Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Real-World Hope

In the effort to perfect my delivery of my "student content creative" activities I will be implementing one tomorrow to three classes of teenagers with the hope that they will find them engaging and relevant to their lives. Now the idea of perfecting implementation should conjure thoughts of students discussing, thinking, and planning with only slight input from me. If I can reach a point where classes of students are spending the time I have with them presenting on all of the interesting ideas they worked together to form I will consider that time as perfectly implemented. Now, not all young people are in the right frame of mind to accomplish this challenging task (Hell, most adults can't do this) but with an activity that pushes them to create content in the classroom based off of real life experiences, there will be much to discuss.

I understand my job as implementing engaging activities and then framing dialogue rules or structures (like brainstorms, debates, or presentations) to create opportunities for genuine discussion amongst the people who just thought deeply about the real life implications of the subject matter.

It has worked in the past and I anticipate it will work in the future. What I need especially are allies in the classroom and out willing to help me empower the students to see their real-life contexts as able to be changed and not hopelessly stagnant and oppressive.

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