Motivational Creative Writing

One of my favourite things in the world is youtube. I believe learners respond far better to visual stimulation. I also think learners of our era have a far higher expectation for teachers to continuously use this level of resourcing. To me this is rather ironic, as I remember when I was a school, film, as a resource was 'few and far between' - it wasn't an expectation, and to be honest we got excited if we received a colour picture! And I'm not that old - I represent generation X!

Back to the point of this entry. I have one particular class of learners who, let's put it politely, simply hate anything to do with writing, English or simply just school work!!!! This makes it very difficult for them to pass senior grades, as a huge part of our courses involve writing... my life is not easy. So today, eleven learners arrived. I thought, great, I'll get eleven pieces of work handed in - if I hold my breath! I turned on my smart board and went to youtube. I like to start every lesson with a fun starter or brain teaser, to get their attention. I googled Billy T James, who for those who don't know was one of the most famous comedian's New Zealand has ever had. My learners had no idea who he was, but they laughed - they were immediately able to understand and relate to the cultural aspect of the clip! Interest was grabbed immediately and learners wanted to know more... so we watched three random clips (which I'd seen before!), had a discussion about they Billy T James, who he was, what he represented and how he became famous... Then I gave the instructions - learners will write a story, imagining Billy T James in modern society! Create an event or situation, where Billy T James has been placed in modern society (but missed the evolution to get here). Well, the learners were on fire. They thought that was great. I left them with a reliever and went to do my own thing, and the most incredible thing happened. The reliever wrote a note saying how great these kids are - I know this - but a reliever has NEVER said that before!!!

So check out the clip below, use youtube for all it's worth, never under estimate the value of a simple starter... feed the learners expectations, engage them in their world....