For the past two weeks, my students in Humor and Satire have been reading The Taming of the Shrew. The play is an interesting play because of the issues that it brings up and the ability to use humor while diving into these issues. I posed the question as to whether they thought the play was sexist or not and if so then why would he write it. I wanted to give the students some options as to how they wanted to answer the question. Some of the groups did newspapers, comparison glogs, television shows, and a soundtrack.
The students liked the freedom. They liked choosing their assignment. They liked working together in groups. They liked using the netbooks.
I didn't like the amount of time the assignment took. I didn't like that one group did a lot of the work outside of class, so I didn't see the process that they went through, even though their final project was pretty good. I didn't like the lack of depth that the students took on the question. I didn't like that all of the groups took the easy answer, "Yes it is sexist." I didn't like the difficulty of making sure they were on task.
Lunn
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"When we make our learning transparent, we become teachers"
ReplyDeleteI love this quote...and this is exactly what you're doing, David. It is so incredibly important to continually reflect on our work with students.
It appears as though there is quite a bit you didn't like about this assignment. I thought I'd take each of your "dislikes" and make some general comments or ask questions of each one.
"I didn't like the amount of time the assignment took."
While I know we are hugely restricted by time constraints, one question I would ask myself is was it worth it? Do you feel as though they learned more deeply? If not, well then it might not be worth it to repeat this assignment...at least not in the same manner. I, myself, didn't mind taking more time on something if I thought the students were deeply involved and highly engaged.
"I didn't like that one group did a lot of the work outside of class, so I didn't see the process that they went through, even though their final project was pretty good."
This is one I always grappled with because it often became difficult to determine what grade to give each student. I think it comes with the territory of handing over more control to the students. Are there ways to place several checkpoints in which the students show you their work? That way, it may be easier to determine who is doing the work. Could you have them make their learning transparent? Through blog posts? I find it helpful to remember that the process is often as important, or more important, than the final project. That's where the true learning exists.
"I didn't like the lack of depth that the students took on the question. I didn't like that all of the groups took the easy answer, "Yes it is sexist."
Do students know HOW to provide deeper answers? Have they been given good examples of thoughtful, articulate comments? Are they truly engaged in the content? I know I think more deeply when I am interested in the content. It goes back to my comments on one of your other posts; how do we bring relevance to our work with students? Why should they care? What is it that will encourage them to care?
"I didn't like the difficulty of making sure they were on task."
Again, reflect on their commitment...their interest in the topic. Are they "owning" any of it? If I told you that you had to write a paper on, say, shopping at Nordstrom's, how engaged would you be in the task? Sure, there are some things they have to attend to whether they like it or not but is there some way to hook them? Are there ways to give them more choices beyond what tool to use?
I have to tell you something, David...this is some of the most interesting work I've done, yet. I am learning so much working with you. Thanks!