Hi there,
taking a little break from the Grand Tableau’s theory. This will be a case analysis using a 5 card layout. Context : a friend of mine asked me to help his son with his studies. I usually am at ease with teaching, but I have never done that sort of activity with a teenager. So I prepared some stuff to help him out: some learning tools. I wanted my approach to be very different than the one he has been used to with his teacher. The one point is that he has to be motivated. I reasoned that it had to be a departure of what he already knew. So I wanted my approach to be fun and playful. That way, he would actually learn stuff without even knowing. These are the 5 cards I got :
the Book, the Child, the Clouds, the Star, the Tree
The Book stands for studies, learning. Matter of fact, I am going to help a young teenager (the Child) with his English speaking skills. He dislikes learning his lessons,and is acting quite grumpy (child+clouds). The point is that he has to learn to enjoy learning. Right now, he doesn’t feel like learning could be any fun. The experience he had with his teacher in class wasn’t “all that” as he told me ! He finds it utterly boring, difficult (clouds) … and he is being very lazy with the whole thing (clouds and stars). I yet have to jump in and make him feel like this could actually be fun. The Star and The Tree speaks to me as being a clean base again, something creative and I think they might represent me and my approach.
What actually happened :
He was at home with a friend of the same age, so in the end the class was given to the 2 kids. We made flash cards with drawings and vocabulary. Many topics were covered. It was very funny, and very productive. Many laughters. Full of energy. Very creative : the star card I suppose. We reached what we wanted : he is now motivated. And managed to view it as a challenging game and not something boring and dull. They actually remained focused for 1 hour and half. Prior to the lesson, I asked how long he thought he could remained focused, and then should take a break : 40 minutes was his opinion. I am glad it all went well.
Cheers
Jayce
