time and class interest

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

i find asia extremely interesting and exciting to learn about and then teach to the class. i find the time restraints and certain classes a great challenge. bringing in some beautiful artifacts and stories to begin the lessons can work, but often times with my honors class. the usual referance to china from my classes has been americanized chinese food, kung fu, and buddha. yes i blame tv but that is where the challange begins. having the students conjure up interest and ask themselves questions and think about the past is the summit of challenges. i am greatful i have had such wonderful teachers during these past five months to rekindle my effort to do so. so often american education thinks of the past to what we know now as the middleast while so little is given to our youth about asia specificly china and how it has influnced the world in countless meaningful ways. my work is gladly cut out.

[Anonymous]

I find that drawing student interest in meaningful topics to be a challenge as well, and certainly one of our challenges as teachers is to encourage a deeper, more honest understanding of the cultures about which we teach. I try to be a story teller in my history classes...I try to make my lectures more like stories...and adding excitement and connections help so much. But I can only a great story teller with topics that I know a lot about, and I can't know a lot about everything (even though I try sometimes...while other times I would like to think that I do!). We have to find ways for our students to become self-motivated in their exploration of history and different cultures.

I tried to take this challenge on when designing my curriculum project, and I hope that it will be a project that will spark interest in all of the different types of learners in my class. Perhaps this is a lofty goal; however, I am determined to try.

The basic idea for my curriculum project is a class PowerPoint presentation about the Silk Road developed by the research completed by students in small groups. The final class PowerPoint will include slides that have images from many of the websites I explored, and students will record themselves reading their mini-reports on their designated topics. I am hoping that my introduction PowerPoint to the Silk Road, the amazing websites and images I found on the web, working in small groups, the excitement of recording themselves as "experts" on the topics, and creating a final class project will motivate and intrigue my learners...

It will forever be a challenge to balance what we need to teach with the minimal time we have while still keeping our students engaged... Strangely, though, for me, this ongoing challenge is one thing that makes me love my job

[Anonymous]

=:O Yes, quite a challenge this. Time and student interest are truly challenging issues in teaching. I have found my great hurtle to be integrating other content areas into the mathematics curriculum.

Certainly the amount of curriculum the state wishes us to cover is daunting and time is always the monkey on your back. But without student interest (and its partner, motivation) it becomes near impossible to get the job done. I have found integrating other content ares into the curriculum to really help here, of course at the sake of time.

I'm fascinated by many things we have learned in this seminar and hope to be able to use some ideas as springboards into the math...for now it's geometry, mandalas, and Buddhism. Hope to do more.

[Anonymous]

Integrating other content areas is certainly useful, and often helps kids develop their own connections with the information presented in class. Although I connect English and History (especially with my sixth grade students, most of whom have me for both subjects), I feel as though I could do more with drawing in mathematical and scientific connections. Although I do try to tie some lessons in to math (especially with distances, percentages, and time periods in history), I am aware that this is something I wish to improve on in my teaching.

I do, however, try to incorporate art, music, and theater into my lessons from times to time, especially because most of the students in my classes attend our performing arts magnet. i believe these connections are helpful when attempting to spark student interest in topics, and, when used as a method to review or asses information we discussed, is a great way to let musical and artistic learners shine.

For my curriculum project on the Silk Road, I actually found and bought a CD during my research. That was just one of many pieces I forgot (or ran out of time!) to write into my lesson plans. However, I am excited to play the CD, which features traditional music from all along the Silk Road, for my students while they work on their Silk Road Projects.

If anyone is interested, the CD information follows:

Title: The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan
Produced by: Smithsonian Folkways Recording in collaboration with The Silk Road Project (2002)
This is a 2-disc set with a color map and booklet that explains more about each musical piece and where it comes from. It includes traditional musical pieces from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and other Central Eurasian nations.

I purchased my copy used on amazon for $16, and you can also find it new on amazon.

[Anonymous]

I am finding that I am creating more time in my Humanities classes to study Asian art and literature. It is sad that most of our student's knowledge about Asia comes from television and movies.

But, you could use this to your advantage by bringing in some very good movies, Hero for example, to educate your students about Asia. Turn the tables on them.

You could also create a "food" day and have your students study authentic Asian food, and make them prepare it for your class. I have had a Renaissance day with my Shakespeare classes in the past, and my students have had to researh anything from authentic food, to poipular games from the period.

This could be a way for you to expose your students to a more authentic Asia. Have an Asian Culture day. Just some thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Time is always a factor. My students have very low reading levels. I have several students that are below fourth grade level and they are in sixth grade. I try to stick to the most important key ideas, so they will at least have a foundaion to carry with them. I found some fantastic comic books on Ancient China. I also use a lot of picture books. I know it sounds a lottle babyish, but it works. Even towards the end ofthe year, they love to have the lights dimmed and sit on the floor for story time. I think it must bring back the comfort of elementary school, and they are completely engaged.

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