The Most Important Thing

   In the movie Night at the Museum the main character Larey Dayly begins his job thinking that he will be wandering the halls of the museum protecting it from vandalism, but he is in for a shock. As sunset rolls around the museum comes to life, he is confused and in a daze. He had expected the museum to be silent and mostly boring at night, but it was not as he expected. The museum came to life and Larey had to brush up on his history of what was in the museum. He didn't expect to learn anything when he came to the museum, but in the end he came to love the museum because he learned about everything in it. This is one of the most important lessons I have learned while observing other teachers.
       Doug Jolley, the teacher I observed, knew this as well because he made everything he could come to life. When he taught his science lessons he would have the students teach as well, they would do experiments, and reports on what new discoveries were being made. Students were excited to have a lesson in science, not because they could watch movies, but because they could discover things for them selves. When Doug taught history lessons, the classroom became that time period. When they learned about ancient Greece the class was split into two teams, Athens and Spartans, and for the next few weeks they competed in an Olympics competition. During the unit on Rome students took a turn teaching a portion of a lesson whether it was on the social classes or the housing. During the medieval unit students brought in their family crest or coat of arms, and then created a shield and helmet (out of paper and tin foil) to display.
       Doug's students looked forward to going to school, because he was bringing his lessons to life. The students look back at how they felt at the beginning of the school year and realized how much they changed in the fact that they wanted to come to school. They use to be worried that Doug would be a mean teacher and extremely strict, but once he taught them with lessons that were alive they didn't want to leave. Doug Jolley was actually my sixth grade teacher and not a day goes by that I don't reflect on the lessons he taught me. He opened the eyes of his students, especially me, to the opportunities out there for us by showing us that learning is something fun. The most important thing for teachers to do that will help their students is to bring to life the lessons they teach, and not just telling them the real world application of principles.