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Perception vs. Reality

Before I became a "real" teacher, my perception of teaching English was that I would be blowing kids' minds with classic literature and handing out grammar worksheets.  Needless to say, that hasn't happened...yet. Instead, I was surprised to find that I loved teaching about writing. In particular, I found a love of teaching argumentation and persuasion.

The seventh graders are gearing up for argumentative writing. We begin by talking about the concepts of perception and reality and how those two things influence our views of the world and all its issues. I have them make a poster that's based off a popular meme to help ground those concepts. It hardly seems like work, and it's one of the few assignments we do where I get to hear things like, "Can I finish this at home?" or "Can I do another one?"

The task is to make a perception and reality poster. I start by showing them an example for a teacher, like this one. This makes for a great discussion about students' perceptions of teachers. Then I have them create their own using this template.  The results are amazing and hilarious (and sometimes a little heartbreaking).  I'm always surprised at their ability to be humorous, ironic, or sarcastic, but I guess that's today's meme culture for you.


Although it feels like play, I think this assignment is asking the students to do a lot of things. For one, they have to think about other people's viewpoints. Then they have to define and name that viewpoint. Once they've done that they have to figure out how to find an image that represents that viewpoint. I like to point out that their perceptions don't always represent reality ("Is that how your parents really feel about you?"), and I ask them to challenge those perceptions. Pretty heavy lifting for seventh grade, but I hope it challenges their thinking.
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