My creative nonfiction students presented their final projects today, multimedia essays for which the only requirement was that they combine words with other media. The results were amazing and funny and moving and wow, but I especially enjoyed what they said about process:
"It took me a while to figure out how to insert the images, but then I got the hang of it and they look much better now."
"I watched a YouTube video to learn how to edit sound files with Audacity."
"I had to learn how to use that big scanner over in the art department."
"How did you create your own game? Can you send me the link?"
Here's what I didn't hear:
"This is too hard! I can't do it!"
"How can you expect us to learn things that aren't in the textbook?"
"I spent, like, 27 hours making my essay into a podcast and then my computer crashed and the dog ate the hard drive and my house burned down and my great-aunt Edna died and I have to leave before class to get to the funeral so please can I do some extra credit instead?"
No: they did the work, and when they needed new skills, they found a way to teach themselves. And wow, what terrific results. All I had to do was give 'em a little shove in the right direction and then get out of their way. That's the way teaching ought to work.
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