Skip to main content

Engaged Learning

Yesterday our classroom had a district representative instruct the last two hours, teaching the fundamentals of capitalism and commodity. Throughout the year, the students take part in a series of business simulations where they are individually assigned a role in their community. This lesson focused on a popular lemonade company moving into their fictional town, and most of the students were assigned to work as the "juicers", a select few were managers, two students for advertising and two executives. Two of the juicers were unsatisfied with their role; I told them to start their own guild, in the process of gaining the support of the other juicers, and negotiate for more hourly pay, medical health savings accounts reimbursed by the company, and 401K options in exchange for their services.

Most of the my time has been spent engaging students who are having difficulty with math. Megan and I make sure to review the previous day's math homework to ensure everyone in the class is on the same schedule and pace. We allow opportunities for the more advanced math learners to engage their peers through the use of an electronic whiteboard, step by step and through picture examples. I applied yesterday's math lesson in fractions using real-world examples, using my loose currency from my restaurant serving job, which is based on tips.

I am really excited about the assigned upcoming science fiction short story assignment. I ask students what science fictions books they have read recently. One of them read the last novelization of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He really enjoyed the film and I asked if he had seen the original trilogy, as it emphasizes the importance of archetypes. He didn't know what an archetype was and I explained that it can be applied through his characters and story. He was aware of the the original trilogy and I explained that George Lucas took an interest in comparative mythology in college, and developed this pursuit into the story of Star Wars. To engage his thinking skills I explained that Luke Skywalker shares much in common with characters such as Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, or Spider-Man, as they are all orphans who take a hero's journey before confronting an antagonist. I hope he came away from that discussion with a different perspective on writing.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Semester in Review

This class has definitely changed my perspective in teaching, especially with the service learning requirement, in addition to the nation-wide teacher strikes and student walk outs. Reflecting on the semester I wish I would turned in more assignments on time. I was accepted into the University of Utah for next semester and I have registered for further teaching pre-requisite courses to be accepted into the College of Urban Education. I have really enjoyed my time at Utah Valley University, and will be leaving with an associates degree. The service learning has also given me a good foundation to start substitute teaching this fall, in addition to continuing my studies full time. I have loved every minute of service learning in Megan McGinley's fifth grade class at Indian Hills Elementary. I knew from the first day when I overheard three students talking about the mile range of the new Tesla that they possessed interest in the sciences beyond what I was expecting. The last three w...