![]() When was the last time you learned something completely new? I am a World Language teacher (French) which means I'm introducing something to my students that is completely foreign (pun intended). When students come to me in grade 4, I'm opening a world of new vocabulary, new grammar rules, and asking them to communicate in a way that is difficult and takes a lot of brain power. So I've been asking myself: what is that really like for them? Do I remember what that learning process feels like? In order to answer this, I thought I would take some notes as I learn something new to me this summer: playing the drum kit. So here are a few reflections from the point of view of the learner, that might enrich my role as teacher. 1. Background: I am coming to the drums with a great deal of musical background. I have been playing the piano for 30 years. I also play clarinet, flute and guitar fairly proficiently. I have can play violin, saxophone and trumpet at a beginner level. I currently play percussion (timpani, xylophone) in a community band, which I have been a part of for 10 years (8 years flute, 2 years percussion). I have a love of music and a natural talent for sight reading. 2. Desire: I have wanted to play the drum kit since I was 12 and wasn't able to choose it in our school band. 3. Personal motivation: I woke up this morning wanting to learn how to play This is Me from the movie musical The Greatest Showman. While this is quite a difficult song to learn, it's what I want to play. Learning to play this song is motivating me to keep going. 4. Just do it: I sat down at my drum kit, opened up the song on my phone and started to listen. I was hoping I could hear some of the drum patterns and pick them up. I struggled along a few times through, but couldn't figure out what I was listening for. 4. Teacher: So I called down my 13 year old son. This year he taught himself to play the drums, and now he plays in a band with three school friends. I called him down to the music room and asked "How do you listen to a song and find the beat pattern?" His reply: "That's actually really hard. But if you look on YouTube there are drum tutorials for a million songs. I bet This is Me is on there." 5. Resources: Lo and behold, the tutorial was on YouTube. I flipped through a handful of options until I found the resource that was just right for me. The teacher played each pattern slowly, then more quickly. He provided beginner and advanced options. He showed the written sheet music above the video of him playing. Each of these elements combined to reach my learning styles and to meet me where I was as an eager beginner. 6. Frustration: Even with a desire, the motivation, a teacher and the right resources, I soon became frustrated with my lack of progress. The connection between my brain and my foot seems to be broken. I worked and worked and worked at it, piece by piece. A little bit came, but mostly it didn't. So when I reached the point of total frustration, I jumped off the kit. I slid behind the piano and played This is Me from my songbook, something that was easy and enjoyable and made me feel successful. 7. Schedule: And then I left off for the time being. My brain, body and should were in no position to keep going at the task, so I stepped away from it. I'll come back later today or tomorrow again, because I still have the desire to learn that song. What I realized in analyzing my experience as a learner this morning is that I have all the choice and control. I chose the subject, I chose the skill, I chose the task, I chose who to teach me, I chose what resource to use, I chose how to practice, and I chose when to quit. So the question is: How can I replicate these optimal conditions within a compulsory educational setting? I feel like I can give students a voice and choice in skill, task, teacher, resources, and schedule. But the real issue here is that the most important choice in all of these, the choice of subject, is not up to my students. Every single student must pass through my class and spend 200 minutes a week learning French, whether they want to or not. I have currently chosen to teach within the public education system, and so that is the box that I cannot change. But I always believe in innovation, and parameters just make the challenge more interesting. So, with this experience, I now have many points to ponder and questions to ask myself to see how I might change and adapt the language learning experience for my students. Questions to ponder: 1. What is the background of my students when it comes to languages? What languages do they know? How does that transfer to learning French? What skills do they have that might be doorways to learning? 2. How do I teach a student without the desire to learn French? Should students be required to learn things they are not interested in? Does undesirable "learning" have any lasting impact? If students don't want to learn, and as a result don't retain that learning, should we insist on teaching it to them? 3. Why do we differentiate between learning and doing? We start at the beginning, but we start by doing. Doing very badly, perhaps, as we get going, but doing nonetheless. What does "doing" look like in early language? 4. How might we redefine the role of teacher at school? What qualities make a good teacher/mentor? What am I bringing to my language class that makes me a good teacher for some students? What happens if I am not the right teacher for other students? Can students be forced to learn from someone who isn't the right fit? Should they be? Why is my 12 year old the right teacher for me now? 5. How can I honour the inevitable frustration that comes from doing something new and difficult? What tasks might they revert to that make them feel strong and empowered when they feel weak and beat down by something hard? How can a student know when to persist and when to walk away? 6. How can I respect the individual schedule of each learner? How might class be structured so that students can walk away when they need to without being penalized? What part does walking away play in doing something new?
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Terri-AnnPersonal reflections on project-based learning. Archives
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