You may be familiar with this video. If you Google 'the worst music video ever' it is number one on the list. I showed it to my junior high classes today. Yesterday I sang to them Dumb Ways to Die with an ukulele accompaniment.
My goal is to create shared community experiences for us. The diversity of our community is huge and getting more so all the time. We don't have the luxury of any real shared history through the usual tv shows, music, or even being together in the same school. As the social studies teacher I am taking on the responsibility of creating shared experiences for us. Do you think it is possible to create a community without some shared experiences?
I hope you danced along with this...
ReplyDeleteThis post has been rattling around in my head for a few weeks now and I realized today how powerful those "shared experiences" you are talking about are. By creating memories that students have together in our classrooms we will ensure that way more "content" is deeply learned and can be meaningfully applied. We talk all the time about the power of student blogging, but it shines here too. Having students write, read and discuss online creates that shared experience you are getting at. I like to think of this in juxtaposition to the traditional model where the teacher has all the experiences and shares those with the students which as we know creates only superficial learning.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Jasper. Thanks for the reinforcement of my idea :)
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