I have always had students tell me that they enjoy my class. I even have parents tell me how much their kids enjoy class. I know my students learn as well. I always try to tell jokes and frequently make fun of myself. Most of the time my jokes are so lame that they laugh at how lame they are rather than the punchline. But are my students having fun?
I started thinking about this while I attended OETC and OETCx. While listening to a good friend's FREd talk (Forging Real Education) I really thought about my approach. My kids laugh and say they have fun, but are they learning while they are having fun, and vice versa?
Armed with this new question, I decided to plan something that was both; learning AND fun.
My 6th graders are currently reading The Cay by Theodore Taylor. The main character loses his vision and must trust a complete stranger while they are both stranded on an island. I had started a discussion with then about what it would be like to be blind. Then I realized that they could actually experience blindness.
A couple QR codes and a few blindfolds later, they were laughing and bumping into each other. They were using technology, discussing the book, learning what it is like to be blind, AND having fun.
I'm not writing this to tell you how great this activity was or that I am an awesome teacher that plans great lessons like this all the time. I am writing this to show you that no matter how you feel about your teaching, you can always get better. To quote Ryan McLane, "I'm not trying to change the world. I'm just trying to get kids to hate school less."
It's a great message that we all can learn from. Now, how are we going to learn AND have fun next week?
