With the start of every new school year their is always the overwhelming feeling of optimism and hope for the new class and new group of young minds. For teachers, shortly after that first class period that feeling is often replaced with the smothering dread and anxiety about the AMOUNT of content that needs to be covered, that MUST be covered. As a history teacher I feel this more than most because parents, students, teachers, and even my boss has hard proof of how much content I was able to cover and missed by simply pointing to the last year or decade and covered and ask, “what about the rest?” I problem that other subjects can sometimes get around. This fear of content failure is a constant source of anxiety for teachers especially as we approach the end of the year and still have not covered X, Y, and Z. This fear is partly why many teachers plow headlong into their content on day one of classes. I used to start this way, hoping my proactive approach would lead to increased productivity (it did not) and decreased anxiety (it did not). So I switched to a new system and now I spend my first three days without even touching the textbook or the content inside...that is right, THREE WHOLE DAYS! The school I work at, St. John Vianney High School, has a two semester college prepatory schedule. This means that I see my students everyday for 90 minutes and at the end of the semester the students take their final exam. At the start of the new semester everyone has new classes and I have dozens of new students to start over with. In this system I have twice the opportunity to FREAK OUT about content, the schedule, and how I plan to cover 700 years of history in 81 days. I started my mindshift after reading the book “Teach Like a Pirate” by Dave Burgess. This book, written by a history teacher, explores a different way to teach. This new system asks teachers to engage their students through play, interactions, and fun. I HIGHLY recommend the book to all teachers as he explores how every subject can become more engaging to students. In the book he speaks about the power of the first 3 days of the new year and what could be done with those valuable hours. You could jump right into content, dragging your students with you hoping that they are ready to learn about weeks of break OR you could engage them as people. Dave Burgess suggested that you should get to know your students and allow them to get to know you. Then let them know your expectations and what they can expect out of the class. I took this to heart and transformed my class based on his model. Here is what I came up with: Day 1: Introductions and Expectations (remember 90 minute classes!)
Day 2: Desert Island Survival Day!
Day 3: “Sector 6” Introduction and Sigil Design
Over the course of these three days I have the opportunity to speak A LOT with each of my new students and they get to know me on a personal level. When we do start content on day four (content day one) we have a rapport to build off, a set of expectations, and a common goal in mind. This is now the third semester I have conducted this system and I can say that the relationships I have built over these days pay dividends when we get deep into the heart of the content. So, consider this for your future...would you rather spend a little bit of your time building a relationship with your students that you can expand upon for the whole class OR shove a few more days of raw content at them?
For me those relationships are crucial even if I miss a few decades of history later in the course!
1 Comment
Jillian Hoge
1/20/2016 12:23:38 pm
personal relationships trump a couple of decades every time! always love the projects.
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Brandon LewisMy name is Brandon Lewis and I am a high school history teacher in St. Louis Missouri. I practice the art of teaching at St. John Vianney High School. Archives
March 2016
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