In an effort to keep my English class somewhat interesting I don’t hesitate to do some weird activities and/or games. From blind-folding the students and unleashing them through the halls of the school to having a whole class period where everyone stands on top of their desks, I love getting the opportunity for my students to question my motives. Of course, whenever one of them asks me, “Brian, why are we doing this?” the sarcastic bastard inside me can’t help but say, “Because I enjoy seeing you guys suffer.”
Like most high school students, the boys at Santa Maria have been trained to come into class, take notes, learn, memorize, and then regurgitate all over the test (not literally). Sometimes I feel like they would rather sit there and listen to a boring lecture than to do something more stimulating – most of them follow this modo, or creed (or credo): less work for their brain, the better for them… even if the lecture puts them to sleep (sleeping, for some students, is a daily goal).
One project that worked really well was the Bobby G experiment.
Bobby G - Courtesy of KYDJ.net
I showed the students a picture of Bobby G trying to bend a metal bar in the back of an apartment complex… or what looked like an abandoned alley. I didn’t tell them who he was or what he was doing, they had to create some kind of story for the picture. The Bobby G picture naturally evokes creative thoughts simply because he’s such a bizarre personality in such a bizarre picture. They had to give me Bobby G’s origins and how he got into this metal-bar-bending-predicament. The more descriptive and creative, the better their grade was. This was a great way to get them thinking creatively about their writing. I can’t tell you how many essays I’ve read this year that say “…and then he went to the game, then to dinner with his family, but his mom didn’t make him the food he wanted, so he went to his room to eat doritos, but he got in trouble because his parents were yelling at him because he left the table without permission but he was mad because mom didn’t make the dinner he liked so he did what he thought was right…” - just one continuous stream of consciousness. Don’t worry about sentences, don’t worry about organization – writing an essay for some of them should be as easy as talking to their friends on instant messenger, and many times, that’s exactly how it sounds (with “like” being used not to compare something to another, but as a filler).
Anyway, I personally believe that for students learning a second language like these guys, reading in English will only take them so far. When they start writing and speaking is when they truly make the necessary improvements from an average English speaker to an advanced, proficient communicator. I’ve found this to be true for me to learn Spanish – I can read Spanish all day long and understand it, and sure, reading will help me improve my proficiency if I do it consistently, but when I make the effort to create my own words and sentences is when I’m truly challenging myself.
Additionally , in general, my students are very visual learners. They are part of a generation that receives their information in tiny, quick snippets of information. But, I think what’s more important than that, people in general have short attention spans. If you’re teaching a class like me, then you’ll lose your students if you present them with a long “list” of things to remember day after day.
If you were in my class which slide would you be more interested in – the first or second?
Slide number 1…
…or slide number 2…
The second slide was taken from one of my lectures about communication – “Comprehensive Perspectives in Communication: looking at the world from a different angle”. Out of the two slides which one gets you more interested in what I have to say next?
So, here is your chance to participate if you choose. I would like to do one more writing assignment similar to the Bobby G experiment. So far, using my advanced internet searching abilities, I’ve found one picture that I feel is worthy of this assignment (I posted it below). So, if you have a picture that is just too interesting to pass up please send it to me. I would love to see your ideas… because based on the responses and emails I get from my blog posts I know that most of you are very creative people. Reply to this post or send me an email – bjmyp6@gmail.com
Here is the next possible candidate for the essay (Nat Geo pic)
Also… just so you know what ideas might come from the picture… the Bobby G picture resulted in some pretty interesting themes. here are a few:
- James: The retired boxer trying to regain his fame by performing obscure feats of strength.
- Sockman: Nemesis of Spiderman… honeymooning as a co-author of comic books staring Gene Simmons and Barack Obama. He also published an autobiography, “Under the Sock”, an instant best seller.
- Ronnie Vinnucci: Graduate of the class of ‘93 at Richmond High. Repeated both Junior and Senior years, inspired by his boss at the laundry-mat, Mr Lee, Ronnie became a world renowned wrestler.
- Mr. Mustache: He has an obsession with smelly socks and bendable bars.
- Jose: A beer-loving gambling addict.
- Carlos: The Brazilian Street Fighter
- Peter Sanchez: President of a multi-national head band enterprise.
- Timothy Davies: A recently fired business-man who walks in on his wife cheating on him, starts smoking weed, starts jogging regularly, starts growing mustaches, and starts beating up dudes down at the boondocks.
- Joe Stevenson: A homeboy who liked to exercise all day and all night (very similar to Bobby G)
