Tasting Banquet

"We should not teach children the sciences but give them a taste for them." -- Jean Jacques Rousseau

My definition of this quote is just with one word, exploration!" I think that if you give these kids a chance to think at all angles of what you want them to learn then they will be interested in it versus forcing the interest on them. The subject I teach is not your core academic therefore gaining the interest of the students is pretty hard. I have learned to not give them the whole lecture on how or why it is this way but instead I give them scenarios in how it would be beneficial to them if they knew more about the subject.
So to help with this tasting banquet, I have pictures, books of all sorts, toys, and even student exchanges to get them interested in learning the language with meaning to them. Hey, I would be bored if I had to just sit and listen to someone talk to me about another language.
This quote reminds me of what my former students talk about when I bump into them. They talk about how weird my lessons were but how it helped them to grasp the language in the long run. They also talk about how colorful the class was and how they had compared it to an elementary styled room. I know it may seem like I'm boasting but it really feels good to see your students exceed or have some kind of direction after high school. Most especially when they let you know that it was that one talk you had with them or even with an activity that got them hooked on their success at hand. I am proud to say that I have had students come back and tell me that they have jobs or got into a school they wanted because of my "little" influence. I believe that if you spoon feed the information tot hem then they will never get the big picture but if you grant them the tools to work with they can find their way.