Stump The Teacher: Puppet Show "Home"work

There have been many conversations around the world of education for an eternity about the role homework plays in the learning process. My own thoughts are well documented and I personally don’t care for homework in most cases. I have often said that if we do our jobs right in school, kids will want to continue learning when they are at home. This point was driven home this evening when my son got home from kindergarten.

He walked in the door and pulled out a paper bag puppet he made today for Johnny Appleseed’s birthday. They apparently did a number of activities in school to celebrate this folk hero’s special day. When my son came home he wanted to look up some more pieces of information about Mr. Appleseed and then put on a puppet show. Now, is this Broadway material? Not in the least bit. However, it shows that his learning was sparked and continued when he got home. In addition, as you can from the video, he brought his younger brother along for the ride. He was engaged enough with the material at school to want to do something more with it when he got home even though it was not “assigned”.

I often wonder what impact my lessons have when students leave my classroom. Do they continue to learn when they leave my presence? Are they empowered to go home and at least share their learning with others? At the very least are they inspired enough to look forward to coming back tomorrow to learn more? Homework does not instill a passion for learning but good teaching and great lessons certainly can. What lessons are we doing that are inspiring kids to go home and put on a puppet show?

5 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 26, 2011 at 6:16 PM
This is lovely! This is my idea of homework... nothing assigned by the teacher, just a kid so enthused by the learning that he wants to take it further when he gets home. What could be better?
Mary Beth SheaSeptember 26, 2011 at 7:14 PM
Fantastic! Love that he brought his little brother into the appleseed act!
Tell your boys, Thanks for Sharing!
Great point about homework not needing to be assigned for the learning to continue!cias
StephanieSeptember 26, 2011 at 8:35 PM
How delightful. Why does this joy get crushed so soon into school. I think I know the answer but am wondering whether to post on it.
Katie HellermanSeptember 26, 2011 at 9:28 PM
Awesome video!
You make a great point about inspiring and sparking our students' interest to the point where they want to go out and learn/share on their own.
I've found that often times family culture doesn't facilitate that kind of sharing and exploration. I often ask my students to teach their parents what we learned in class. I find that it cultivates a greater sense of curiosity for the family as a whole.
Brette lockyerSeptember 29, 2011 at 4:52 AM
Nice example of how thinking does not stop at 3.30pm.
You point out that our students' interests have been inspired and sparked at school so they want to go out and learn/share on their own. You have taken the time to listen to the student and his family, and to allow home learning to be a part of the classroom learning, yes?
My class video camera and iPod regaularly go home for students to use in whatever way they choose, to bring their home learning to school. Can't beat it!
Cheers
Brette