I’m guessing that if we had meaningful data about such things, we would see that not nearly enough assignments generate truly creative and fun responses from our students. Time to see what we can do about that, it is!
Here are two possibilities for generating more interesting student work for Day 2 of The Challenge!
Choose one or both of the following:
a) Choose a topic you are covering or have covered recently. At the beginning of class, put this (or another) image in front of the class and ask students to work in pairs to draw as fascinating a connection as they can come up with between the image and the topic you chose. Make sure there isn’t an obvious connection; what the students come up with should be creative enough to surprise you. Encourage the class to have fun with their ideas!
citation for this piece of creative awesomeness:
Hello Kitty Darth Vader by JD Hancock from Flickr (CC by 2.0)
b) Pick an assignment you are planning to give in the coming week, and give students the option of doing it as it has normally been done, or to propose an alternative approach (a video instead of an essay, for example). They must get your permission to do something different (give them a deadline for approval that still gives them plenty of time to do it the traditional way if you don’t accept what they suggest). Let them know that if you’re going to approve something different, they still have to convince you they will be able to articulate their mastery of what the assignment covers. For extra style points, get a colleague to do the same thing at the same time, and whichever of you ends up with the most unusual (but still academically meaningful) assignment from a student earns a coffee or some other beverage from the other.
What do you think of this? Share your thoughts via social media using these tags: #5DTC and (if specific to today’s material,) #5DTCday2 – please also add #edtechteam and @rushtonh, if you have space.
And if you have a suggestion, critique, compliment, or story to share with me, please do so via the 5-Day Teacher Challenge Feedback form.
Thanks for being willing to try something new!
In service,
Rushton