Just like its name would suggest, active learning is merely the act of engaging students in the learning process. Rather than passively receiving information, with this type of instruction, students are thrust into the center of the work. They play the role of doers, thinkers, explorers, and creators; they do not have the option of merely sitting back.On Wednesday, in Linda Carmichael’s U.S. history class, Upper Arlington students had the opportunity to utilize active learning as they endeavored to understand, rather than just memorize, the articles of the U.S. Constitution.
They came to the Active Learning Lab where they had adequate space to spread out, and Carmichael had the opportunity to set up. On a normal day, she teaches in three different rooms, so setting up active learning opportunities can sometimes be a challenge. That’s where the ALL provides a benefit: it allows teachers to take some sense of control over how they arrange and set up their environment.
Prior to the start of class, Carmichael hung 25 different clauses around the room. These clauses contained the actual language present in the Constitution, language that is quite difficult for students to dissect on their own. Before she turned her ninth graders loose to determine what those articles meant, she gave them a moment to discuss their learning from the previous night’s work.
Then she oriented them with their resources.
On the front ENO board, Carmichael projected a “cheat sheet” linking the article numbers with their purpose:
Article I: Legislative
Article II: Executive
Article III: Judicial
Article IV: Relationship Among States
Article V: Amending the Constitution
Article VI: Supremacy of the Constitution, Federal Law
Article VII: Ratification
Then she gave them a handout with the articles written in accessible language. Prior to this lesson, students had previously studied the Declaration of Independence and Northwest Ordinance, as well as the Articles of Confederation, so now, with that background, they were ready to analyze components of the Constitution itself.
In groups, Carmichael asked students to match the accessible language with the language in the primary document. As they wandered around the room, they had the opportunity to focus on some of the most prominent clauses in each of the articles, and using both their resources and their brains, they had to think about what the phrase actually meant in order to match it with its common language counterpart.
Once students matched all 25 clauses, they could bring it up to Mrs. Carmichael to see if it was correct, or to get appropriate redirection if they needed to make changes.
Instead of lecturing--and telling students what the clauses meant or where they fit--Carmichael’s activity gave students the chance to take charge of their own learning. They could move at a pace that suited them, they could collaborate with peers, and they could tackle what they understood first to build confidence for the harder passages later. They could also ask for help if they needed to clarify.
What they couldn’t do was merely write something down that didn’t make sense to them.
Carmichael is no newbie when it comes to active learning. She enjoys giving students opportunities to roll up their sleeves, crack open their minds and engage. At the start of the school year--when she was trying to get students to understand what it was like for our Framers to determine what should or shouldn’t be in the constitution--she utilized an icebreaker called “Stranded,” which seems to greatly resemble the premise for Lord of the Flies. In that scenario she told students:
You and a group of approximately 20 others (ages 10-17) have become stranded on a deserted island. Fruit trees appear to be the major source of food. Water is available from rainfall. You possess the clothes on your back. There is no apparent shelter.
1. What would be your major problems?
2. What would you need to do first?
3. Explain what types of individuals in the group would emerge as leaders.
4. Describe various types of conflicts that might occur among individuals in the group.
5. How might these problems be resolved?
6. How would order, continuity, and social welfare be established and maintained within the group?
Relying on their previous knowledge of John Locke, she asked them to answer the questions. They began exploring what possessing “natural rights” actually means, and they were challenged to think about each phrase of the preamble. Beyond that, by giving students the chance to navigate their way through a hypothetical situation, they had the chance to process the reality of our country’s beginnings.
As one who loves all good stories, it was fun to see how Carmichael set up the first few chapters of U.S. History. It was fun too, to see the way she scaffolded student learning in terms of how to access difficult language present in primary documents.
People ask all the time about the best use for the Active Learning Lab, and I’d have to point them to this example. From the use of tables for discussion, to the use of space to get students moving, to the efficiency of setting up work in one space rather than three, Carmichael’s lesson nailed it.