It was honestly very difficult to pick out my best structured learning experience, because I know that I have probably taken a lot of my learning experiences for granted to the point where they don’t stand out to me at the drop of a hat.
The learning experience that came to my mind first was my very first year learning Japanese. That course was structured, opportunities to self-direct our learning, and had a touch of creativity thrown into the mix. I was nervous but very excited to learn Japanese at the start of grade 9 when I started high school. After leaving 4 years of French behind, I didn’t know if I was making a mistake to take up a completely new reading and writing system. The teacher (we called him “Sensei”)was a first year teacher on his very first 1.0 FTE contract. He was probably as nervous as we were. The one thing he did that eased all of our anxieties was have a strict structure for his course. This began shortly after we learned the writing system and could decently begin reading.
This was the weekly plan:
- Monday – we would start a new chapter in our textbook, choral read a short story together, learn the new grammar points, and be given our weekly work packages to start
- Tuesday – we would translate the short story into English and answer comprehension questions in Japanese
- Wednesday – we would listen to a cassette exercise where we had to answer questions to what was said, or try to write what we heard within the time limit (Sensei was strict and would not rewind the tape if someone was off-task)
- Thursday – this was a flex day. If we had a written exam, we would review vocabulary and grammar points. If we had an oral exam, we would get into partners to write and perform a script based on the subject matter for the next day. If there was a culture day up ahead, we got a period to finish our work package and help others
- Friday – it was either exam day (alternating written or oral test every 2 weeks), or we would do a “cultural day” where we got to explore a part of Japanese culture (like origami, cooking, media, traditional card games, stories, etc.) The work package was also due.
I immediately recognize that this strict structure does not work for everyone. This course was not only meant to educate but to teach students that learning a new language is difficult. You needed to put in a lot of time and effort to practice. A lot of my peers were very eager to learn, so many rose to the occasion. We liked that the structure was so set that if we missed a day, we knew exactly what to anticipate when we came back. There were no surprises and it made language learning predictable. It was always the same, but different. We also really looked forward to the week we would have a cultural day. Oftentimes, if the cultural day coincided with a Japanese holiday, we would learn about the beliefs, customs, and traditions practiced during that time. Other Cultural Fridays, we would be given opportunities to be hands-on and creative.
Thinking about my own practice as a teacher, I think this learning design as impacted me in more ways than I have initially thought. In my own classroom, I have very set routines where students come in and know what to do without needing my assistance. When we start units, I often will introduce a stamp system that lets students know how many lessons will be in the unit with a sneak peek at what the topic will be. If they complete the task, they assess their work, a friend assesses, then I assess. They get a completion stamp for every successful submission. If they are all caught up, they can play or help a friend in need. If they have any assignments needing a stamp, they go back an finish them. This routine is the same, but different every time. My students are relatively calm and confident when they have a solid system put in place. The major difference about my routine vs my Sensei’s is that we were working with different grade levels with different needs. My students are very young and need every last support to be independent and able to complete tasks. If I left a majority of my students to struggle, there would be a sea of tears and frustrated behaviors. My Sensei’s class was filled with teenagers who are beginning to take responsibility for their own learning. He could let us struggle until we figured it out.
One of the last things I think I unknowingly took inspiration from was the excitement of learning about something adjacent to the initial learning that allowed us to be creative or try something new. I try to add an artistic component to all of my units, and most of my lessons for that matter. I love seeing how students customize the learning experience to better suit their needs. Whether it be decorating the work to be aesthetically pleasing to their eye, or writing about something they are passionate about, that high engagement matters to them and to me. I also try to give my students something physical to bring their learning into life. Just like learning how to do origami in my Japanese class got me excited to learn about the names of animals I was constructing, I will put microchips in the hands of my students to get them excited to learn how to code.
After reflecting on this learning experience, I was amazed at how such a rigid learning environment with just a touch of creativity heavily impacted my learning context where I like to think that the experiences I create are maximizing creativity while still maintaining the order that a highly structured routine would provide.
ε ηγη§γ«γ€γ³γΉγγ¬γΌγ·γ§γ³γδΈγγ¦γγγ¦γγγγ¨γ “Thank you for inspiring me teacher”
Leave a Reply