Tinker Thinker

Reading Response #2


I absolutely love making my students think and stretch their creative minds. Isn't that why we're here in the first place? To make them think? One of the units I created in my CP I was a unit around expectations and assumptions specifically in regards to adolescence and teenagers. I really wanted to create a unit that involved the students not only reflecting on their own misconceptions but the lens in which the rest of the world views them as well. The first part of the unit involved students having to think about their own assumptions or expectations. I separated the class into groups according to their interests and grade levels. Interest being a key factor. I noticed that even though the students may be at different levels, if they were all invested in the same things they have a higher likelihood of completing the task. There were a couple of exceptions of course that would enjoy veering their group into the opposite direction but I spread those students out accordingly. I began with a Gallerywalk activity where the students were each given a topic like "Technology," "Love," "Education," or "Family." I then had them draw two columns with the numbers 1-10 in each column. The first column was labeled "10 Things Everyone Should Know About _______" and the other "10 Things Everyone Should Learn About ________."  The students were then asked to work in their groups and come up with ten items for each column. They then had to participate in a gallery walk writing down the items they most agreed with and least agreed with. Afterwards, they had to do another reflection. Many students did not realize the assumptions that some of their peers had towards these topics. From there, I used their "Education" and "Family" poster to begin transitioning to student's expectations of themselves and their life goals versus that of their peers, parents, and the nation towards adolescence. My students really had to think about the limitations put on them by outside forces while reflecting on who they were as a person and what they wanted. It was a fantastic transition between the hopeless, "There is nothing I can do" to the, "I am who I am and no one will stand in my way." I had them think a lot about the assumptions and limitations they put on themselves and how these factors have changed their life path. I presented numerous articles that would argue that "Teenagers require guidance and need to be taken care of" versus "teenagers are doing just fine and the media is creating a false perception." I also used the late Steve Jobs as an example and pulled from his graduation speech at Harvard. The students really responded to this icon and his ability to follow his own dreams. The way I support my student's to think is through solid essential questions that open the class up for discussion. I also use a lot of self reflection to increase the affectivness of the assignment and to make them realize that they are part of this perpetuating system. I have to admit, I also really like using loaded statements to get a rise out of them. Oftentimes, the students will begin to think about the statement and start realizing the fallacies within it and they connect those fallacies to things that they have seen in their own lives. As Jim Burke states that students need to " 'embrace the contradictions' and the complexity we find everywhere in our world." From there they attempt to rationalize the opponent's argument in an attempt to find understanding in something they disagree with. The student's make the connections themselves. It's like a puzzle. I made the puzzle and broke it apart but they already know how to put it back together.