Before my Upper School History class met for the first time, I asked them to complete a quick info form, so I could get a better sense of them as students. I wordled the responses to a couple of the questions.
EDIT: I want to note that the sample size for this was 11, and I’m not suggesting it’s empirical research. Just food for thought/conversation.
When do you feel most checked out/bored/uninterested in school?
When do you feel most engaged/interested/curious in school?
In For Good 
this is crazy! I’m so amazed at the differences between the two. This was great to see. Will inform my planning this weekend!
Isn’t it interesting how some people still think ‘lecture’is the only way to help kids obtain information? I sat in a grad class last year where the professor lectured to us for 2.5 hours. No discussion. No projects. He disseminated the information, and we typed/scribbled notes furiously to keep up. For tests, we had to regurgitate the information back to him. What did we learn? Nothing. I memorized a bunch of facts, many of which I already knew. Good thing I spent over $800 for that class, huh?
I promised myself I would never do that to students. Ever. When there are facts my kids need to learn, I ask them questions. They discuss in groups. We look up information together. When they discover, on their own, what I want them to learn… they retain the information better and they are engaged. They’re excited about learning.
Hmmm, with all the brain research out there, you’d think educators would figure this out. I’m so glad you asked your students their opinions! I’ll bet that activity alone made them think differently! 🙂
Love the powerful, graphic way of communicating this. Thank you. Will use it to inform my practice. I’m adding getting them OUTSIDE more too. Playing more games. Having more fun. It’s going to be Serious Fun this year, for me too, because if the teacher ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy 🙂 Sue
Love it! Besides using it to REMIND me, I am going to share this with my public speaking class when they get too pompous and long-winded 😉
I cross-posted this on the English Companion Ning, and there’s some interesting discussion going on over there. Some folks arguing pretty strongly in favor of the use of lecture in the classroom and an interesting exchange about the difference between “good” and “bad” lectures.
http://englishcompanion.ning.com/profiles/blogs/death-by-lecture
Meredith
Love this and am “borrowing” part of it for my upcoming first days of school! Part of my resistance to lecture is that I have very little capacity to listen to a lecture well anymore. My last trip through grad school was, mercifully, a skills based experience with mini-lectures. Much better for my ability to learn! I’ll head over to EC and check things out there.