Learning Never Stops

There comes a time when teachers may feel like giving up what they do, and take up scorpion petting.  I did. Until I received an email... Dear Ms. Naini, I hope you've had an amazing two years. It's me, Abigail Tadamala (from your Grade 5K class)  I know that I haven't emailed you in a long time, and I apologise profusely; I have so many questions to ask you like,  how's Japan? How are your students? How is your school? How are you? You might not know this, but you are a living legend in the Aga Khan, even in Grade 8.  I left school in Grade 5, and then I came back in Grade 7. This is my second year back, and no teacher has been as amazing as you! Not a single day goes without you being mentioned. Like just the other day, we were talking about your AMAZING brownies.  You might be wondering why I decided to write to you after two years; and the reason is that you are one of the most important people in my life. I'm leavi...

Students were given 6 hexagons to work with. They had to connect them in a way that made most sense  to them. Nothing new here. We've done this activity many times before but there were three additions to the task which I hoped would make them think hard...er. They were allowed to look for case studies and evidence to support their connections. 1) I added one hexagon that didn't quite seem to fit in with the rest. Another one was there to promote cognitive dissonance- a feeling of discomfort which may stop them from making certain connections. (They may not find it easy to digest the fact that some people eat apes.) 2) Next, I asked them to make a generalization about diseases based on the connections they made. What was a recurring pattern that could prompt them to come up with a big idea. 3) And finally, which one hexagon would they remove and what could they replace it with. They of course had to give reasons. We kept asking "So what?" ...