Yes, We’ve Reached THAT Part of the School Year
Help — my learners aren’t engaged!
Yes, my friends — it is that time of year, seasonal change is happening, the testing season for many is gearing up, we’ve hit the second semester, the third quarter, the downhill portion where our legs aren’t moving fast enough, but somehow faster than we ever imagined and we haven’t fallen on our face...yet.
We’re (educators) tired.
They’re (learners) tired.
Everyone (in education) is tired.
So what do we do? How do we rally? How do we survive? No — how do we thrive even in moments like these whether they last a class period, a day, a week, a month, a quarter…longer?
First step: We breathe. Everyone, learners, educators, administrators, support staff…everyone
Second step: Find a moment, a token, an activity that brought you joy or that you would like to bring you joy. Show gratitude if it already happened, and make it happen if it has not yet. This step is hugely important.
Was it a giggle from a student, a corny joke from a colleague, an exit slip that everyone ACED? Was it a donut from the lounge, all of your pencils returned at the end of the day, or a class period with zero technical difficulties? Did you successfully implement something new? Did an oldie-but-goodie lesson plan work? Whatever it was, celebrate.
Are you taking learners outside tomorrow for nature journaling? Are you trying something new with morning check-in? Are you incorporating popular culture into a lesson on Friday? Are you packing an extra cookie to savor at lunch? Are you going to splurge on your favorite type of writing utensil?
DO. IT.
Third step: Plan something for fun — forget mandated standards for a moment — plan something purely for fun with your learners. Coloring? Dance Party? New pencils for everyone? No shoes Math time? Ten minutes of time outdoors? Share jokes for 3 minutes?
Fourth step: Make step 3 a small part of every day — literally write it in your lesson plans if you need to — set an alarm for it every day — whatever it takes. Bring that fun into the day.
Fifth step: Let’s start to transform your planning process. You might choose to wait on step five for a little while, and this is okay. It’s your pace. This one is the one that is asking a little more of you and you might not have that to give right now. It’s okay. I give you permission to be human. When you are ready, let’s talk experiences, not lesson plans.
What’s an experience?
It’s something you feel, you hear, you smell, you see, you might even taste — it is a memory being made; immersion into a moment of time.
What’s a lesson plan?
It is an intentionally planned, standards-based, learner-centered progression of learning complete with scaffolds for learning, and assessment (formative and summative) opportunities.
Which sounds more inviting? Why excites you? Which makes you want to be involved?
Experiential learning is how we naturally learn within and about the world around us.
How did you learn to walk?
How did you learn to talk?
How did you learn to eat and drink?
While these tasks may have involved scaffolded learning, I assure you there was no lesson plan being followed. You experienced them, you tried them, you failed often, you were cheered on by onlookers and caretakers, and eventually, you were able to do these tasks. What assessment was used? this is not a trick question, you are assessed on these skills daily, but it’s not a multiple choice test, exit slip, slide show, or essay…you do them.
All living things want to learn, our very survival depends on learning, we choose to learn things that we find necessary, relevant, and interesting. And when we want to learn something, we find or make a way to do it. We find resources, we find the time to practice, and we enjoy doing it.
Why can’t educational systems be like this too? Why can’t learning be a carefully scaffolded experience that piques interest, is interconnected to our lives, and brings us joy?
So, where do we begin this process of transformation?
This will depend on you and your planning process, but I will offer up my thought process for examination and hopefully, inspiration!
My process is a series of questions intended to help me think, plan, and most importantly tap into creativity and a creative process. Check it out.
Question 1: What is the intended outcome?
This might be a learning standard, objective, or set of skills; it’s the foundation for thinking, not a rigid enclosure that stifles thinking
Example: collecting and analyzing data, graphing, identifying landmarks (mean, median, mode)
Question 2: When is this used in my (my learners!) life?
Example: identifying shared traits with friends, figuring out when to have a party or get together, deciding what type of foods to have for an event
Question 3: When is this used in the world? (maybe outside of my own experience or that of my learners)
Example: biodiversity surveys (what lives in an area), advertisement agencies to determine what products to promote (times to promote, places to promote, items to promote)
Question 4: What is enjoyable about these options?
Example: learning about different people, being out in nature, “doing” learning rather than just “receiving” learning
Question 5: What now?
This is my favorite part of the planning process, it’s where I get to be creative and combine all of the questions into an experience. What will my learners do?
This is often where I think about the location for learning as a way to engage my learners. Will we stay in the classroom? Will I rearrange the classroom? Will I transform the classroom? Will we go outside? Will we go to a different place inside the school? Will I plan an off-campus field trip? Can I use all of these ideas and plan a series of experiences?
What option will have the biggest impact on learning? What will not only engage and excite learners but make learning effective, impactful, and memorable?
Other than location, what else will I use to immerse learners in the content and skills of the experience? Can I create a playlist of music that enhances the experience? Maybe I need to curate some sound effects for different parts of the experience. Maybe the natural sounds of the space are sufficient to set the mood or tone.
Is there an opportunity to include smells, textures, or tastes in the experience?
Do not allow yourself to get intimated by these prompts. You do not have to address every single question I pose here, they are meant as options and impetus for creativity, not for overwhelm. If something does not make sense to use in your experience, leave it out. The key is to just think about them and find what makes sense, what will enhance learning — not distract, become overly complicated, or just check boxes. This is where we differentiate from a traditional lesson plan…stop just checking boxes, forget the boxes — work those creative juices. The “box checking” will happen naturally when you think differently about the process as a whole.
You can go as big as you want in your creative process, in fact, that’s the beauty. It's about crafting an experience — what will you create? Even better, what might you co-create with your learners?
Are you ready to dive in? I’m here to help — need an ear? Need a collaboration partner? Want to spit ball some ideas? Please, reach out — I thrive in collaborative and creative processes and discussions. This is what education is about, let’s experience it together!
