In Classrooms, Seek the Peak
By Brian Mathieson | July 2018
This school year, I encourage you create peak moments for your students. In their book “The Power of Moments,” Chip and Dan Heath discuss those brief experiences in our lives that are so memorable. The authors posit that peak moments such as wedding days or successful public presentations share similar elements, such as elevation and connection.
In schools, peak moments include science fairs, football games, debate tournaments and choir concerts. These are the experiences students are most likely to remember. They are social, often performed in front of an audience, and involve an element of competition or pressure. Unfortunately, however, all those memorable moments happen outside the classroom. The key is to motivate students by creating peak moments inside the classroom.
Listening to what our own children find memorable is always interesting. My daughter, for instance, had a wonderful humanities teacher who was highly skilled at creating peak experiences. On some days, she slowly built anticipation for classroom activities, and on other days she completely surprised the students. My daughter couldn’t wait to get to class to find out what would happen next.
I understand that educators are not entertainers and that sometimes the content we must teach is a limiting factor. Moreover, peak experiences are unique by their nature. However, school counselors are in an excellent position to create memorable experiences with our lessons and content.
You may have noticed that peak moments fall under the general umbrella of project-based learning, portfolios and student exhibitions. Most school counselors do not have time to deliver a unit covering several weeks. We could, however, jointly plan a unit with teachers or other staff and be present for the pieces covering our ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success.
To begin, know that creating (or finding) social/emotional learning (SEL) lessons that include elevation and connection is not difficult. Even very young students are fully capable of producing a video-taped public service announcement promoting mental health that would provide deeper learning than passively listening to an adult talk.
As a high school counselor, my students were not excited when I came into class to teach lessons for their High School and Beyond Plans. In hindsight, I was focused on my content and what I wanted them to learn. I used the skills I had at the time, which largely centered on PowerPoint presentation. And no PowerPoint presentation, by itself, has ever resulted in a peak experience.
Knowing what I know now, I would plan a lesson that was far more project-based with elements of social interaction and emotion. I could, for instance, plan a lesson in which:
Contact Brian Mathieson, Ed.D., NBCT, WSCA president, at brianmathiesonwsca@gmail.com or on Twitter at @MathiesonBri.
In schools, peak moments include science fairs, football games, debate tournaments and choir concerts. These are the experiences students are most likely to remember. They are social, often performed in front of an audience, and involve an element of competition or pressure. Unfortunately, however, all those memorable moments happen outside the classroom. The key is to motivate students by creating peak moments inside the classroom.
Listening to what our own children find memorable is always interesting. My daughter, for instance, had a wonderful humanities teacher who was highly skilled at creating peak experiences. On some days, she slowly built anticipation for classroom activities, and on other days she completely surprised the students. My daughter couldn’t wait to get to class to find out what would happen next.
I understand that educators are not entertainers and that sometimes the content we must teach is a limiting factor. Moreover, peak experiences are unique by their nature. However, school counselors are in an excellent position to create memorable experiences with our lessons and content.
You may have noticed that peak moments fall under the general umbrella of project-based learning, portfolios and student exhibitions. Most school counselors do not have time to deliver a unit covering several weeks. We could, however, jointly plan a unit with teachers or other staff and be present for the pieces covering our ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success.
To begin, know that creating (or finding) social/emotional learning (SEL) lessons that include elevation and connection is not difficult. Even very young students are fully capable of producing a video-taped public service announcement promoting mental health that would provide deeper learning than passively listening to an adult talk.
As a high school counselor, my students were not excited when I came into class to teach lessons for their High School and Beyond Plans. In hindsight, I was focused on my content and what I wanted them to learn. I used the skills I had at the time, which largely centered on PowerPoint presentation. And no PowerPoint presentation, by itself, has ever resulted in a peak experience.
Knowing what I know now, I would plan a lesson that was far more project-based with elements of social interaction and emotion. I could, for instance, plan a lesson in which:
- Students could perform some career research on their own with a bit of structure.
- Then I could group them together by the National Career Clusters to do further research, with voice and choice in how they perform that research (e.g., video conferencing with working professionals).
- Finally, I could organize an opportunity for students to share the results of their research with peers and/or community members.
Contact Brian Mathieson, Ed.D., NBCT, WSCA president, at brianmathiesonwsca@gmail.com or on Twitter at @MathiesonBri.