In a recent post I wrote about pedagogical moves that help build community in remote settings. To highlight some of the concepts, I included images of student responses to a few questions I asked them as a final “2021 Check-In” to assess their mood, attitude toward our learning, and their personal state of being, so to speak.
I wound up getting some fabulous responses from them, that – to be honest – warmed my heart and helped me feel good about the work we were doing and the tone I / we were setting.
Students are pretty clear on what they value and want from school, and what – by implication – doesn’t work for them.
While none of these are specific unit or lesson ideas, they are ideas for how to approach students and units and lessons.
Here are some excerpts of what my students wrote just a few short weeks ago that give us a good idea of what they want, and that capture my aims / objectives / intentions and whys for what I choose to do and how we do it:
Relevancy / Transcendance
- It constantly has me thinking about new things and viewing things in ways that hadn’t before not only just on topics that revolve around english but also current topics and issues going on in the world right now.
- I am making more connections than ever across media. Coincidentally, I have stumbled across a Japanese manga that connected to the Metamorphosis.
- I also really like how psychology was intertwined in some of our discussion topics.
Meaningfulness / Passion
- In our class, you do push us to think more. It is not just a Q&A, rather it is a deep dive into critical thinking. This class does make me think more than in any other language class I have taken. I do feel challenged in the sense that I am not writing to get a grade, I am writing because I actually want to.
- My thinking has most definitely expanded throughout the duration of our time together, with me steadily realizing that I am now interpreting artistic pieces, whether that be literature, artwork, cinematography, or etc, within a more analytical, critically charged manner.
Freedom / Choice
- I like how you give us freedom in our writings/works. For example at the beginning of the year when we could write about literally anything, and how we get the privilege of choosing a poem that best suits us for our poem out loud recitation/ assignments based on the poem.
- your class…is unique to any class I’ve taken before in High School because I feel the directive of the class is to learn. The class isn’t about notes, study, test…notes, study, test. Your class makes you think and question, all the while expanding your knowledge on important parts of literature, action, and learning.
Growth in Community
- Some things such as sharing our work and needing to do group projects is out of my comfort zone, but I like how our activities give me the chance to open up.
- It is also been a year where I have gotten out of my comfort zone more than I have in any other course. I think it has been helpful for me whether is is reading personal poems or sharing an unpopular opinion, this class has been a safe space for all of that and that is something I really cherish.
- Working together with my classmates and talking about difficult topics with others has helped me so much. It’s been exciting connecting with my classmates. I really enjoy talking about these certain topics in class with others because it allows me to see other perspectives.
Our students deserve more than great content. They deserve great learning.