Case Book Four

Nelson Quiock is talking with his class, working with them as they prepare for an exit exam. The students must pass this exam to move on to the regular high school.

MR. QUIOCK: Okay, listen up. I have repeatedly heard from you that you have problems memorizing all the names and dates that you need to know for your exit test. I hear you moan and groan that this stuff has no importance. I think that you all have some skills for learning this you can share with each other. It is your turn to teach this.

S1: Oh no, Mr. Quiock. I don't want to be the teacher! No, no, no!

S2: Mr. Quiock, you are the best, if anyone can teach us, you can. It's just that we aren't so good at learning this history stuff.

MR. QUIOCK: Thank you, but I have to say you are good at learning this stuff. I see it everyday. You just have to believe in yourselves. So, here is what we are going to do. Each team is going to draw a card from the hat. The card has a particular historical event, a particular set of facts that need to be learned by everyone in the room to prepare for the test. Your team will have to learn the material and decide how best to teach it to the rest of the class. You have this week to learn the concepts, and we will start teaching each other in the middle of next week. I will schedule your teaching time based on what you are presenting, what card you draw from the hat. Be careful here, I don't want lecture and memorization. I sure don't want you to give a reading and a quiz. I'll come around and facilitate as you develop this, but I really want you to find ways to make this meaningful!

S4: Mr. Quiock! Hey, teacher. Does this mean we can do a field trip if we think that is the best way to do this?

MR. QUIOCK: I can talk about this in your team with you. I am not ruling out a field trip, but I don't want you to just focus on that idea if there is something else that is better, depending on the card you draw. Remember that your team has to reach consensus on this.

Teacher Notes:

• The choice that Mr. Quiock made in the above example would not be made by some teachers who are very concerned with rote memorization of facts for some tests. In those cases, they would not leave the information to the "chance" of the students teaching each other. If you do have students teach each other, you have to build that skill, starting with short, small skills and building up, making sure that your students are comfortable with this, and not feeling that you are not doing your job to help them learn.