(Pre-Pandemic)
There was this teacher near my classroom who would let his students take a stretch break during class. They would all walk almost single file around a little quad pathway. What I found most amusing and a bit tragic, was that the majority of them walked with their heads bent down staring at their cell phones. They did not look at the beautiful trees nor did they take the time to have conversations with their peers. To me, they reminded me of a mob of zombies from Walking Dead. I imagined that if I made a slight sound, they might come after me; however, I knew that their cell phones held them captive.
This sight of hoodie-wearing zombies was no different from what I often encountered in my classroom. Of course, I would not allow students to use their electronic devices so instead they would stare morosely at the clock waiting for freedom to arrive. This was especially true of the boys in the class. I taught at a low-income school where the predominant group was Latinx students. Over 87% of the student population was on free or reduced lunch and the average educational level in the community was a high school diploma. The fact that students in my classes were bored and disengaged bothered me...a lot. I started to ask, "How do we motivate students?" "How can we empower them to use their voice?" "What if teachers could show students how to advocate for themselves so that they do not become consumer junkies or social media addicts?" I thus set out on a journey to find ways to change my classroom dynamics.
The first place I looked was in my own home. I clearly remember one day walking into my living room and watching my 4 kids play a video game. They were not racing any cars, playing any sports, or shooting anyone (thank goodness). Instead, what I found was that my 4year old daughter, 5 year old son, my teen boy, and my college stepson were all creating a 3D world using Minecraft. When they saw me, my son started to rattle off what he was making and the different stones he was using to create his new world. My daughter excitedly gave me a tour of her crystal palace with lava rivers and majestic trees. That moment was a real game-changer for me. I knew from years of raising my kids that designing and building was always a fascinating activity for all ages.
I began to research project-based learning and wondered if there was curriculum connected to the idea of making a new world. That is when I came upon the amazing methodology called the Doreen Nelson method of Design-Based Learning. I soon became so enthralled in the idea of DBL that I enrolled in the masters program at Cal Poly Pomona. The courses were taught by Doreen Nelson herself! She was a disciple of constructivist theorist such as John Dewey who argued that "rather than the child being a passive recipient of knowledge, as was presumed by many educators of the time, children were better served if they took an active part in the process of their own learning. He also placed greater emphasis on the social context of learning (Teach Thought Staff). For years, I had taught the way that I had learned best- through lectures. My teachers stood at the front of the class dispensing valuable knowledge while we all sat passively taking copious notes in order to regurgitate these ideas on an essay or test. I was soon to find out that students learn best by doing. Within just a few months I had started to change my methods.
First, I began by instituting a class governance system. I created class jobs including class president, class dj, homework czar, and activity directors. The class voted on a few class leaders and from then on instead of me being the one who welcomed the class and read off the day's learning objectives, my students took charge. They created funny call back signals. The president would shout out "We are?" and the class would respond "Lobos!" One of my boys who was clearly on the autism spectrum had a joke of the day. The class would cheer him on when he was a bit hesitant. Soon my classroom was no long "my" classroom, but rather "our" classroom. Research in the study of student-led classrooms shows that "Placing students at the center of their own learning requires their collaboration. They need a voice in why, what, and how learning experiences take shape" (McCarthy 2015). I soon found that students were more eager to participate when their peers where at the helm. Soon we created teams with team captains, door greeters, and motivational speech givers. Along with creating student governance, I also introduced the DBL method into all of my units. Student had to now create their own 3D models based on a set of criteria related to the themes we were studying. For example, students designed and created their own avatars that symbolically represented their personalities and values. We then used their avatars to write personal narratives, I Am poems, and interviews. Because students had designed and create their own 3D projects, they were more willing to explain what they had made. All of a sudden,we were reaching the 5 C's on a regular basis: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Civic Learning. I knew from the energetic buzz in my classroom that I would never go back to traditional teaching. My once-zombified students had come alive and I was going to continue to find new and exciting ways to get them involved in their own learning.
(*During remote learning: I continued to have class jobs and leaders. We used online platforms such as Flipgrid and Jamboard to share their 3D projects. I am now part of an amazing team of workshop facilitators for the Design-Based Learning Program at UCLA Center X.
https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/design-based-learning/about/
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