Unforgettable

Another prom has come and gone.  This year, it took place in the Egyptian Room at the Old National Centre.  I really enjoyed the location, especially since the room has raised seating along each side, so sponsors could sit and watch the kids from relative comfort.  And believe me, it is fascinating viewing.

After attending more proms than I care to count, I have come to a few conclusions about the dating rituals of high school students.  This is in no way, shape, or form a scientific study, but I have found that our prom-goers seem to fall into distinct categories. I’m sure there are others to add to this list.  If you have contributions, I would love to hear your thoughts.  My list:

• Rock On: Some students arrive early, go right to the front of the dance floor, and gyrate from beginning to end.  They jump, shout, sing along, and generally dance themselves into euphoria or exhaustion—or a combination of both.  These students are fearless, energetic, and often stay to the last note of the final song.
• Groupers: (Not gropers.  That is a different topic altogether.)  These are the kids that dance in packs.  These packs have an ebb and flow and are almost like living bodies themselves.  They form, alter shape, separate briefly, and reform again in a different location.  Think amoeba, and you’ll get the general idea. The movement seems to depend on the song being played and a few key dancers, the nucleus, to extend the metaphor.
• Roamers: Some couples are restless.  They start in one place, stay briefly, but move to another before long.  They are on and off the dance floor constantly, with no discernable reason for coming or going.  They dance for a while, get drinks, have seats, adjust their formal wear, and repeat the cycle.  A subset of this group seems to be the First-Daters.
• Lone Wolves: These are mostly male students who arrived with a group, but they are constantly on the move and tend to spend much of the time outside the pack.  They join the groupers occasionally, but more often than not, stay on the edges.  They spend time talking to adult sponsors or simply sit and watch the dance floor.
• I Only Have Eyes for You: These couples spend the entire night dancing together just outside the main pack.  They seem to be oblivious to other students or even that they are at the prom—with the exception of joining the “Cha Cha Slide.”  They stare longingly into each other’s eyes for much of the evening and provide an interesting contrast to the First-Daters.

This one gets everybody dancing....

The reason I’m writing about this topic is twofold.  First, I want to thank all of you who made the prom a successful and memorable night.  Secondly, I want to make a point about memories and instruction.  Yes, it’s true that I can take even an event like prom and apply it the classroom.  (Is it a gift, or is it a curse?  You be the judge.)

Prom, by its very nature, is unforgettable—hopefully in positive ways, but sometimes not.  It is an interesting thought that all of students, regardless of where they fall on the list above, will have attended the same prom, but they will have taken away very different kinds of experiences and memories. 

The same holds true in your classes.  All of your students attend your same class, but they take away very different kinds of memories and experiences.  We should recognize this truth, and we should be intentional to make sure students have positive memories and retain important content.  True, the experiences in your classroom are difficult to make as memorable as an evening in the Egyptian Room, but the task is not impossible. 

Students may or may not remember all the specific details and content of your course, but they can remember activities and content that is tied to emotion, is personally engaging, and/or involves high levels of learning.  In other words, best-practice instruction builds long term memories.

If you don’t believe me, do a little fact-checking.  First, think back to your own prom or other big social event in high school.  You probably have some memory of this event, either positive or negative.  Now think back to your high school classes.  What assignments and activities and content do you remember most clearly?  What emotions locked those memories in? 

Without even hearing the specifics of your experience, I believe I can rest my case because your own experience likely verifies my argument.  Keeping with the prom theme, I will now do a small victory dance!  

Photo from peanuts.com

I feel fairly confident that I am right because this is the way our minds work.  We remember those things that are special, different, significant, and involve personal commitment and emotion.

If you want your students to really remember the key content of your course, take advantage of brain research: design lessons and experiences that are unforgettable. 

Have a great week, HSE.  See if you can pull some students from the outer ring and out onto the dance floor of your class.  Rock on until the last note of the last song!

Phil