Go with what works

This week I ran across a couple of resources that sparked some ideas for me. In both situations, the theme seemed to be, "go with what works." In the first resource, it was suggested to use a popular novel as a way to approach a scientific debate and in the second resource, the popularity and familiarity of social networking was cited as a tool to help fight obesity. Sometimes as teachers, we need to remember that it's okay to go with what works and that it's not always necessary to keep re-inventing the wheel.

The first resource that I came across was a blog from the New York Times. This blog proposed using the Hunger Games (and the scenarios with their genetically modified jabber jays cross-breeding with the mocking birds to create mocking jays) as a way to start the conversation about genetically engineered organisms. While the Hunger Games scenario is fictional, it is a great way to drum up interest in this topic and to use the success of the hugely popular series to get students thinking about a topic that would otherwise seem rather foreign to middle school students. I liked the journal prompt the author suggested as well as many of the other resources for continued exploration. I will need to make sure to revisit this and find a way to incorporate this into my summer teaching.

The second resource that I came across was an article about how an online social network is helping obese students with their struggles to lose weight. It discussed how students benefit from the anonymity of the program, along with the social supports that are built into it. I think this would be an interesting way to start a discussion on how the internet can truly bring people from similar situations together regardless of their physical location and how we all can benefit from a support group. As we start thinking about a lasting project from this summer, perhaps this might be a direction we can go in - a creation of a support group or an online diet and exercise regimen (perhaps as an app?) - a judgment-free zone of support as students work to support one another and to encourage others to become more fit.