One of the things that I have been so dissatisfied with this
year is our building culture. Once
I identify any problem, I find it very hard to let that problem escape from my
mind without having developed and/or acted upon a solution. My latest discovery has always been on
my mind, but it has continued to become clearer and clearer with each passing
day and each conversation that I have with students at our school.
It sure isn’t groundbreaking whatsoever, but what I have
realized is that all of my solutions I’ve tried or thought of over the past few
months will never matter unless our students begin to view school as an
opportunity for themselves, not as a chore they must do to make a teacher
happy. Our culture reflects their
current attitude of school as an obligation, not as an opportunity (there are
definitely bright spots, don’t get me wrong, but a few bright spots aren’t
enough).
I know what you’re thinking… “how is this knucklehead just
now realizing this?” Well, I’m
not, I really believe it is something that every educator already knows, but I
believe it is a message that gets lost as students maneuver through their day,
teachers rush to complete the curriculum, parents go off to work and cart their
kids around to events, and administrators attempt to deal with all of the
different challenges that present themselves on a daily basis. School is so packed with requirements
and standards and objectives and __(insert here)______ that I believe we forget sometimes to
stop and take a look around and remember why we are where we are.
Every so often I’ll randomly as a student something to the
tune of, “why are you here or what do you come to school for?” Rarely, if ever, do I get a response of
“for me.”
I truly believe that this is a message that needs to begin
with each staff member. If there
is ever a moment in your lesson where you realize these kids are doing
something for you, not for themselves, STOP!!! Don’t go any further until you help the students realize the
benefit of the lesson for them.
Help them apply your message to their lives, and do not move on until
the students know that they are learning or working for themselves, not for
you. And it cannot just be the
teachers, it is a message that needs to be echoed everywhere; the office, the
halls, the bus, at home.
When students come to school equipped with the mindset that
school is for them, learning will exponentially increase, and the culture will
be one of excitement and opportunity, not one of lethargy and obligation.
As I wrote this I was reminded of a quote from the movie
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could
miss it.”
If we don’t stop, look around, and be certain our students
have the proper mindset, they’ll miss everything we have to say, and more
importantly, they’ll miss the opportunity to invest in themselves for four of
the best years of their lives.
Take care,
Coach Mo
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