For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been completely immersed in the human body. We’ve turned our classroom into a human body (we’re even adding a duct tape path of veins on the floor), we’ve read numerous books and articles on the human body, students have watched countless videos in small groups on how organ systems work, and they’ve even worked together to create an organ system. I’m used to working with groups now and hearing, “I just need to make the small intestine,” or “Will this work for the bronchi?” All of that being said, I really needed to choke back my own fits of giggles yesterday when I overheard an interesting conversation in a group that was desperately trying to fix their digestive system model. I just had to tweet this out.

It didn’t take long to receive these replies from my vice principal, another principal in the Board, and an educator from Arizona.

These three are so right! When we started this new unit in January, students could not get past “gross.” I took my vice principal, Kristi’s, advice though, addressed the “gross,” and then had them create questions and find out more: taking this learning from “yucky” to “exciting!” The students are having an amazing time learning about the human body, and the new knowledge that they have found out through this inquiry is incredible. Just listen to these videos to hear for yourself.

Seeing the excitement and hearing the learning from all of my students makes me beyond thrilled! The growth is phenomenal. Could we ever get this kind of engagement and deep understanding from a textbook or worksheets? I’d argue no. What do you think? In similar situations, how do you move beyond the “gross?” I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Aviva