Flashforward Teaching

Image source: Netflix, The Queen’s Gambit trailer.

One of my favorite storytelling techniques is the flashforward opening, where right at the beginning of a story, you see a quick scene from much later on. Then the story goes back to the start. It creates instant curiosity.

Netflix drama The Queen’s Gambit does this brilliantly in the very first scene of the series.

Beth Harmon wakes up in a chaotic Paris hotel room and hastily stumbles into the lobby for a major chess match. Then the story cuts back to her childhood. Right away, you want to know how she got there.

Teachers can use this too.

On the very first day of an Excel class, I show students a polished spreadsheet with formulas, formatting, charts, and organized data. The questions start immediately.

How did you make that chart?

What formula is that?

How did you highlight those cells automatically?

I tell them we are going to answer all of those questions throughout the course.

Then I close the finished file, open a blank spreadsheet, and we start at the beginning.

A small preview can spark big curiosity.

Happy Teaching 😊

Comments

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