So often, I only hear Jennifer's voice, so it was refreshing to see her animated facial expressions, passionate gestures, and vibrant body language on the screen. From the moment she began, I was hooked by her honest stories of groupers—colleagues who seem to suck the life right out of any enthusiastic idea. I know first hand how naysayers and cynics can knock the wind out of your sails, and if I am honest, I may display grouper tendencies at times. You can view her entire talk below, but the part I really want to hone in on begins around minute 12:42.
As a teacher, I know the power of the technique she terms total body response. I'm a fan of Chris Biffle's Whole Brain Teaching movement, and almost a decade ago, after discovering The Crazy Professor Reading Game, I witnessed first hand how comprehension increased ten-fold when your body and your brain work in tandem. Throughout her presentation, Jennifer Gonzales invited the audience to apply a hand gesture for each point she was making. Her V-hand motion seen above stood for idea #6. validate. I remained fully engaged during the 45-minute talk because I really wanted to know what her next gesture would be. From "we're going to wipe the window and reveal" to "Wayne's World hands', I loved every hand motion she selected.
She was intentional about leaving #9 gestureless. Instead, she used the quote below by Dr. Amy Fast to make her final point. She mentions that teachers affect the trajectory of people's lives every day and reminds us we are all on a mission of incredible magnitude. I will hold on to her final bit of wisdom: "When we get to a point where we want to give up and go back to the way things were because it's easy and comfortable" we need someone to remind us "It is time to find another gear, to go to that dark place; It's time to dig deep."
I really need to start exploring podcasts...Your excitement about the new ideas that resonated with you in Gonzales' talk is palpable! We all need that boost in the classroom, especially at this time of year. I will posit, however, that very often the new ideas, new curriculum come across as "one more thing" that is required of teachers to perform. I think admin and curriculum folks need to do less adding on and more substituting of new material--and there needs to be time to train with it, and time to implement it. As the librarian of my school, I have often had to catalog materials and deliver them to teachers who have little idea of how to implement them in their teaching, or little time to prepare to use them.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to clarify--not being the naysayer here, at all! Love new ideas! They just need to be presented as new ways of doing things, not additional ways of doing things.
DeleteI haven’t watched the video yet, but I’ve been teaching speech and teaching students to use their bodies to learn speeches my entire career. I also use performance in English classes, and not just w/ drama. I am a fan on the Cult of Pedagogy blog. Jennifer does good work. Definitely happy I found your post.
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of The Cult of Pedagogy podcasts. I haven't seen this talk by Jennifer yet. I'm bookmarking it now. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteThat quite at the end is surely rocking my world! We need all teachers to be part of the mission don’t we? That’s our future world we are talking about!
ReplyDeleteI love her blog, but haven't checked out the podcast. Thanks for the recommendation!
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