Less is More
Something I've been wrestling with over the past year in my classroom is how much direction to give students on assignments. I've come to the conclusion that the less I lay out how to do it, the more critical thinking and learning takes place. Of course direction and explanation are needed, but finding the happy medium between spelling it out for them, and leaving them clueless, is where experience and experimentation come in. Let me explain.
My English assignments used to be a list of options:
I.e:
Choose one of the following:
a) Discuss the themes of fate & destiny in Romeo and Juliet
b) How does Romeo and Juliet explore the conflict between the young and old generation?
c) How does the Power of Love control the actions of characters in Rome & Juliet?
Additionally, I'd provide a template for an essay: Intro, thesis, topic sentence, supporting details, concluding sentence. Repeat the body paragraph two more times, now write your conclusion. The standard hamburger essay. This type of thinking dominated my approach for the first few years of my teaching. Give them a few options, and a template to follow, teach them how to fit the mold. I'm not saying there isn't some value in this, or that it should be abandoned completely (more on that later) - but my approach has changed. Less is more. Motivation, enjoyment, quality, and creativity all went up, when I started giving less direction to start.
My new approach: spend more time discussing the learning goals and success criteria, and let them figure out how they can meet the criteria. Let me give a couple examples:
Example 1: Science class (grade 7): The lesson was on center of gravity. The textbook had an experiment laid out step for step on how to find the find center of gravity for an "L" shaped piece of cardboard. After teaching my lesson on Center of Gravity, I gave the groups the tools for the experiment. Nothing more than a string with a weight attached, needle, and marker, an oddly shaped piece of cardboard. Only I didn't tell them about the textbook directions - my only direction: "Find the center of gravity". They failed, at first. They told me "how can we do this if you haven't taught us?" It took time, some got frustrated when I pointed out their errors. But eventually, critical thinking, collaboration and disagreements began, - and the correct method was discovered. Had I showed them the directions in the textbook they would have found the center of gravity in minutes instead of the half hour it actually took. But there wouldn't have been any real learning.
Example 2: Grade 10 English Essay. As mentioned above, I used to lay out their options and spend a great deal time focusing on the hamburger essay template format. However, for Of Mice & Men this time around, I gave much less direction - for SOME of the class. After an in depth conversation about the objectives of the writing (ie: Write a convincing argument, show your knowledge and insight), I let my higher level writers decide how to attack this problem. Forget the template, forget the guiding questions - just write. Show me your insight and analysis of some aspect of the story. For my mid level writers, we discussed some themes and questions they could explore, made sure they understood basic formatting etc... And for the low level writers, I ran small workshops on standard essay formatting, sentence structures etc...the hamburger essay. In other words - every student gets what every student needs.
Wherever possible, less is more. Let students explore, problem solve, and find the path. Where's the value in doing a science experiment with every step laid out for them, only to reach a pre-determined conclusion? That's not what scientists in the real world do. Obviously you'll need to judge for yourself what your students need. But when in doubt, spend more time discussing, demonstrating, and exploring the objectives and learning goals. Let the students figure out, and create, the path to get there.
Something I've been wrestling with over the past year in my classroom is how much direction to give students on assignments. I've come to the conclusion that the less I lay out how to do it, the more critical thinking and learning takes place. Of course direction and explanation are needed, but finding the happy medium between spelling it out for them, and leaving them clueless, is where experience and experimentation come in. Let me explain.
My English assignments used to be a list of options:
I.e:
Choose one of the following:
a) Discuss the themes of fate & destiny in Romeo and Juliet
b) How does Romeo and Juliet explore the conflict between the young and old generation?
c) How does the Power of Love control the actions of characters in Rome & Juliet?
Additionally, I'd provide a template for an essay: Intro, thesis, topic sentence, supporting details, concluding sentence. Repeat the body paragraph two more times, now write your conclusion. The standard hamburger essay. This type of thinking dominated my approach for the first few years of my teaching. Give them a few options, and a template to follow, teach them how to fit the mold. I'm not saying there isn't some value in this, or that it should be abandoned completely (more on that later) - but my approach has changed. Less is more. Motivation, enjoyment, quality, and creativity all went up, when I started giving less direction to start.
My new approach: spend more time discussing the learning goals and success criteria, and let them figure out how they can meet the criteria. Let me give a couple examples:
Example 1: Science class (grade 7): The lesson was on center of gravity. The textbook had an experiment laid out step for step on how to find the find center of gravity for an "L" shaped piece of cardboard. After teaching my lesson on Center of Gravity, I gave the groups the tools for the experiment. Nothing more than a string with a weight attached, needle, and marker, an oddly shaped piece of cardboard. Only I didn't tell them about the textbook directions - my only direction: "Find the center of gravity". They failed, at first. They told me "how can we do this if you haven't taught us?" It took time, some got frustrated when I pointed out their errors. But eventually, critical thinking, collaboration and disagreements began, - and the correct method was discovered. Had I showed them the directions in the textbook they would have found the center of gravity in minutes instead of the half hour it actually took. But there wouldn't have been any real learning.
Example 2: Grade 10 English Essay. As mentioned above, I used to lay out their options and spend a great deal time focusing on the hamburger essay template format. However, for Of Mice & Men this time around, I gave much less direction - for SOME of the class. After an in depth conversation about the objectives of the writing (ie: Write a convincing argument, show your knowledge and insight), I let my higher level writers decide how to attack this problem. Forget the template, forget the guiding questions - just write. Show me your insight and analysis of some aspect of the story. For my mid level writers, we discussed some themes and questions they could explore, made sure they understood basic formatting etc... And for the low level writers, I ran small workshops on standard essay formatting, sentence structures etc...the hamburger essay. In other words - every student gets what every student needs.
Wherever possible, less is more. Let students explore, problem solve, and find the path. Where's the value in doing a science experiment with every step laid out for them, only to reach a pre-determined conclusion? That's not what scientists in the real world do. Obviously you'll need to judge for yourself what your students need. But when in doubt, spend more time discussing, demonstrating, and exploring the objectives and learning goals. Let the students figure out, and create, the path to get there.
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