Make Learning a "WOW" Experience

Make Learning a "WOW" Experience

Performance Learning PLUS is a monthly e-newsletter by Performance Learning Systems (PLS), a comprehensive educational services company that has provided a full spectrum of programs, products, and consulting services to educators and business professionals since 1971.

When is the last time you thought "WOW!" about something you taught, or your students had an experience that seemed to “WOW” them?

Beginning a new year, a new unit of study, a new subject, or a new procedure with a "WOW experience" creates the strongest of impressions.

What is this thing called "WOW?" It can be many things and take on many forms. The most important aspect of the WOW concept lies in its focus on gaining the positive attention of students (or teachers or staff or parents or other educators) to lead them to learning and to action.

An element of surprise is present in any WOW experience. There is enjoyment, excitement — something's happening here. WOWs need not be complex and elaborate events destined to take up valuable resources and compete with their own past successes. Nor are they meant to serve as entertainment. They have a purpose and they exhibit quality.

Start with quality, and you have automatically developed a benchmark from which you can operate. You can outdo yourself; students can chip in to help MAKE LEARNING A WOW EXPERIENCE. It's like a game where everyone wins.

TIPS:

In order to WOW students, you must first gain their positive attention. Once you have their attention, they are ready to learn. The trick is keeping their attention during the learning process. With a little thoughtfulness and creativity on your part, the act of learning can be a WOW experience.

Read on for ways to WOW your students.

1. ZANY WELCOME PACKETS

Give a "WOW Packet" to each student prior to the first day of a new unit. Make the packet colorful, zany, upbeat, and informative. In it, assign each student a nickname or a name in a category. For example, four packets would each have a different President's name, with a picture and biographical information corresponding to the assigned President. Another four packets would have a different Constitutional Amendment, including what it means and why it was created.

Distribute packets to students for their review that night. The next day, students will enter into a collaborative learning environment as they seek to find other Presidents or Amendments and form teams to discuss what they learned.

Be warned that some students might WOW you with their creativity by dressing up as their President or asking to host a mock debate about their Amendment!

2. THE GIFT BOX

Here is a math WOW.

Prepare a large, gift-wrapped box and fill it with a special treat for your students. Arrange for this box to be delivered to your classroom on the first day of school, or the first day of a lesson. The box should look like a really nice gift, with a huge bow — big, square, pretty. Tell the students that this is a special present for them. Get them excited and curious about the contents.

When they start asking to open the present, tell them they can open it, but first they need to find out its volume. This immediately segues into a math lesson as students learn about volume. They measure the length and width of the box and learn about measurement and fractions.

When the students learn the entire math necessary to determine the volume of the box, and then figure out the actual volume, then they are ready to open the box.

Create an important ceremony around opening the box. Inside is your special gift to them. One idea is to use a long string of candy as the gift, and include a note on top of the candy that says, "You can eat this candy when you can divide me evenly among yourselves."

Off to the math book again . . . .

3. SURVIVAL KIT

Here is a WOW that can be used in an English or writing class.

Prepare a Survival Kit for each student and put one on each student's desk. Each kit should contain a compass, a small flashlight, a Band-Aid®, and a pack of Lifesaver® candies, and should be placed in a small nylon bag with a zipper and a handle. On the top of each bag stick a strip of wide white tape with words in block letters "SURVIVAL KIT."

In the back of the classroom, prepare a "campfire", with logs stacked up and a glow from a hidden flashlight underneath them. Place cushions and low-backed chairs all around the logs.

On the day you present your class with their survival kits, come to class dressed in camouflage gear. When the students enter, help create the atmosphere by standing straight and stiff with your hands on your hips military style. Direct the students to become acquainted with their Survival Kits — to unzip them and check the contents carefully.

You can then introduce them to the concept and explain how they will use each item in their kit. Explain how you want them to survive and succeed in this class, so they can use this Survival Kit throughout the year to ensure they complete the mission of learning how to write well.

• The compass is to help them find the direction they want to take with their writing. Each piece they write will have its own direction, its own plot and theme.
• The Lifesavers are there when they need help. Explain that you will always be available to help and guide them through the writing process.
• And the Band-Aid ... Explain that when you are correcting their writing, you use a red pen. Some think the papers you return look downright bloody. So the Band-Aid can be used as their safety valve. They can place the Band-Aid right over a grade that really disturbs them — the grade that may accompany a red-splotchy paper. They can only use it once; if they put a Band-Aid on a paper they're not crazy about, you'll eliminate the grade.

After you've explained the items in the kit, ask them to take their flashlights and go arrange themselves around the "campfire" you've prepared in the back of the classroom. Dim the lights in the classroom, settle around the fire, and begin reading from the first creative writing book.

Throughout the year, the students use their Survival Kit to ask for direction, help, assistance, and to camouflage the grade on that really bad story they wrote. Whenever a new book or topic is introduced, have them grab their flashlights and join you at the campfire glowing at the back of the room.

A gift — a WOW — that keeps on giving.

For additional WOW ideas, see "Taking It Further."

Source: The above WOW techniques are based on Steve Barkley's book: WOW! Adding Pizzazz to Teaching and Learning. For more information see "Helpful Resources."

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