Show, Don’t Tell
Why were movable type and the printing press two of the most important inventions in human history?
How would you teach this to your students?
During student teaching eleven years ago, this was a question I needed to get my pupils to answer. The conventional way would be to have students write down in their notebooks, “Because these inventions helped make printed works like books more available to everyone. Spreading knowledge, learning, increased smartness, important things, reasons and stuff, etc.”
But that isn’t what I did.
A few months prior, at a parent-teacher conference night I had the privilege to observe with my host teacher, one of the other social studies teachers, Pete, remarked, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could be like Science and have extra time in class for a History Lab?” At the time, I thought it was a brilliant idea (and I still do.)
So when it came time during my student teaching solo week to illustrate to students why the printing press was a big deal, I got two volunteers from the class and had the rest gather around to watch. One student had to hand write Happy Birthday, and the other used a greeting card stamp and ink pad that had the same words. They were asked to have a race to see who could create twenty Happy Birthday messages first.
Of course, the stamper won handily.
The students then discussed what they had just seen and what its importance would have been.
In the years since, I’ve learned about concepts from writing and filmmaking like show, don’t tell. (I like listening to DVD commentaries and watching film analysis videos on YouTube. Yes, I’m a giant nerd.) Basically, the idea is that instead of frontloading your piece with a bunch of boring exposition to explain basic things about your setting, characters, or conflict, find creative ways to demonstrate those things visually, quickly, and sans exposition. Give your audience some credit for being able to work things out.
Multi-film Pixar director Andrew Stanton uses a wordless scene from Wall-E to illustrate this in his TED talk on storytelling (jump to the clip at 5:25 minutes here: https://youtu.be/KxDwieKpawg?t=325.) Be aware that the whole talk is awesome, but the opening joke does contain the F-word if you choose to watch from the beginning.
Or, if you’d like a more interactive example, check out this video about invisible tutorials from the channel, Game Maker’s Toolkit by Mark Brown: https://youtu.be/MMggqenxuZc. Just be aware the game content shown is a bit violent. (Yes, I find game design fascinating as well. Again, *points at self* giant nerd.)
In the classroom, one framework that could be used to implement this idea is Three-Act Math, created by Dan Meyer. Like how a play can have a three act structure, you’re dividing a problem into three parts - the setup, an approach to solving it, and the reveal of the answer. An explanation can be found on his blog, here: https://blog.mrmeyer.com/2011/the-three-acts-of-a-mathematical-story/ (Three-Act Math is also an EduProtocol, and can be found with a full explanation in the first EduProtocols Field Guide book by Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern. I’m a big fan of these lesson framework ideas and their approach to how a classroom and a school year can work!)
As a side note, you can use the Three-Act concept in other subject areas as well, like using EdPuzzle to break up a Mythbusters video into parts for students to see a myth, predict what could happen, think about how they’d test it, see what the hosts actually did, predict the result, and see the actual result. We tried this in a sixth grade class a couple of years ago with the mini myth about instant juice via carefully contained explosions. Full video: https://youtu.be/v4PaQQWqqUA
As a tech coach, I have used this as a way to help with one of the most frequent misunderstandings I heard while helping district staff learn Google Drive: If my files are supposed to update automagically when I make changes, why aren’t my insert non-Google filetype here (i.e, Publisher, Smart Notebook, PDF, Photoshop) files updated when I make changes and save them?
I’ve learned this is very hard to explain verbally. Therefore, in my Google Drive conference sessions we do a skit. If you would like to try this yourself, here’s what you’ll need:
String, maybe 8 feet long-ish. This represents the Internet.
A volunteer to represent Google. They hold one end of the string.
You can have a neck sign for them if you want.A volunteer to represent the user. They hold the other end of the string.
They can also have a sign if you want.Non-Google files - print out large versions of these file type icons. You’ll need TWO of each. Punch holes in them or have some other way that they can slide along the “Internet.”
Google files - print out large paper, one of each, and punch holes in them.
Start by introducing what the two people and the string represent. (If you want the audience to understand what “Google” looks like at the other end of the Internet, you can show a short glimpse of a 360-degree tour of a data center during your intro. Link here: https://youtu.be/zDAYZU4A3w0?t=88)
Then show what happens when you take a non-Google file and put it into Drive - the user holds the two file icons, and one goes through the Internet (along the string) to Google Drive, where “Google” removes it from the string and holds it.
What happens if the user changes their file?
The file Google has is a copy of what the file looked like when the user uploaded it. The Google file is no longer connected to the user’s computer, so when they update their own version of the file those changes stay only on their computer.
What would we need to do if we wanted our changes to be in Google Drive?
We would need to re-upload the file to Drive.
Next, show what happens when you create a Google Drive file. Have the user ask “Google” to create a new Google Doc. “Google” then adds it to the Internet but it stops just short of the user - it doesn’t leave the string.
What happens if our Internet connection goes down? (You can take the string end from the user at this point.)
The user loses access to their file.
Where is this file stored?
Google’s servers.
How many versions of this file do we have?
One.
What happens when we make changes?
It saves automatically online.
How are Google and non-Google file types different?
Non-Google files get stored as copies and you need to re-upload them if you make changes. Google files are one file that is stored online and saves automatically when you make changes.
Another example of a training I did that started with a hands-on activity was learning about how to use tables (or grids) to design printed materials and websites. I asked participants to work in pairs or small groups to analyze the structure of one of a handful of pre-selected websites. Then each group came to the front board to use a yardstick to show the invisible lines that represent how the web designers structured their site. This started us on a discussion of the invisible lines and some principles of design like alignment and space.
This isn’t to imply that using show, don’t tell is an easy and intuitive process in instruction - it is something I still have to consciously think about when planning or a happy coincidence if I happen to target a need (confusion about Google Drive) and add it to a lesson as a best-fit solution by accident. As difficult as it is, these fortuitous moments seemed to be when my instruction was at its most engaging and effective. So for my future self, a lesson I’d like to hold onto for the future is to show, don’t tell more often - carving out the minutes needed for a hands-on history lab or tech concept skit is time well spent.