You are at the precipice, the top of the incline. Peering out over the landscape, just before, the wheels unlock and you plummet. The metal wheels clattering against wood, making an exhilarating sound, like no other. There are screams of joy, with a little fear mixed in. Cheers of utter helplessness and happiness. Everyone on board, succumbs to gravity and acceleration and the ride of their lives.
Anticipate it, plan for it, don't counter act it. Don't get locked in phase. Keep the wheels well-oiled and the friction at a minimum. Lean in to the surge. Ride the peaks and valleys, arms held high, air whipping against your face. Tears rolling down your cheeks, as the tempest, gusts against your skin. It is awakening something inside. That inner child that you keep hidden, as you traverse adulthood. But, it is these moments, these fractional releases, that keep us motivated to continue.
As we near the end of the school year, classrooms tend to slow in their intensity. Becoming merry-go-rounds rather than roller-coasters. As educators, we can't settle in for the commute. We need to buckle up for the turns, whirls and bumps. We as teachers, will get jostled and rattled and bounced. We need to lean in, and turn with the motion. Students need to feel the pace increase, the potential energy climb, this time of year. They need to know that our expectations are still high and that the kinetic, energetic, stimulating lessons are still approaching.
Students are beginning to mentally, seek other ways of entertainment. They are hyped and ready to go into their extended holiday. Their feet are in motion, scuffing the ground rapidly, like an animated character, trying to get traction before speeding off. How can we slow their escape? More importantly, how can we create a fun environment, an amusement park, if you will, so they do not want to?
Minor changes, Major Results
Anticipate. Exhaustion from standardized tests, final exams, and end of the year projects, is a heavy fog. It is unavoidable. But, it is easily lifted if we create provocative activities for our students. Toss aside the worksheets and videos, many tend to put forward, as a result of fatigue and debility. Let's give the copier a respite and engage with mobility and challenge. Let's start the climb, can you hear it...click click...rattle...rattle as the the car clatters up the incline?
Here are a few quick enterprises, I use to joggle my students out of their stupor.
1. I erase the board and turn it into a graffiti wall. Let students draw cartoons of vocabulary and concepts. I let them interact on a giant, colorful mural.
2. I use the furniture. Under each chair or desk, I place a question. Then hide the answers around the room. But rather than having the answers written out, I have a rebus or picto-gram they have to decipher.
3. As a brain break- I play a zombie song or the theme from Walking Dead and play zombie musical chairs. The last zombie, scuffling, has to review the days concept to the class.
4. A little candy, goes a long way. I rarely hand out candy. It's just not my thing. But, at the end of the year, during our PBL on Texas Eco-regions, I use the anticipation of king-sized candy bars as an incentive to keep the competitiveness alive. I like to end the year with a PBL, it is a great way to keep them collaborative and engaged.
Trough to Peak
Project based learning can be dull and boring. When the topic is mundane, students do not feel a connection. Texas Eco-regions is a topic that for my students, tends not to be an exciting one. We just finished a unit on ecosystems and catastrophic events and they are a little burned out on Ecology. So every year, I jazz things up by taking it in a different direction.
Thursday, I showed a 4 minute video that summed up all of the eco-regions of Texas brief descriptions- quick being key. Then I asked two questions: Which one sounds the most exciting to you- where would you like to live, other than Houston if you could? and How are these eco-regions unique? We talked for about twenty minutes. The conversation was awesome and they had a lot to say, as most of them have traveled around Texas and lived here for awhile. They may not have been familiar with the eco-regions themselves but they knew where the major cities were and the climates etc. Then I had them draw a region from a hat. Each pair or group of three, got a different region. Then I said: "I am an investor with a lot of money. I want to build my manufacturing company in Texas. I want to invest and build not only a company, but a home for my family. "Sell" me your region. Tell me the outdoor activities, the environmental characteristics, tourism attractions etc. How much rainfall, safety and weather concerns etc. Make me want to invest there."
The team who convinces me through a great presentation and "pitch" gets the prize, a king sized candy bar. One winning team per class. This got them motivated really fast. I provided laptops and I-pads and off they went, researching and drawing, they even made name placards for their desks. No poster or visual required, but recommended to create a better "pitch." They will have 4 full class periods to complete. Then on May 3rd, I will put all my tables in a giant circle facing each other and each region will take a spot, put placards up, attach posters, to the fronts of the tables, and make their 'pitch.'
Each eco-region will have 3 minutes to "pitch" me their region. After they 'pitch' each team will have 2 more minutes to explain why they are better than the other eco-regions. Why I should move to their eco-region and not the others. They have to do this using data collected from the presentations. Hard evidence to counter one another. Then I will choose the one I feel has the best to offer, based on their enthusiasm and research. This PBL gets them arguing, collaborating, and very focused on doing a great job. They get mobile and interactive and because they have to debate one another, they really have to listen to each others 'pitch.'
Trough to peak.
Rolling in to the Station
This time of year, teachers and students both need motivation waves. Peripheral tasks that peak interest. Wins needn't be large, but they need to be frequent. Teachers need to provide opportunities for high probability growth and incremental successes. We have to make daunting tasks more attainable. We need to make learning the focus and keep our activities purposeful, but more importantly, approachable. If we hand them a worksheet, or play a video, they will not feel the urgency or the energy needed, for the final approach.
At the end of the day, it is important, as a class, to record daily 'dones'. Have students reflect and monitor their level of commitment and motivation. If together, teachers and students chart their progress and achievements, they can eliminate unnecessary frustration and doubt. Standardized tests, final exams, and end of the year projects are overwhelming for students. Our students, are being bogged down with a lot of work and pressure. We can help them feel more secure, if we keep an open dialogue and keep things light.
There needs to be a sense of urgency, this is helpful. Students and teachers need to feel the tick...tick...tick, before the boom, of the last bell of the year. But, we do not need to add undue stress. We should be tempering the glass. Getting more flexible, so when we hike the incline, we are more calm and prepared for the sudden drop. That is what makes learning exciting. Knowing where we are going, but being surprised each time, we get aboard the roller-coaster. The ride may be familiar, the speed consistent, but each time we slowly rise, to the precipice our anticipation and engagement varies. It is this variance that makes each excursion, each expedition, each carousal saunter, personal and meaningful.
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