I have to admit, I'm super psyched about this course. Like, really, really excited. When I first read the description, my first thought was "that's what I DO!!" And I was only thinking about my bird show.
You see, I have an educational bird show. It's still developing, and really, I'm kind of putting it on hold while I work on my degree. But I have about a dozen different birds that I bring to classrooms and libraries mostly, with the occasional birthday party or retirement home thrown in. And while every program is educational, it's really about getting kids (and adults too!) interested and fired up about birds. Birds are AWESOME. They can fly, they have feathers, and air sacs, instead of only using about half their lungs like we humans do, they empty then refill their lungs with every breath, thanks to those air sacs. They've got this really cool part of their wing, the trioseal canal, which allows the muscles powering the updraft to be attached to their keel, maintaining their low center of gravity . . . okay, I get really excited about birds. But like I was saying, the main point of my bird show isn't necessarily to teach my audiences a whole bunch of new facts, it's really to facilitate a connection between my audience members and birds. Which means they get to hold some birds, touch some, I bring feathers and eggs and a skeleton they can look at. My show can be used to wrap up a unit in school, to help solidify all the kids have learned, but it's also great to start out a unit. To get kids thinking about birds and animals, get them asking questions, get them wondering. So, I thought, what better for me, than a class on compelling experiences?
But as the class started and Dr. Wong introduced us to his main ideas and I read the syllabus, I realized, this is really what I do every day. As a matter of fact, my bird show is really a side venture. One day it'll be big, but now it's mostly just fun. What brings in the money to pay my bills is my other business. I teach private music lessons. I'm not just a teacher, I'm also a musician, an artist. One of the categories Dr. Wong said we'd be looking at. And it made me realize, that compelling experiences are exactly what I provide my students every week. The process of teaching them how to create their own compelling experiences, is, in itself, compelling. At least, that's the idea.
So, like I said, I'm really excited for this class. I'm already brainstorming ways to incorporate what I'm learning here with the 4th grade science classroom I volunteer with, with my private studio, my bird show, and years down the line, with my own kids when I have them. What excitement!
Most immediately, I'm thinking about how I can make the lessons I teach my 4th graders more compelling. This Friday, we've planned to have a bird-fest. Well, that's what I've been thinking of it as. All year, the kids have been learning about birds and adaptations, and completing a webquest. Well, since all their work has primarily been on the computer so far, that's what they think scientists do. So our goal for this Friday is to introduce them to what scientists do - make observations, ask questions, make more observations, conduct experiments, etc. I'm hoping to make this a compelling experience for the kids. While I really don't care if they take away all the facts they've been learning, I want them to catch the main ideas - different birds eat different things, fly in different ways, use their feet in different ways, etc. I'm really hoping that getting to see all my birds interacting with each other, with perches, with food, with water, will really help them take these main ideas home. I'm hoping that when they go home, not only will they remember the main ideas, but they'll continue thinking, come up with new questions, and be instilled with a love and awe of birds.
Now, to make it compelling. I'll be bringing most of my birds, including several that aren't actually "show birds". Most of the birds will be in a large cage together, so kids can see which birds prefer to eat what, and how they do it. I'll also bring some of the show birds out, so they can see some more flight, take a closer look at beaks and feet, and generally get to interact with them on a deeper level. Will the novelty and thrill of having real, live birds in their classroom be enough to make it compelling? We'll find out, and I'm sure I'll learn better as the semester progresses.
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