Let's talk about gimmicks. I'm not a big believer in using the proverbial "teacher's bag of tricks" to facilitate learning in the classroom. I don't really like using "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking," or "don't ask why, just reverse and multiply" to help my students understand a reading or math concept in class. Because that's the thing--they're not really understanding anything. They're just memorizing a rule, not building to their schema. Gimmicks just make our jobs easier, but not in a good way.
With that being said, I do believe there is a place for song and dance in the classroom. Used correctly, I don't think it's gimmick-y at all. I've seen first-hand what song and dance can do for a learning environment, and the results are unbelievable. Last year I attended the Ron Clark Academy Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. (Check out www.ronclarkacademy.com and click on "Watch RCA in action." Amazing.) I watched teachers dance on desks, wear outrageous costumes, and sing along with the students. Never once did I feel like their students were being duped into learning. They were active participants, engaged in mathematical, language arts, or scientific content. I was blown away.
After that conference, I vowed to incorporate song and dance into my classroom as much as possible. Of course, it doesn't take the place of modeling, critical thinking skills, or paper and pencil practice, but it really does add something special to a unit. Take today's upcoming lesson on skip counting, for instance. I plan on using something similar to this rolling numbers video (from the amazing KIPP schools, check 'em out at www.kipp.org) in class today. We'll talk about what skip counting means, why we need it, and how it will help for skills later on in the year. But when it comes to actually teaching to skip count, there's nothing better than hittin' 'em with a little song and dance.
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