Mar
21
Pirate Supply Stores in all our schools!!!
March 21, 2008 | Tagged Dave Eggers, Education, equation, fun, learning |
If this doesn’t make sense to you then take a few deep breaths, vigorously shake your head, go for a walk then watch the video again. Repeat if needed.
I have been a fan of Dave Eggers since his first book came out. He has written two of my favorite books and edits/publishes a magazine I read quarterly. He also runs a Pirate Supply Store – seriously, if you have a Pirate Supply store you have a ton of street cred.
What struck me about his presentation at TED was, aside from how nervous he seemed, much like Clay Burell (If you have not begun you need to start reading this guys blog), how excited he about this project he is.
The writing workshop/tutoring is a wonderful example of how students can and do get excited about doing their work and learning when the environment is comfortable and welcoming.
The equation is simple (I am not a math guy and this is a rough draft):
Focused attention + Unconditional love/understanding from adults/mentors + Rigorous class work + fun + time to complete work = Student centered learning environment
To break it down:
Focused attention: We need to look at the content of a course and focus all of our attention on deconstructing, and then playing with each of its parts, then reconstruction it to be used by the students in real life scenario.
Unconditional love/understanding: Student will do anything if they feel that they are able to make mistakes and not be judged. This is based trust. The students at my school are predisposed to not trusting adults but once trust has been developed and tested (which took a long time) they are willing to try almost anything – public dance offs - acting - singing - screaming etc.
Rigorous class work: Students know what they are capable of and if you short change they know it and they will never perform to their true abilities. They know themselves much better than we do.
Fun: Students (by students I mean all human beings) are genetically encoded with a need to fool around and have fun. Why fight it – embrace it. Fun does not mean that learning cannot happen.
Time to complete work: This one is the easiest to understand but the hardest to fulfill. Teachers are expected to cover too much information with to little time. The time needed to cover material is not as important as the time needed to for students to become curious and then quench their curiousity Some students simply need the time to become curious about the material. We cannot expect students to learn if they are not ready. Time is limited but the opportunity to witness the magic of learning should not be passed up because “We need to finish this unit!”
Eggers example of the students publishing books is a testament to this learning equation. I know we all have had these moments here and there but we need to turn the moments into the “always.” It is, and will continue to be, a challenge.
Good luck and keep fighting the good fight.
