If you missed part 1 click here- School Culture: A Mindset
Two weeks ago I was in my classroom having one-on-one
meetings with my students. This is
a daily routine for me, but something amazing was happening as the students and
I reviewed their projects that they had just completed. These particular meetings had a
phrase in them that I hadn’t heard all that much in my teaching career: “thank you.”
Students were thanking me for my class. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink
in….
… Yes, thanking
me.
As we discussed their projects, reviewed their methods of
research, and talked about their struggles and successes, I was hearing things
such as-
“I learned so much because I actually wanted to learn this”
and “I’m so happy that we get to pick our topics” and “I’ve been waiting for
this class my entire school career, finally I get to do something relevant to
my life.”
The common theme was that students were learning about
topics that they were interested in, and were using methods of presentation
that they were good at or passionate about. This wasn’t just a free-for-all. Students had to select a topic related to our unit to use as
the base for their research with the goal of satisfying the unit objectives. Then, they could use whatever means
they wished to communicate their learning.
Fast forward to the next period of the day. I was eating my lunch reflecting upon
the theme I mentioned above. I was
putting pieces of a puzzle together as I took what these students had said to
me and connected them to previous conversations. These were primarily upper classmen that had the insight of
real-world connections, doing things they loved, and not wasting their time. A few had communicated to me that they
already know what they want to do with their lives, and a few had absolutely no
clue what they want to do.
Then an idea hit me.
I quickly finished my sandwich and left for the front office. Luckily our building principal was in
his office and he was gracious enough to make time for me on the spot. I pitched to him my new idea and made
it clear that I hadn’t really thought it out yet, but I wanted to present the
idea even if there was no chance of it happening. My idea was to teach a new course offering called “pursue
your passion.” My description went
something like this…
We have students that know what they want to do with their
life and don’t get to practice it each day. We have students that don’t know what they want to do with
their life, but never get to attempt things that may lead them to discovering
their purpose without fear of a grade.
I’d like to teach a course that isn’t graded, but is required. Students would come in everyday and my
class would accomplish a number of things…
1. Students would
get to do what they love- too many people get to age 25 or 30 and are
constantly told to pursue their passion only to realize that there isn’t much
of a future within that passion.
Students would find out what they can do with that passion at a younger
age. By doing this, students also
begin to develop that mindset that school is for them (see part 1) and this
mindset would be discussed daily so that they may carry it over into other
classes.
2. Students
would get to try new things- students would be challenged to fail. Fail because they attempted new things,
or tried out a project that they never thought they could do. Students would learn through the
failure, and develop new skill sets that they can carry over into their life
and also into other courses. One
thing I have discovered in my classroom this past nine weeks is that many
students resort to a poster board, a paper, or power point not because it is
the easiest thing, but because they don’t know what else to do. Trying new methods of project
presentation would open their minds to alternative ways of skill building and
learning.
3. Students
would develop an appreciation for what school has to offer- I mentioned this in
#1, but the goal of the course would be to give students direction in their
life. I wouldn’t want freshman and
sophomores to choose their future profession, but I would hope that by trying
many types of things in my class they would at least have a base understanding
of what is out there. This would
bring us back to the whole goal of creating that mindset within the student
that they are at school for themselves, and for the reason of gaining skills
and knowledge that they can use to make themselves better in any area of their
life that they wish. Our students
need to come to school looking to get better, not looking to satisfy the
teacher.
I could go on and on with ideas for the course, but as I
mentioned in #3, it all comes back to creating the culture that school is for
the student, not for the teacher’s requirements. I realize that my course is a long shot at best, but I’d love
for teachers to consider taking some of its components into consideration in
their own courses.
Allow students to have a choice, allow them to pursue the
things that they love, encourage them to fail by trying something new, learn
from failure, apply the concepts to the real world, and so on.
My principal was a great listener to my course pitch. He agreed with most of what I had to
say, and echoed my desire to have educators everywhere adopt some of the
mindset that my course would foster.
I thanked him for listening, just as my students thanked me for my
current course. I am not sure what
will come of it, but I hope that because I am sharing my thoughts with him, and
sharing my thoughts through my blog, that small changes will be made in many
classrooms that create a better culture and learning environment for our
students.
Take care,
Coach Mo
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