Storytelling

Once upon a time....

With the reality of Practicum 2 just around the corner my nerves grow every day. Having Physics as a second teachable is exciting for me. I loved Physics in high school and I enjoy exploring new ideas of how things work. Having said this doesn’t mean that on February 11th stepping into that 3U (let alone 4U) Physics room is going to be smooth sailing.

How will I help these students learn?

I first look to the inspiration of why I like Physics. I am drawn to it most for its applications of mathematics. Taking all of these formulas and numbers and giving them contexts and solving problems that I see in the world around me on a daily basis. Now, I realize that all students are not nearly as nerdy as I am and if I have just one student that thinks this way then I am lucky. So what’s next?

I think of why I want to teach Physics. If I can share with my students my inspiration and goals then maybe they will pick up on it and share this passion. I recall attending a class with my brother at the University of Waterloo in his first year. I didn’t know why he invited his little sister to class with him but I was eager to go and check out the life he was living away from home. Shell shock sunk in when he neglected to inform me that in his theatre of a classroom I would be severely outnumbered. He told me that the class was huge and no one would notice me. Silly me believed him thinking “clearly my brother wouldn’t want to be seen with me here”. I have never felt like such a fish out of water. I sunk into my chair trying to overt the eyes of his fellow classmates. All I could think was how they were preying on me as a new girl in the classroom; one of only 4 or 5 others that I could see (also hiding out). I never forgot this day nor was it the only one. I found this same pattern in my high school Physics, as well as throughout my classes at Brock. Being a woman in Physics was rare. I was a special breed! This empowered me to think “Why?” Why are there no girls in this class, and what can I do to fix this? This has always inspired and pushed me to keep going in my education to succeed at accomplishing Physics as a second teachable. So maybe this will inspire a few more students to latch on and learn, but I still have the majority of the class to still hook.

Recently I stumbled across an article http://lifehacker.com/5965703/the-science-of-storytelling-why-telling-a-story-is-the-most-powerful-way-to-activate-our-brains talking about the power of storytelling. Listening to a story is a powerful way to activate the brain. It allows people to make the connection of cause and effect.

This is my “A-HA” moment. This is how I will teach Physics.

At least once if not 100’s of times we have fallen victim of the Power Point presentation where we are bored out of our tree.During this we only process the language for meaning but do not actually plant the ideas and activate the information being shared with us. Studies have shown this activation occurs through the science of storytelling!! This means that for my students to learn Physics storytelling is what my lessons must incorporate. Sure there will be slides. But interactive slides. Slides with pictures, quotes, videos, gadgets and gizmos. With these slides will be a story, tying the laws of physics to how the world works around us and a bigger purpose. Something for the students to relate to, for the brain to be activated by. Stories are how we think, explain, make decisions, justify, persuade, understand, create and teach. Instead of a text book question about calculating average speed there will be a video clip of Bolt’s 2012 Olympic Gold Medal Sprint. A simple problem, but a much richer context where students can draw on the story to go with it connecting it to their life. Where were they that day? Did they watch that race? Did they watch the Olympics? Do they participate in sports? Have they ever been to Jamaica? Suddenly a simple problem has sparked creativity and imagination. A story of information as well as a story for a problem.

(Or how about last night’s 108 yard touch-down in 11 seconds by Baltimore Raven's Jacoby Jones in an explosive 11 second kick-off return During Super Bowl XLVII???)

I believe that an active brain is a happy brain...and a happy brain learns.

So, this is how I will teach Physics February 11th, and hey- it may be a disaster. But that is okay. The day after I will fish through my tool belt and try another idea and another and another until I find the right tool.

...and they lived happily ever after.

“Great stories happen to those who can tell them. ”


— Ira Glass

Letting Yourself Loose

Growing up a foot taller than nearly all of my peers I found myself to always be a little bit self-conscious. I never truly fit in with my age group and certainly never had an immense amount of confidence. It wasn’t until later in life that I really grew into my height and embraced the 6’3” gift that I was born with.

Recently a large group of us got dressed up to celebrate a birthday. Dressed up may not be quite the right term to describe the theme. Everything that was worn to the event must have been purchased or found second hand. For weeks prior, everyone began scouring shops and filling tickle trunks with outfits rather gaudy in nature. When the evening of the event fell upon on us and we gathered together dressed to the 9’s (or maybe 79’s) it dawned on me. “We are actually going to leave the house dressed like this! Out on the town! With “normal people”. The thought of this made me anxious. It was as if I was being brought back the memories of my school days where I stood out; didn’t quite fit in, had a societal flaw of sorts.

I stopped, took a deep breath and processed the situation at hand. Suddenly it became clear. It didn’t matter what people thought. I am different. We all are different (dressed different as a group) but each of us different beneath our ostentatious outfits also. Tonight we were going to have fun. It didn’t matter what anyone thought. If the clothes we were wearing bothered someone else then it was there loss. What we wore didn’t hurt anyone or have a malicious nature. It was just a goofy group out and about.

Somebody once told me that to get ahead I must fit in and stand out at the same time. These words resonate with me to this day. In my personal life I am your everyday small town girl. I have had a lot of neat experiences but nothing about me screams eccentric on the surface. It is only once you interact with me that you begin to peel back the layers and learn about me as an individual. Simultaneously while fitting in, my height allows me to stand out. I walk into a room and heads turn. I have grown accustom to the classic 1. Wide eye stare as in –“Wow that girl is tall!” 2. I watch the gawkers eyes fall to the floor to check out my footwear. 3. I smile inside as I watch their reaction to the fact that I in fact am not wearing heals and yes… I really am that tall. As mentioned before it took me years to become comfortable in my own skin. This is the way I am, and the way I always will be… providing I can fend off the development of a hunchback. There are few days that go by where I don’t get asked by a stranger how tall I am, but I am okay with that. I have finally embraced that this is my way of fitting in and standing out concurrently. Once I was able to embrace that this is who I am it was like shining a new light upon life.



This blast from the past, with my thoughts of being picked on in the schoolyard, made me realise how important it is for students to learn this idea. Knowing what I know now would have changed my interactions and experiences as a student in elementary and secondary school. So often in media we see what we are supposed to look like and “who” society wants us to be. But what fun would that be? Who wants to be the same as everyone else? Through media literacy and critical literacy we can get students’ thinking about themselves and others in a new light. Seeing students for their “sameness” rather than picking on them for their differences. Further, we should be recognizing those same differences as strengths and for their beauty. Thus we can begin working together as a community to enhance them in the classroom. Bullying is not a natural part of growing up! I will work inside and outside the school community to support students struggling with issues of bullying and work to make positive change.

Instead of the students feeling as though they need to change to fit in, or change to not be bullied, or change to be happy, I hope to share my story and help them see that being different will become their key to success.

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

― Dr. Seuss