555B Blog Post #1: We played. we drew, we ate hibachi

The most engaging lesson I had in school wasn’t really a lesson. It was more like a whole event. A collaboration. Something stitched together by all the 6th grade social studies teachers.

They brought every class together and broke us into mixed groups. Suddenly, we weren’t just sitting in our own classrooms anymore, we were part of something bigger and I loved the competition.

Our job was to create a giant master map of Ancient Japan. Each group had a section. We were responsible for getting it right, adding our pieces to the whole.

There were assignments to complete and trivia games to prepare for. Everything was tied to our curriculum, but it didn’t feel like school in the usual sense. It felt like strategy, like teamwork, like we were actually using what we’d learned.

The trivia game was competitive in the best way. We studied hard because we wanted to win, not because we were told to. I remember memorizing details about feudal Japan like it mattered. Because somehow, it did.

The unit ended with a field trip to Sakura of Japan, a hibachi grill restaurant. It was loud and hot and fun. The chef tossed shrimp through the air. We sat around the grill and watched the food sizzle in front of us, the same way our ideas had been cooking for weeks.

That’s the lesson I still remember. Not because it was perfect. But because it connected everything together. The content, the collaboration, and the celebration at the end.

As a teacher, I think about that a lot. How do I make my classroom feel like that? How do I build something my students will remember, not just for the test, but because it mattered to them in the moment?

That’s the kind of learning I’m chasing now. That and the plum sauce :D