Nice change of pace

I love science, but I have to admit that sometimes I have content-area envy. Some days I want to read poetry or debate an idea or discuss the history of something once in a while. I've even done most of these things in my class at some point or another.

Recently we were studying infectious diseases, and I wanted to play on the kids' emotional side for a bit. I also wanted to scare the socks off some of my students, and correct a few blatant misconceptions. We spent quite a bit of time on HIV / AIDS. After explaining the science of the disease, I had them read stories written by teenagers affected with HIV . . . some were engaging in at-risk behaviors, some had family who were HIV+, and some were suffering with AIDS personally. As my students read the stories, a somber hush fell over the room . . . in each period, without fail. I think they were shocked to read about kids in their own country who deal with this frightening disease. It's so easy to think that HIV is hovering about in Africa and not as close as next door.

We "debriefed" for a bit, and talked about parts of the stories that impacted them the most. I then made them write about what it would be like to wake up one day and find out you were HIV+. Their responses intrigued me. Some admitted they would never leave the house and would feel ashamed forever. Others said they would live life to the fullest, and try to make the best of the time they had left. Still others said they would want to help as many people as possible, and try to warn people about at risk behaviors.

It was so refreshing to hear their thoughts & opinions on an issue, instead of just discussing the facts & procedures & details of a topic. I realized that I need to structure more activities this way, if for no other reason than it provides a nice change of pace from my normal routine way of teaching science!