No matter how much we believe in what we do, sometimes somebody comes along and reminds us why we continue doing it. Whatever IT is. Last Saturday, I was running a workshop at the Institute of Education on how to tell compelling stories to children to excite them about learning.
One of the teachers, Daniel told the group of how he told a ghost story to his class while on a trip to Wales. They were enthralled, including one of his children, Ted, who has ADHD and rarely sits still or concentrates. On their return to school, Daniel tried to get Ted to do a piece of writing (always a struggle and Ted never writes more than four lines). Ted pleaded with him instead to tell him the ghost story again. Daniel, sensing an opportunity, said, “Why don’t you write it?”. To his surprise, Ted did exactly that, producing two full pages rather than his normal four lines. When it was assessed, it was two levels above Ted’s usual standard. Effectively he had made one year’s progress in a week.
There is almost nothing more important than exciting children about learning and increasing their chances in life. So here at Infinite Space, we’d like to set up a ‘story bank’ for teachers, to help spark ideas on how to use story in different subjects to inspire children. We’d love your thoughts.