Fear
The fear of what could go wrong can’t stop me from doing what’s right…
Chris Lehman’s interview with Steve Hargadon.
Having just read Durff’s blog about this subject i was compelled to share my trying something new each week.
When I listended to Ian Jukes last week he shared what Ted McCain was up to. Teaching through a project based curriculum. He wears different ‘Character’ hats to present challenges and projects to his class…. Well I thought I’d give it a go.
My class were due to start a house design and model project for technology so I entered with my hat with a “C” on it for the character and the name ‘Ted Hawkins’. Now Mr H
awkins is a developer who has bought two field on the outskirts of town and has divided it up into 20 sections for development. I divided the class into teams who are assigned to research, design and model their ‘Designer home’ for Ted to consider for his development. Now my kids are 7 and 8, they love Ted even if he is mean and project focused. I feel that even doing this for a just a week the children are beginning to apply themselves in an independent manner that surprised me for such a short period of time. Mr Evans the teacher is still around but he is only allowed to ask the teams questions and is not allowed to answer them because, as far as this project goes: “Mr Evans knows nothing and Mr Hawkins, well, he knows everything!”
My kids eagerly await the arrival of Mr Hawkins… they have lots of questions to ask him!
You look so gorgeous in that hat! Well done you for putting into practise what we heard from Ian Jukes (he WAS good wasn’t he?!). My fear was that my students would just raise their eyebrows at me if I did the hat thing – but I am seriously considering it now – especially if the independence improves in our class as much as it has in yours!
Something new this week (week of June 24th)? I’m taking an online course. About video production. All brand new subject matter and a brand new way to learn. Why? I have to take some sort of formal credit to maintain PA certification (yes, I know I’m in MD) and I may as well learn something for my $320! Then I can teach K12 students what I learn. I think we have some kids who can teach me a lot about video production!
Your hat reminds me of a strategy I used in Math last year. The green fuzzy hat represented zero on the number line. One student was the green hat, or zero. Others were asked to take their place in relation to zero, to -2 or +5 and so on. We recreated a number line. While not as eloquent as your excellent project, it did involve more learning styles and get them up and about for a bit.
Why that hat? Because someone got it at an amusement park near us and gave it to me free. I like free.
[...] Way a back I introduced my students to ‘Ted Hawkins’. A fictious character with an assignment for them. This time I’ve introduced my guest class to him in a slightly different guise. [...]