Learning as a Way of Teaching

I have been learning a new passion since my last post back in February: wearing a cape while teaching 8th grade Science.  Not something I figured I would be doing when the school year started, but it has turned into something I think is missing in our classrooms - humor and creativity.

In January, Amy (one of our 8th grade Science teachers) approached me with an idea to introduce lessons in preparation for our state’s standardized test, TAKS.  ‘What if you were a super hero named Taksman who helped students through their test?”  It was a simple idea that went through many variations before becoming the episodes that you will find on the “Taksman” link on my sidebar.  Feel free to check them out and let me know what you think.  These are the first episodes, so please overlook the crudeness of some of the editing and special effects; I am learning.

I used a Macbook loaded with Final Cut Express to make the short films.  Each episode was then watched before the lesson was delivered in the classroom.  Students were given the link to watch each episode on the web as well as subscribe to it on iTunes.  I created a gmail account for Taksman so students could write in their own questions or even ask to participate in an upcoming episode.  I only received one student e-mail and she will be in an episode that will be made available only on the web.

Some of the educational content is incorrect, giving teachers the opportunity to point out misconceptions or traps in thinking, as well as adding to the goofiness of this made-up super hero.

There are a lot of things that I loved about this project:

1. It required collaboration between teachers.  We put our heads together to determine the content that was presented, and it was truly a team effort as teachers were brought in to act, film, or provide some other parts of production.
2. It was a medium that students enjoy.  In the world of Youtube and independent filmmaking, students actually looked forward to going to Science class; if only to see what happens to Taksman next.
3. No one had done it before.  As far as I know, the use of home made video in the classroom has never been done before on our campus and it made me feel like a pioneer.
4. I got to be goofy.  God gave me the ability to act like an idiot and make people laugh.  I am comfortable in my own skin (apparently) and I enjoy being the center of attention.

Next idea?  A rip off of “Back to the Future” for History classes.  If I can only find 1.21 gigawatts to power my Ford Taurus…..

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 11:55 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.