There is some method to my madness. In all the years of schooling and the handful of classes of training I came to the realization that the classroom environment is all about trust and communication. My job is as much to facilitate this environment as it is to provide meaningful and relevant content to the students who walk into the environment. There needs to be a balance between these two facets of education. WIthout content there can be no learning, but without the core human needs addressed, learning also is thwarted.
What does that space look like? Right now I’m listening to the Sublime Pandora station while my students are putting the finishing touches on a zombie survival plan project. The work is collaborative and integrates all aspects of the writing process. In fact, the posters each group are creating serve as outlines for the presentation they’ll give later today on their survival plans. The goal is to teach the process, but the goal is also to see the groups working together and to analyze how that process works for them. The first paper has similar purpose. They are studying their group members and explaining how everyone can and will work together as a group.
The situation gets more intense as we move forward into more complex group projects and involved in course content. The balance creates an environment ripe for learning.