Make It Matter: Hands-on in the English classroom

As a teacher, part of the cycle of the year includes revisiting certain ideas, statements, and questions. Sometimes students ask if it gets boring talking about the same books, the same essays, the same films. While I try to bring in fresh material as much as possible, the fact remains that I have a long term relationship with some content.

Is this a problem? Not necessarily. In fact, I count among the benefits of teaching the certainty that I get to grapple with particular works of art and literature over time. I am not static. As I get older, as my own kids grow, as I add to my range of experiences, my ideas about teaching and learning progress. And, inevitably, my relationship to art, including those pieces I know best, deepens.

In the last week, I have greeted back into my room two individuals: the 19th Century writer, philosopher, and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau; and the 21st Century multimedia artist, Gabriel Orozco. This year, more so than in the past, I saw a connection best exemplified by the following statements:

Engagement. That's what both men want. I want it, too. But not just for me. In the classroom, it is the goal: to help students gain entry into the worlds created by these artists and thinkers, to help them consider potential meanings, to help them understand how the ideas and questions raised by these individuals may apply to their own lives. Perhaps this is the biggest challenge I face as a teacher: to find that edge or in-road that makes students want to care, want to try, want to engage. I know it is the most exciting part of my job.

But how do I achieve this? Wow, that is a big, important question. As such, I have no easy answer. However, here are three certainties:

Value what they are interested in and wonder about, and give them opportunity to pursue these things in class. It's about choice. This year, I have embarked on a 20% Time project with some students. We are early in the process, but many of the students are excited by the possibilities. But I need to find ways to incorporate the 20% concept in smaller ways as well. As an English teacher, one way I can do this is by giving students more freedom regarding writing. Instead of essay topics that lead to formulaic, thesis-driven essay analyzing literature, students need opportunities to "essay," in the traditional sense of the word: to explore.

Give them opportunity to be makers/creators in class. With the growing popularity of the maker movement, I want to find ways to bring this ethos into the English classroom. However, it is not always apparent how to do so. Of course, writing is craft. Writing is making. But another way is to open up moments for students to engage in visual crafting. For example, I recently gave students 30 minutes to work on the poem, The Writer. When I say "work on," I don't mean annotating lines, looking for symbols, and answering questions regarding overall meaning. This came later. First, though, students manipulated the poem in a variety of ways in their mindbooks (a blank-paged sketchbook).

Why spend this time in class? Here are three reasons:

1. Deep focus. It’s interesting to see how intently people work at cutting, gluing, and designing the layout for this basic page. I think the focus is deeper than if we just moved straight to a conversation. In fact, many students display deeper focus and attention during these times than at any other point.
2. Play time. How often during their days do students have time to experiment with materials? I don’t think it happens very often for many of them. Ultimately, this connects with #1--we need times of quiet. Whether they are reflecting on what they are making or on the poem too, students benefit from an opportunity to interact in this different way.
3. Engagement. It’s just my speculation, but I do think some of them reread the poem more and consider it more as they are cutting it up. The text is not just visual material, but it has meaning as well. In follow-up conversation, some students echoed this idea. The rich conversation we had after this exercise bears this out.

Actually, here is one more reason to make time for this kind of work in the English classroom--it can be fun to create in these ways. And one more--it can be satisfying to see one's vision come to life in a visual way.

Taken together, all of this brings me back to my original point. We must find ways to make it matter.