My U.S. History class just finished our unit on civil rights. I began the unit with a wonderful two period long lecture enhanced with a slide show and  punctuated with stimulating questions to be discussed and written about in team breakout rooms. We covered everything from the first American slave to Black Lives Matter. Thought-provoking ideas abounded. The discussion breaks evoked many questions from the students. So much information was delivered with such great success. I was so proud of how well I pulled off this “sage on the stage” extravaganza. 

Our second assignment was about racism today. Each student from each team was required to select a topic from a list including such topics as de facto segregation and racism in education. No teammate could select the same subject. Each teammate would then, jigsaw fashion, create a Flipgrid video about their subject and present it to their team. The best video, as chosen by the teammates, for each team was shared with the whole class. My only role in this assignment was to be a “guide on the side,” answering questions and providing encouragement. 

After completing the unit I assigned my standard feedback questions.

• What did you like or find most interesting? Be specific. Select one thing.
• What did you least like or understand? Be specific. Select one thing.
• What questions or random thoughts came to mind while you were studying this unit?

Overwhelmingly students liked the student created videos. They told about all the interesting things they learned and how surprised they were by information they did not know. There were many questions about the content of the videos. A few students even mentioned my lecture, but it was a far second to the comments about the student-created videos. That’s where the learning took place; not my slideshow extravaganza.

This experience confirms once again that even my best direct instruction does not equal student driven learning. Finding information for themselves is so much more powerful and memorable than my telling them. Student research is foundational for a successful lesson. The product can be an essay, a video, a discussion or a presentation. These help students cement their learning, but student centered research is the key. I now see my main job as teaching students how to conduct their own research on topics that converge their interests with the topics I am teaching. The reporting is essential but the research is foundational. Even though this is not a new theory, it continues to amaze me with its success in building skills and as a vehicle for long term learning. Students will not soon forget what they and their classmates discovered about racism as it exists today. And how about that first slave, John Punch? A month from now, students will have no clue.