Expected, Inspected, & Respected.
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
Today's fur trade lesson was a bit of a flop. I was so excited about its potential but it never really got off the ground. I used a game developed by the McCord Museum in Montreal that simulates a fur trade rendezvous. There was nothing wrong with the game, I just didn't do a great job of being the game master. My fatal flaw was overconfidence. I love games and have often been the person who has to explain rules to new players or young kids, so I thought this would be a fairly straightforward lesson. My materials were all ready to go and I had read the rules multiple times until I felt comfortable with them. I think I had the opposite problem Andre the Giant had when fighting Westley in The Princess Bride. Fezzik: Well, I haven't fought one person for so long. I've been specialised in groups, battling gangs for local charities, that kind of thing. I'm used to leading games for groups of 4 to 6 players, not 16-18 and you definitely use "different moves" when you're teaching a game to a large group of people than when you only have to be worried about a few. In a game with only a handful of players, you don't have to explain all the rules at the beginning, you can often explain as you play the first few rounds. When there is a question about rules in a small scale game, it's easy to get everyone's attention and clarify any misunderstandings. It's much more difficult to gather the attention of a room full of riled up 11 year olds on the afternoon before a long weekend.
If I were to play this game again, I would write some simplified rules on the SMART board so that there would be visual reminders of how to play, along with my verbal explanations. I would also spend more time reflecting with the class at the end of the game to discuss what the students learned in the process of playing.
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Well, I said this was where I would put my mistakes on display, soooo, here ya go! I'll give myself a fully loaded hamburger critique here. Bun (Compliment)I did a good job of adapting this song. The original lyrics were, Snowball, snowball, pass it on It rhymes on with on and sounds so mean when you get the snowball. I think my version is an improvement. Meat, Condiments, and Fixings (Criticism)I forgot my warmup I had planned, I didn't state any of my expectations for them, I forgot everything I knew about crowd control, I didn't nip the chatting in the bud, I didn't get the orchestral players to practice their part before starting, and the tempo was way too fast. I'll blame my mistakes on the fact that I was so nervous to be singing in front of my peers that I started the day a little prematurely at 3:30 am. Bun (Compliment)Although some people may not have heard my instructions, I think they were fairly clear. I also think I did a good job of arranging the instrumental music for the song. If you'd like to take a look, feel free to click the links below. Also, if you've got any feedback for me, harsh or not, I'd love to hear it. Don't worry about offending, I'm a big boy and I can take it. :)
Full orchestra: https://flat.io/score/588b8cac4a2865d... Voice: https://flat.io/score/58933d43ddb0d3c... Xylophone 1: https://flat.io/score/588b99d7e9f5ef0... Xylophone 2: https://flat.io/score/588b9ce8779ae4e... Glockenspiel: https://flat.io/score/588b9ebe779ae4e... Cabasa: https://flat.io/score/588b4fafe9f5ef0... Claves: https://flat.io/score/588ba18696ad850... Triangle: https://flat.io/score/588ba32f96ad850...https://flat.io/score/588b8cac4a2865d... |
David Wiebe
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