What happens to that child in us? We start off ready to tackle the adventures in life. Even when faced with challenges along the way, we picked ourselves up and pressed on. How does our outlook on learning and life change?
Just watching George attempt to climb the step brought a sense of joy over me. George tried, he fell, he laughed and he tried again. No one was over his shoulder telling him to stop trying, he will never be able to do it. Instead, George felt connected and courageous. It is the messages that we hear, the stifling of who we want to be, and being told this is how it should be that slowly conforms us.
Interestingly, as an anthropologist, Mike Wesch studied many strange things all over the world and the strangest place he has ever seen, is what is happening in the classroom. Learning has been misdefined for us by school itself. From the feedback he received from his students, he discovered is there is a disconnect, students do not read the required assignments, they pay for books they do not open, and for classes they do not go to. The main objective for students is, what do I need to do to get through this? Is that what learning is? Getting through something?
From watching his son George, he decided he wants to bring the excitement into learning, real learning. Real learning in not about memorizing facts, real learning about the questions you take out of this class, the classes that inspire you that take you all of this world and drive you. Questions force you to take chances you never thought you might do. Even when presented with the opportunity for excitement...the questions still remained: How many points is this worth? How long does the paper need to be? How can we change this thought process that has been instilled in us?
After digging a little deeper, he decided to start interviewing his students. He discovered, the students questions have been ignored in the classroom. The questions are Who am I? What am I going to do? Am I going to make it? These are the big questions that students are asking. Students all have stories that need to be considered. Causing him to question, if he has been taking chances or is he just comfortable. This emphasizes the value of connection with our students. Discovering them, what is their story.
Are we going through life with our heads down, just attempting to get by? The animated story was inspirational, how one discovered what his education taught him to do is build a life worth living, not to make a living. He began to see the hero in everyone. As an educator, I want to instill in my students the love of learning. Recognize that each student has the capacity to do great things. I need to make sure that I can help them discover that within themselves. Give every student a chance to shine!
Learning is spending the time to build and nurture our students. Learning is teaching to students' strengths. Believing in them and help them to believe in themselves!
This is exactly how to start figuring out the belief-action relationship. If you BELIEVE that learning comes from those Big Questions, then how do you plan the teaching to align with those values? Deep stuff.
ReplyDeleteHi Christina, this is a great post! We just went through a huge journey together in obtaining our ELL certificate with our cohort. We made it! I really relate to the questions Mike Wesch feels that all students asks of themselves because in retrospect I have asked these questions myself as I went through the past 15 months. Creating a classroom climate where students feel that they can achieve all of their hopes, dreams, and goals is key.
ReplyDeleteHi Christina!
ReplyDeleteMy student student are always asking "how is this graded" or "how many did I get". It is like they don't care about what they actually put down. I really liked Wesch's comment about what real learning is. It is making me think more and more about what my student will/can do after a unit is done. I always try to "bring back" the topics we cover back in so they know that it is not just "learn it and forget it" it is so much more than that.
I definitely agree with you that we need to do more to motivate and encourage our students. We need to believe in them and present them with opportunities to try and try again just like parents do for their children. Resilience is such an important skill for all of us, but young people especially. It's just as important that we teach them those socioemotional skills as we do content! Thanks for sharing.
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