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Relevancy and Meaning: Let's get practical

March 11, 2019 - 6 minute read


stack of books

The student teachers were told to think about this same question as they wrote out their lesson plans, “So what?” I told them I would be asking each of them “So what” after observing their teaching practices with students.

Teaching for Relevancy

Let’s face it, teaching is difficult for there are items we need to check off as we develop lesson plans: Is the proper standard taught? Am I addressing each learner in the class? Do my questions allow for high-level thinking skills? Are there enough visuals; are there too many visuals? One of the items that rarely gets mentioned on lesson plans is whether we are teaching the student, relevant and meaningful for their lives? Hence the question, “So what” when I would approach each student teacher.

As a former social studies teacher, I acknowledged students would not like the content from the books. Heck, for that matter, I’d be surprised if they showed a genuine interest at all. When I was an elementary student, I would often ask the teacher whether what we were learning had anything to do with life? Most times, the teacher would respond; we need to learn the material. A teachable moment that got away from my geometry teacher in high school was when I raised my hand and asked about a poster he had in class that had occupations with corresponding math subjects that needed to be learned. He told me to be quiet and complete the geometry proofs on the board. I learned not to like math. He never learned to understand the importance of “So what”.

Making the Curriculum Real

The first day of history class as a teacher, I did two things. The first was hand out the final exam and gave the students 40 minutes to complete. They were upset. When the tests were turned in, I asked a simple question: What do you like doing? Students would respond, and I wrote all on the board. Nothing was off limits. We had two girls share they loved shopping. Others responded they wanted to read. Someone wanted to be a mechanic. One student never responded. From this I learned, we need to teach with the students’ interest or passion in mind. Their questions and curiosity will lead them to learn more relevant information about the topic than just reading a text.

The following day I took out their final exam scores and shared their “grades” with them. However, I told them this was a way for me to know what they knew about US history. I also promised them that with their help, they would receive A’s and B’s when they would retake the test at the end of the year.

I then took what the students shared and produced their projects for the year. For the two girls that liked to shop, I asked them to give a presentation on women’s fashions from 1900-1920. For the student that wanted to be a mechanic? His assignment was to look at the automotive industry during the 1930s-1960s. I then got to Gabe, who only wanted to play sports. He didn’t like history. When I asked him which was his favorite sport, he said he played baseball. I said, “Great! Why don’t you research the history of baseball from 1940-1960” I was giving them their “So what” moment of understanding history.

During the next couple of weeks and months, Gabe asked, “Mr. R; I am finding stuff about Jackie Robinson, is this good?” In my mind, I knowingly realized he was learning about ‘civil rights’, which is in the history standards. Another day he shared, “Um, I’m finding items about women professional teams.” Another unintended standard learned due to his research in a topic of his interest. He then found information on the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn to move to Southern California. I asked, “Gabe, why don’t you find out how the Dodger move impacted the city of Brooklyn.” In his presentation, Gabe relayed how the city suffered financially due to the Dodgers move west. Another standard, economics, was learned through digging deeper with his research.

A Sobering Moment

Then there was the student who sat in the back of the class. He wore clothing that was typical for the cholos on campus. During the weeks that followed he did nothing. He sat there. As a teacher I tried to engage him by calling his parents, talking to him, but nothing happened. One day in our social studies office, colleagues from other departments were with us, and we started talking about students. Most of the conversation was positive, but I spoke about Hector. One of the teachers shared, “Fred, don’t you know he’s a gifted artist?” I chimed in, “What does art have to do with history?” Yep, I said this for everyone to hear. In my arrogance, I forgot my own my rule of reaching the student by using their talents.

The following day I asked Hector that he needed to tell me elements of the constitution and what it meant for him. I shared, he didn’t need to write anything, that he could draw his assignment. He looked at me and simply said, “Ok.” However, as I gave him a three-panel presentation board, I told him to make up his grades he needed to present it to the class. That Friday, Hector got up as I stood and watched him open up his panel to show the rest of the students. He started to point to different points of his mural while sharing what the constitution meant to him. He was listening to the lectures. In stunned silence, I realized I wasn’t a teacher for Hector. I wasn’t a mentor. I failed him. When he finished, he went back to his desk and gave me his panel board.

From that day on, I listened more intently. Hector shared he didn’t wish for his buddies to think he was a “schoolboy” so I provided him with three textbooks to use: one in class, one for his locker to use in the library, and one to take home. When I saw him on campus with his friends, we didn’t address each other verbally, nor discuss the quality work he was doing; we just simply head-nodded from afar.

Reflection

Gabe and other students went from not liking US History to appreciating the content because it became relevant to their lives. This turnaround happened by listening to them and starting the course from topics and concepts they were interested in. Beginning with current events we talked about an upcoming presidential election. By looking back at the framers of the constitution and what the law shared about voting, we highlighted the importance of democracy. When the war was breaking out, we talked about the selective service, the draft, and again, what the law said about war. By going back and forth in history, the students were creating present-day history lessons for themselves.

If we get to know our students on a personal level, we can create fun and exciting lessons. When I taught, I learned a lot from my students and their lives. I also took an active role by producing some of my own “homework” for the assignment, which allowed the students to learn a bit about me, their teacher. I also stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new teaching techniques like dressing up as a monk and walking on campus because I was going to be teaching something even more boring for students, combining literature with history! For this particular lesson, I dressed up and shared the teachings of St. Augustine and his book “Confessions.” When they came to class the room was blacked out, candles lit, and they sat and waited for me to read to them. By doing this simple act, my students came to believe I loved history, but they also realized I wanted to parallel what they were learning back to their lives. Let’s continue to create relevant and meaningful opportunities for our students and their personal learning needs learning by starting with “So what”.

Fred Ramirez is a professor at Concordia University Irvine in the MAED program. Fred also organizes a yearly non-profit humanity project in Honduras where he takes high school students to work on community projects such as building playgrounds, purifying water, and other needed services.

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