“It helps more if students teach students because teachers kind of understand things in their own way. They’re used to knowing everything. But when a student learns it for the first time, it’s easier for them to tell another student. I’m not sure if that makes sense the way I’m saying it, but basically students understand students better than they understand teachers.” - 6th -grade student "Bob" (November, 37)
In his quest to begin to redefine learning roles in classrooms, Alan November presents what seems like a way to transform jigsaws for greater classroom learning: giving students the space to be “Tutorial Designers.” When students take on this role, they use technology to create tutorials for each other, meaning they might create videos or podcasts to teach their peers the content. Through the creation of the tutorials, students must learn the concept well themselves so that they can accurately explain and demonstrate it to their audience-- and ideally it is a true global audience.
In Eric Marcos’ 6th grade math classroom, students create tutorials in their free time to add to his website Mathtrain.TV. Here is an example of one of many tutorials that his students have created:
The chapter makes a point to express that the videos these students create is completely voluntary; there are no grades attached to them, and students create them on their own time. And I am left feeling like if I make it part of my classroom as an ongoing project, it will turn into the “jigsaw” experience I remember having in school. Students will create tutorials because they have to, without putting any serious effort into it, and little will actually be learned. But I also feel like I want to reward the students who take time to create tutorials, and that tutorials may be a much more powerful way to teach peers information (as opposed to a presentation or poster).
In the end, I love what I’m seeing and reading. As many teachers do, I struggle to see exactly how I would apply it to my classroom in a way that is meaningful to all students. Maybe the answer is that it doesn’t have to be meaningful to all students; it just has to be meaningful to some and in that there is still value.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Have you done something like this before? How do you apply it to students? Do you have side projects for your students that do not count for grades? How does it work?