Great Scott!
As a teacher trying to become more innovative each year, I often feel a bit like Doc Brown. If you're unfamiliar, you should probably just stop reading this because you're obviously from a different planet. Kidding. But seriously, you might want to stop reading right now. Go watch Back to the Future then come back. You're welcome.
Okay, now that you're back...
In the film, Doc Brown is the inventor of the first time machine. He's a bit crazy, eccentric, zany, and yes, his hair is out of control.
In The Innovator's Mindset, George Couros says that innovation is, "A way of thinking that makes something new and better." Doc Brown is a great visual reminder of this for me. Sometimes innovation is scary, and you're not sure of the roads it will lead you down. Fortunately for us, and Doc, we become truly successful or effective when we change, update, reevaluate, reinvent, and use our resources wisely. (Let's not forget he fueled the DeLorean with, what some would call, garbage!)
Doc's mission was to create and recreate this time machine until it worked better than it had before. That is our mission as teachers. We create and recreate in hopes that our innovations will not only be new, but also better. These innovations will serve our students better and take them to new places on their educational journey.
My latest Doc Brown, "Great Scott!" innovative addition was the Figurative Language Exploration I sent my students on last week. While it' wasn't perfect and completely innovative, it was the next step for me to take in becoming MORE innovative, and I think that's often the key. Sometimes you have to take baby steps into innovation, and that's okay. It's better than staying the same!
So normally, when my 7th graders review figurative language before diving into poetry, we spend about two days of me, up at the front, guiding them through a powerpoint with some videos, funny pictures, and helpful information. They take guided notes and watch some things here and there. By the end, they've been somewhat entertained and they have figurative language notes to reference. They've also heard me talk a lot. It wasn't the worst. But it also wasn't the best.
This year, I decided to innovate a little. I took myself out of the equation. They didn't really need me. All of this was review information anyway, so why was I wasting my time, and theirs, by thinking that I had to direct the learning. They are capable, and I have to remind myself of that sometimes. I took my powerpoint, turned it into a Google Presentation, added some interactive elements (YouTube video activity), created a self-paced guide, uploaded it to our Google Classroom, and Boom! It was SO much better! Basically, I just said, "Okay, use this guide and explore the Google Slides today. You'll need your headphones and a pencil to add to your guide as you figure things out and practice." That's all. I. had. to. do.
(Granted, it took me about 6 hours to figure out how to create and update my original review in a more engaging way.) But now...I love the lesson! Even better, I heard students saying, "This is fun!" I saw students dancing and singing to the music videos. I heard students ask me if they could finish next week! It couldn't have gone better, which was really rewarding. I even Rick-Rolled my students on one of the slides. It was hilarious.
Overall, there was time to review, practice, identify, and analyze figurative language...all the objectives I needed to cover... rolled into one interactive self-guided activity.
It wasn't the most innovative of all innovations, but I took a lot of steps and time to make sure it was better. That's innovation, right? If you're struggling with being innovative because it seems overwhelming, I totally understand.
It might help to look at it from Doc Brown's perspective: turn your garbage into fuel! Generate those 1.21 gigawatt lessons! Use what you've got. Tweak it. Add to it. Take away. Make it better. Your lessons will lead your students and you to new destinations!
Megan Gordon
7th Grade ELAR
Okay, now that you're back...
In the film, Doc Brown is the inventor of the first time machine. He's a bit crazy, eccentric, zany, and yes, his hair is out of control.
In The Innovator's Mindset, George Couros says that innovation is, "A way of thinking that makes something new and better." Doc Brown is a great visual reminder of this for me. Sometimes innovation is scary, and you're not sure of the roads it will lead you down. Fortunately for us, and Doc, we become truly successful or effective when we change, update, reevaluate, reinvent, and use our resources wisely. (Let's not forget he fueled the DeLorean with, what some would call, garbage!)
Doc's mission was to create and recreate this time machine until it worked better than it had before. That is our mission as teachers. We create and recreate in hopes that our innovations will not only be new, but also better. These innovations will serve our students better and take them to new places on their educational journey.
My latest Doc Brown, "Great Scott!" innovative addition was the Figurative Language Exploration I sent my students on last week. While it' wasn't perfect and completely innovative, it was the next step for me to take in becoming MORE innovative, and I think that's often the key. Sometimes you have to take baby steps into innovation, and that's okay. It's better than staying the same!
So normally, when my 7th graders review figurative language before diving into poetry, we spend about two days of me, up at the front, guiding them through a powerpoint with some videos, funny pictures, and helpful information. They take guided notes and watch some things here and there. By the end, they've been somewhat entertained and they have figurative language notes to reference. They've also heard me talk a lot. It wasn't the worst. But it also wasn't the best.
This year, I decided to innovate a little. I took myself out of the equation. They didn't really need me. All of this was review information anyway, so why was I wasting my time, and theirs, by thinking that I had to direct the learning. They are capable, and I have to remind myself of that sometimes. I took my powerpoint, turned it into a Google Presentation, added some interactive elements (YouTube video activity), created a self-paced guide, uploaded it to our Google Classroom, and Boom! It was SO much better! Basically, I just said, "Okay, use this guide and explore the Google Slides today. You'll need your headphones and a pencil to add to your guide as you figure things out and practice." That's all. I. had. to. do.
(Granted, it took me about 6 hours to figure out how to create and update my original review in a more engaging way.) But now...I love the lesson! Even better, I heard students saying, "This is fun!" I saw students dancing and singing to the music videos. I heard students ask me if they could finish next week! It couldn't have gone better, which was really rewarding. I even Rick-Rolled my students on one of the slides. It was hilarious.
Overall, there was time to review, practice, identify, and analyze figurative language...all the objectives I needed to cover... rolled into one interactive self-guided activity.
It wasn't the most innovative of all innovations, but I took a lot of steps and time to make sure it was better. That's innovation, right? If you're struggling with being innovative because it seems overwhelming, I totally understand.
It might help to look at it from Doc Brown's perspective: turn your garbage into fuel! Generate those 1.21 gigawatt lessons! Use what you've got. Tweak it. Add to it. Take away. Make it better. Your lessons will lead your students and you to new destinations!
Megan Gordon
7th Grade ELAR
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