Overcoming Postman

I chose to read Jim Burke’s, What’s the Big Idea. My rationale for doing so was in the description of the book. The concept of backward design and essential questions is one that transcends Language Arts and even school in general. It’s an idea that can be applied to just about any facet of life with success, and that – the ability to take what was learned in a classroom beyond its walls – is exactly what I want to teach my students.

During my time with this book, I was able to make many connections into my own life, even though I’m not yet in a traditional classroom setting. For example, when I teach swim lessons, I model the goal for my students before I begin teaching a skill. This way, my swimmers know what the end product should [through much practice] look like, and are better able to achieve it. I don’t jump right in and demonstrate strokes and skills far out of their ability level, rather I teach in carefully planned sequences, each requiring more skill than the last, until they are able to put them all together into the end product. It’s also important not to teach too many different skills at once; if a student is learning to swim breaststroke, it may confuse them to throw in aspects of the butterfly stroke. These things fall into Backward Design in that they are focused on a particular goal, and superfluous lessons are avoided.

Burke sited Neil Postman’s quote, “Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods.” saying that his students consistently break the rule. This statement was the theme for my presentation because I felt it encompassed the idea of the book while debunking the common thought on education that it only happens while at school. 

Please take a moment to view my Sliderocket presentation below.