Content In Disguise

When you don't understand a project's instructions

As a student who took mostly advanced level courses, I love this chapter. So many times I would be assigned a task and be expected to already know how to approach it simply because I was in the advanced course. I remember my freshman biology teacher explaining that we needed a current event article every Friday morning to discuss with the course. As a 14-year-old, I had no idea how to find a scholarly article. I panicked every week as I googled any combination of words that came to mind until I found something that I thought would work. Yes, I did discover how to search for articles on my own, but I was never sure that I was going about it in the best way.

Sneaky teachers. Mind blown.

With the workshop structure, students are given just enough instruction to feel their way around unfamiliar texts while their teacher is waiting to step in if they should stumble. Students are also able to find materials that are interesting to them while being relevant to your subject. If your students can find materials that really intrigues them, it’s almost like you’re tricking them into learning “boring school stuff.” For students that don’t typically engage in class, this could be a helpful step to get those students to tune in to the subject matter.





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