Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs. In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year. Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home. I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms...
My goal in the class is not only mastery of course outcomes. I really want learners to find some connection to physics. When they hear the word physics, it won’t not something unattainable. It is directly connected to who they are. If I plan to help students make these connections, it is not enough for me to just learn my students names and faces.
As the content expert, I bring something essential to the table. I know what physics is beyond a narrow or incomprehensible definition one might find online. Students on the other hand have topics they are passionate about. If they are going to find a connection to physics, I can’t expect all learners to find that attraction on their own. I am the one who needs to show them that physics can be connected to their passions. I am the matchmaker between the student and physics.
In all of my teaching career when first getting to know students, I basically looked at a their faces on the roster and their names and played a little game where I just memorize that connection between names and faces. I took all the shortcuts to learning students do when they simply memorize facts in order to simply pass the test. That doesn’t not work well from the matchmaker’s perspective.
This year on day one, students started work their ePortfolios using Google Sites. The first page they made is their “Passions” page. Students were asked to add 4 YouTube videos that tell me about themselves. They then explained what each video is and how it connects to their interests or aspirations. I did this last year as well a couple of weeks into the term. But I didn’t take this valuable information any further than treating it as a way to make small talk. This year I’m taking this information and creating a spreadsheet of names and passions, no simply names and faces. Instead of just studying names and faces, I’m learning deeper truths about those students in my classroom.
Why not use just a simple Google Form to collect this information? I’ve found that when I simply ask what students are passionate about and have them simply answer that question in words, they spend a lot of time deciding what they are passionate about. YouTube is a place they are familiar with. They can actually show their passions by exploring their passions. What’s even better is that I can experience it as well. Whether it be an artist I never heard of or a topic I know very little about, the videos that they post give me that taste of their world. The song is right there to experience. The amazing play is right there. The thing that makes them smile can make me smile just by hitting play.
These passions are what I hope will start driving some of the learning options in our classroom. It’s up to me to make these matches when I can. I may not be able to find those connections for all of our content topics. By looking at what students have shared with me, I know I can find a couple that are directly tied to each individual. Whether it be dance, video games, photography, make-up, Rick & Morty, football, dogs, or superheroes, those connections to physics are there.
By knowing their passions, I hope to help steer learners to content connections that they care about exploring not simply ones that I have assigned. I may not be able to make it a lifelong commitment to physics. But at the very least, physics can show them a good time.
I’d love to learn how you learn what your students are passionate about and what you do with that information beyond a topic of conversation.
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