose what we wrote about. Everything I have ever learned has been stored into memory because I was emotionally involved. I often think that many teachers get caught up in the curriculum and all the standardized tests, but I think its important and necessary for teachers to stop brainwashing their students about what to think and start teaching them how to think.