Читать книгу Tech Like a PIRATE - Matt Miller - Страница 8

Sit down. Listen to the teacher. Do this worksheet. Read this chapter and answer the questions at the end. Some of the traditional teaching practices we’ve used for decades just don’t get the results they once did. When we add up everything we do in class, it feels like 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 5. It’s a lot of work without much to show for it.

What if we could flip that script? What if it felt like 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 13? What if we were surprised at how effective our teaching was and couldn’t put our finger on the reason?

Positivity, emotion, and play can play a powerful role in our lives—and definitely in our classrooms. This is borne out by an expanding body of research. We’re 31 percent more productive when our brains are in a positive state rather than in a neutral or negative state (Achor 2011). Emotional events often attain a privileged status in memory (LaBar and Cabeza 2006), and, according to the National Institute for Play, “Long-term studies under way indicate that play-based learning with playful teachers heightens overall long term performance.”

That’s just scratching the surface. Positivity, emotion, and play are at the heart of engaging students in class, and they make a statement. Student engagement isn’t silliness that defeats true academic work. It can be a catalyst to the learning of our dreams. Making learning fun can be dismissed as fluff, nonsense, or a barrier to true learning. When fun doesn’t enhance the learning in some way, it can indeed leave us spinning our wheels. But we can look at learning through a fun lens! Use a compelling story or a favorite app—anything that puts the lesson of the day in a new light will grab students’ attention. When we get the lens right, we can transform a drab, lifeless lesson into exciting territory. For instance, what would Marie Curie’s Twitter feed have looked like as she experimented with radiation? What would text messages between Brutus and Cassius have looked like before they betrayed Caesar? Would they have shown remorse afterward?

Fun doesn’t stand in the way of learning. On the contrary, it is the path to the learning of our dreams.