Three Things We Remembered
This summer with my American Literature students, I have begun many of our classes by asking them to share three things they learned in the previous class and I list them on the whiteboard, making sure they confine themselves to subject relevant material. Perhaps this is an unavoidably random exercise, but it only takes three or four minutes and I believe our net gain merits its use. For one thing, I believe it creates at least a small continuity between classes and reinforces not only the points themselves, but also the concept that this is not simply disposable thought. Should a few students accustomed to traditional lecture doubt that they are learning as much through this less familiar approach, then this simple exercise should provide them some evidence to the contrary.
I record their list each time, in as close to their own voices as can be managed, and I am now compiling them as a study aid for their final examination with the promise that I will try to include some of their recalled points. Not all their responses are of equal weight; however, as we recall their context and reinsert those into our semester project of viewing American national identity as a constantly negotiated narrative of many voices, then I hope this larger list will enhance their classroom experience in a way that will resonate past their graduation.
