Teacher Support

by Paul Galpern

Excellent teaching needs quality activities, and quality activities start with fabulous ideas. Many of us simply don't have the time to turn our ideas into reality, and we rely on the teaching activities of others. This is fine, because there is a lot of great stuff out there. Sometimes, however, nothing else will do, and it is time to make home-grown activity just for your classroom.

If you've got an idea that you think will work, and are willing to jump in, try mixing up this recipe to make a great student activity. After taste-testing your dish with a class or two, you might like to submit the paper-based resources for your activity to TeacherSupport.ca.

Take one fabulous idea

Does it get you excited? Will you want to spend several hours designing it, and several class periods implementing it? Are your students going to love it - or at least not groan audibly - when you suggest it? Will it get them out of their chairs, working together, thinking for themselves, and put them in charge? If you can answer yes to these questions, you have a fabulous idea.

Add a small dose of curriculum

Don't get too hung up on curriculum. Sure, it is important, but chances are you can connect your fabulous idea to many expectations or objectives in the provincial curriculum. It's true that they teach you to do it the other way around in teacher's college. Experience says that you'll get a better product if you think big first, and then worry about the details later. Of course, you will want to check in with the curriculum to make sure your idea has the right flavour.

Use real ingredients where possible

We've all been there. Sweating away at something and muttering, "What am I going to get out of this?" A great way to avoid this criticism and keep everyone engaged is to make it real. It doesn't all have to be authentic, however. It could be the product that is real; students may organize an event, publish on the web, submit a plan to someone who will use it, or do something that is really needed. Or perhaps it is part of the process that is real; students take on workplace roles, participate in a meeting, or collect their own data. Look at the real world around you, and the possibilities will jump out.

Stir in big chunks

You want them to get their teeth into it. Chunky doesn't have to mean gristly. It should feel good to wrestle with a big question, or a task with many parts. Make sure your activity has elements that are demanding enough that students are going to want to put in the extra effort. But not so big those students will be afraid to bite. For example, your activity could have several steps, and require students to work together in groups as a stepping stone to the product. Most of all, the activity should let students feel like they are in charge of their work. You don't think your students can handle this much? You might be surprised when you try.

Cook with flare

This is where you cook up the paper-based or other resources that students will use. And remember to cook with flare. There is nothing more dull than a page of single-spaced Times New Roman. Think about white space, use different fonts, copy and paste illustrations from the Internet. Sounds time-consuming? Yes, but it's worth it. Students are far more likely to use a tool that is readable, attractive, and user-friendly.

Depending on the type of activity you are building you may wish to create any or all of the following paper-based resources to help students:

• Step-by-step instructions that clearly and simply state what must be done each step of the way
• Information sheets containing any background information or research that students may need to get started or complete the activity
• Process organizers that help students organize information, tasks to be completed, or research that they have gathered.
• Product organizers that help students organize the steps they have completed into a final product.

Don't forget the digital projector. Consider providing information in other formats such as sideshows or Internet-based multimedia.

Play with your food

Now is the time to examine what you have made. What will the student product look like? Take the time, if you can, to follow your own instructions and make an exemplar of the product. If you can't, imagine carefully what the product will look like, and ask how you would make an excellent version of this product. The results of this thought experiment will become your rubric. Perhaps you shudder when you hear this word, but it doesn't have to be scary. The rubric could simply be a list of descriptive statements of what an excellent job looks like. If you do go for an all-out rubric matrix, don't go generic. Modify the standard descriptions to show students what success looks like for the product. Give examples of what"consistently," "effective,"� and other rubric terms actually mean.

Eat with abandon

Allocate lots of time for your activity. Get excited about it, and make it exciting. Trust your students to succeed. When your best laid plans don't work out, be adaptable, and change the parameters of the activity as you go. Most of all, enjoy watching your students grow as they tackle a rich, authentic task.