The Price Is Right

I entered a fifth grade classroom to see a video playing on the large screen. Students walked up to observe it for a while and then returned to their tables to discuss intently and make calculations with palpable enthusiasm. Upon closer look, I could see that the video was of a gas pump running and that the teacher was visible in the reflection of the glass screen as he both filmed with his phone and filled his car’s gas tank. The video played in slow motion as the amount of gas and the cost of the sale clicked upward relentlessly; decimals in action. Why did the students care so much about the final cost and getting it right? No one likes decimals, much less multiplying them. And those deadly “word problems” are a snooze. But filling up the car with a favorite teacher, well now we’re talking. Add in a bit of drama about having enough money to fill the tank all the way and everyone wants a piece of the action. And you only have to wait until the end of the video to see if you got it right. Priceless.

When students are doing their best learning they are highly engaged. The best way to engage them, or anyone for that matter, is with an experience that holds their interest because of its authenticity. In other words, the experience matters if it is real and meaningful.

No one would recommend teaching a small child about the dangers of walking into traffic by letting them do it. In a less drastic scenario, teachers are frequently challenged to make learning authentic with concepts that are especially difficult to include in real world situations. However, once we begin looking for opportunities, they are everywhere.

In another case, when there was a need for an office space for a school program, one teacher invited students to help design and build the office from an existing closet area. Together they measured space, designed a table, shelf and seating needs, made a budget for necessary supplies, and then set a plan for completing the project. Math everywhere. Since they were building shelves from scratch there was a need for accurate measuring. Fractions finally found a reason to exist and the students were applying them with fierce energy. One student commented, “ I never understood fractions until now.” This is learning.

Authentic learning is not confined to school classrooms. Nor is it confined to learning new facts and figures. It transcends all learning environments and situations. The way in which it also opens the door to learning life lessons that can carry the learners forward to find their own gratifying purpose seems almost magical.

In a casual conversation with a relative living in France, I was told of an amazing venue in Paris where an American musician opened a music academy using rock and roll as the vehicle to learn music. Those who love rock and roll, but do not necessarily know how to play or sing, get the instruction they need on the instrument or instruments of their choice and each are part of one of the various bands formed. Students are of all ages, the young coming to practice after school and the adults arriving after work. They perform concerts at regular intervals, attended by friends and family. Sharing the music and their musical progress brings contagious enthusiasm and a sense of community to the scene. Just before the performance begins, the director calls out to his pupils “Who makes mistakes?” To which they answer “Everyone!” His simple message, that progress, not perfection, is the goal, resonates far beyond the concert.

The relevance of learning is powerful in multiple ways; academic, social, emotional, and intellectual. Making the learning engaging through relevance is priceless.

You can find a great source of ideas for authentic learning on Ellie Smith’s blog

https://the-educational-journey.com/

Before retiring she was a Special Education teacher with a gift for embedding learning in real life scenarios that deeply engaged her students. She shares her thinking as she imagines the learning opportunities in everyday life.