Have you ever thought of how you can make learning different from the usual? What are you currently teaching, how can you collaborate with teachers across other classes to make learning more meaningful and practical for your students? Teaching becomes stale when we do not allow for creativity.
Here’s an example:
We are learning about Ancient Civilizations in my junior secondary Social Studies class. To demonstrate their learning, I engaged students on a three day project where they assumed the role of teachers and worked in groups to prepare their own lessons on Mesopotamia (the first civilization) catchy enough for a younger audience. They used powerpoint slides to prepare their notes and pictures and discussed mode of delivery and activities for their lesson plans. Now, if you’re in a school where students have no access to technology, that shouldn’t hinder you. Encourage creativity by allowing students draw images on the board or cardboard papers.
For this project, I collaborated with teachers in Kindergarten and Grade 1 and my students had the privilege to bring our lessons to life with their students. It was one engaging, insightful, interactive and definitely fun class! The younger kids enjoyed being taught by older students, the pictures of people and life in Mesopotamia sparked up their curiosity and they asked a few questions and answered many from their young teachers earning them lots of high five.
Teachers, you can try this with any topic. The idea is to watch your students show understanding of what they’ve learned while impacting others and relishing being in a place of authority. They also pick up public speaking skills, sharpen their confidence and ability to collaborate and solve problems, all of which are real life skills needed to survive outside the classroom. Talk about using one stone to kill many birds. Do let me know how it goes with your students!
