Summer

Tuesday, June 28, is the last day of school for students in Alberta. They get two months off. Some will visit family, some will plunge into adventurous vacations, camps or clubs, some will relax at home.

At the same time, last Tuesday, June 21 (actually last Monday evening, June 20), was the six-month anniversary of my blog. It turned out differently than I imagined, both following a different route than I envisioned and having fewer entries than I planned.

(I think I will wait for the next Eve before Winter Solstice before I reflect on what I have learned through my blog.)

Today, I wish to address summer break.

Would I teach the same way during the Summer?

In particular, a question occurred to me as the end of the school year stealthily approached.

If a student came to me and asked for some tutoring this summer, how would I teach her (or him)?

Would I teach this student as I would in a classroom full of students, following the curriculum and lessons set for me in the middle of the school year?
Would I even follow the curriculum?
Or would I do something completely, utterly different (after all I would no longer be restricted to the curriculum or to a schedule or to another teacher’s plan)?

My ideal class

Which is more important — the content or the engagement?

Lately, in #mathchat we have been discussing student engagement and how to center math learning on the student.

I think the best thing I could do for any kid is enrich his experience of a subject by exciting her about it. The first thing any student needs to learn about any subject is what is fun about it and how it is used in the world.

Everything else follows after that.

So, what is my ideal class? It is a subject-club-style class. And if the "lessons" happen to cover the curriculum the student needs to learn, then the class would be truly empowering.

How would you teach if you were called this Summer?