What I do remember are different lessons, ones that were sticky. Those lessons that engaged, resonated, and ensured that we owned the learning experience. Sticky messages, as identified in Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, are "The specific quality that a message needs to be successful is the quality of 'stickiness.' Is the message-or the food, or the movie, or the product-memorable? Is it so memorable, in fact, that it can create change, that it can spur someone to action?" There isn't much I remember about High School English. I spent 4 years taking it. We read Julius Caesar. After that, the only lesson I remember is this. The teacher called it bathroom English. He indicated that we could remember parts of English by looking at the walls of the bathroom stall. It was a simple 4 sentence lesson:
"If on the wall of the stall it says, "This sucks!" This is a pronoun. If on the wall of the stall it says, "This school sucks!" This is an article."
That was the lesson. Simple, elegant, and sticky. I remember the class roaring with laughter. Students repeating it to their friends. When they left the room, they went and told it to their locker partners, their friends locker partners, and their parents. The message contextually connected. It was funny. And 26 years later it has stuck for me and everyone of my friends. It is the only English lesson or content component that any of us remember.
For the past 15 years I have had the honor to co-teach with the best teacher I know, my wife. Each Sunday for nearly a decade and a half we have rolled into Sunday School to help fourth and fifth grade students learn Genesis, Exodus, Modern Israel, and the Immigrant Experience. As a student, she was the quiet good student who sat in the back of the room and only answered if called on. She worked hard to do the assignments that teachers asked. She spent the extra time trying to remember things for the test. She actually earned her grades. Really, she doesn't remember a whole lot of the content of those classes that she sat through, just working hard to be there. However, as a teacher, she is totally different than those that she learned from. She is the master of the "sticky lesson." When we first started figuring out how to help students learn Genesis & Exodus, I figured we'd have them read the stories and draw some art, talk about it, or write about it. Nope, she decided they needed to act it out. The students needed to take on roles from the stories and be those people. It quickly became a play, "History of the World part 1." College students come up to her and talk to her about who they were in the fourth grade play. Twelve years later the children can share their experiences as a biblical character in a Sunday School play. More over, they can tell you who got the character they really wanted and how that wasn't fair. When we got too many students to do a play, she changed it. While she probably wouldn't say the reason why was to create "sticky learning experiences," she knew intrinsically that she wanted that meaningful personal connection between the students and the learning. So, she came up with a "Wax Museum." Annually 5th grade parents walk around the Caruso Middle School Library and tap a button and their child's or their child's friends feet and the statue comes to life sharing the role, challenges, and life experiences of a biblical character. They dress up in bed sheets and beards and share biblical stories. Two months ago, our former student and current babysitter and her friend recited their experiences 7 years after doing it. It was a sticky lesson.
In studying Modern Israel, originally I wanted to have long discussions of the regions, geography, political relations. As a former Political Science major and teacher, I loved that stuff. I think my wife's eyes glossed over even as I suggested it. She instead suggested that they make a tour guide. Encouraging the students to pick a city, study it, find out relevant facts and make a visual representation. Through the years, the experience has evolved from a guide and a float to children make posters, digital presentations, and even building their cities in Minecraft. It's a sticky experience. Almost every child can tell us what their city was, why they still want to go there or how it was different when they went there, and what their visual representation was. The lesson and the learning mattered.
Sticky learning experiences are engaging. Student owned. Meaningful to the learner. They resonate past the single day and become authentic. The products can vary from child to child because the learner is invested in making it their own. The learning becomes important through the engagement of the student.
On Friday, as I sat with my Instructional Coaching team, I asked a coach who had taught for me years early what was the most powerful learning experience she had led as teacher. The answer came so quick that I was floored. Easy, she said, "Ellis Island." The kids participate in it, take on the roles, and are always engaged. She's right, it is an awesome learning experience. Funny thing, eight years ago, my wife came to the school I was working with and helped the Fifth Grade team design and implement the Ellis Island immigration experience. It's a very sticky lesson.
She's the best teacher I know. Master of the sticky lesson even if she doesn't realize it. I can't wait until Sunday night when the 5th grade team gets together to design this year's learning. I get to see what she comes up with next.
Clip is long, but look for the "sticky learning"!
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