Passion out of Desperation
Katie’s Experience: How I fostered passion in the classroom
The first time I explored passion in the classroom, actively and with purpose, was in a state of desperation. This is what happened:
In the first essay of the year, I asked students to choose from a list of predetermine topics to explore something related to media and communications. The papers were so formulaic and boring I wanted to gouge my eyes out. I arrived in class the week after, in this state of desperation. I hated that I felt they were bored. I hated that I felt like I was making them bored. I hated that it seemed we both hated the assignment. Don't get me wrong, the students were understanding the course material. This was reflected in the intelligent and well-researched quotes. But they seemed to be going through the motions when it came to the preparation of the assignment. There was no heart. There was just brain. So this is what I did:
Step one: Brainstorming your passion
I said, “okay, get out a piece of paper, write down, for one minute, everything that you are passionate about. Go!” For the first 30 seconds students stared at me wide-eyed as if I'd just told them to prepare an interpretive dance for me. The next 30 seconds were spent vehemently writing lists upon lists.
Here’s a sample of some typical "passions" I got:
Lady Gaga, fashion, photography, kicks (sneakers), classic literature (e.g.: Jane Eyre), music, architecture, my cell phone, drinking, girls/boys, my friends, my family, school, music, movies.
Step two: Discuss and link to class
I then got the students to work in groups of two and try to link one of their passions to at least three theories we’ve explored so far in class.
Step three: Formulate your thesis:
Here’s some examples of what I got:
1. How does the fashion of Lady Gaga relate to some of the key terms of semiotics?
2. How did the lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s album “Blue” underscore the key pleas of the women’s movement in the late 1960’s?
3. Texting is leading to the decrease of grammar knowledge in teenagers.
4. Sneaker culture: commodity fetishism of designer running shoes.
Feedback:
“I never knew something I didn’t like could become something I did really like.”
Students asked me if they could present in class (never happened before).
“I never worked so hard on a project for school but I think it’s because I liked the topic so much.”
“How do you stop researching?” (This is what master’s and PhD students proclaim!)
“Thanks for the class. It really made me think differently. I never realized that communication studies was such a part of my daily life. Now I look at everything differently.”
The first time I explored passion in the classroom, actively and with purpose, was in a state of desperation. This is what happened:
In the first essay of the year, I asked students to choose from a list of predetermine topics to explore something related to media and communications. The papers were so formulaic and boring I wanted to gouge my eyes out. I arrived in class the week after, in this state of desperation. I hated that I felt they were bored. I hated that I felt like I was making them bored. I hated that it seemed we both hated the assignment. Don't get me wrong, the students were understanding the course material. This was reflected in the intelligent and well-researched quotes. But they seemed to be going through the motions when it came to the preparation of the assignment. There was no heart. There was just brain. So this is what I did:
Step one: Brainstorming your passion
I said, “okay, get out a piece of paper, write down, for one minute, everything that you are passionate about. Go!” For the first 30 seconds students stared at me wide-eyed as if I'd just told them to prepare an interpretive dance for me. The next 30 seconds were spent vehemently writing lists upon lists.
Here’s a sample of some typical "passions" I got:
Lady Gaga, fashion, photography, kicks (sneakers), classic literature (e.g.: Jane Eyre), music, architecture, my cell phone, drinking, girls/boys, my friends, my family, school, music, movies.
Step two: Discuss and link to class
I then got the students to work in groups of two and try to link one of their passions to at least three theories we’ve explored so far in class.
Step three: Formulate your thesis:
Here’s some examples of what I got:
1. How does the fashion of Lady Gaga relate to some of the key terms of semiotics?
2. How did the lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s album “Blue” underscore the key pleas of the women’s movement in the late 1960’s?
3. Texting is leading to the decrease of grammar knowledge in teenagers.
4. Sneaker culture: commodity fetishism of designer running shoes.
Feedback:
“I never knew something I didn’t like could become something I did really like.”
Students asked me if they could present in class (never happened before).
“I never worked so hard on a project for school but I think it’s because I liked the topic so much.”
“How do you stop researching?” (This is what master’s and PhD students proclaim!)
“Thanks for the class. It really made me think differently. I never realized that communication studies was such a part of my daily life. Now I look at everything differently.”