Wk4 The Art of Possibility Chapters 9-12
When I started teaching over ten years ago, I believe my whole body was filled with lighting ready to transfer to others. I wanted to relight a spark in my students, so they would be ready to take on the world.
Maybe it is the end of the year. Maybe I feel a little burned out. But when I read these last few chapters, I realized, I need to make a change in my thinking. I can still make a difference in my students’ lives. I can still light that spark.
How do I rekindle that feeling of making a difference? I know myself. I need to make a change with my professional life about every three to four years. Do something different like changing schools, positions, or curriculum. This really helps me with keeping my ideas fresh and new.
However, what about the students that have that darkness inside, but don’t want to let in the possibility of light? Every year, I try to motivate a student that just doesn’t want to work with me. Usually it’s a student that just wants to goof off, play around, distract others, and try to be the “cool/bad” kid. You all know them…we all have at least one in our class. This year, I just so happen to have two of them in one class. This is how I overcame this type of behavior. I gave both students a lot of leeway.
I let them work on a multimedia project together that consisted of a rap creation they created in Garageband Loops. I saw the spark...they showed the light.
Instead of me running around yelling at them to get to work, saying, “stop this”, or “stop that”, I provided my students with endless possibilities. My students found new technology knowledge, created a content skill rap song, minimized distractions, and had fun. I was able to do my job…which is mold young minds. WE all learned from this experience.
My Response:
Janene,
Wow, that was an inspirational read. That is so awesome that you were able to overcome the "cool/bad" kids in class and showed them a world of possibility. My favorite sentence has to be - "Instead of me running around yelling at them to get to work, saying, “stop this”, or “stop that”, I provided my students with endless possibilities."
I know what you mean too about doing something different like changing jobs or positions every couple of years to just get a refresh. I used to work at a job for exactly 2 years and then leave to find something new mainly because I didn't like someone or didn't like the way I felt at the job. It just always ended up being 2 years. The pattern stopped after a job I only worked for one year and then changed to the job I have now and have had for almost 4 years. I almost left again though and it was up until this class that I realized I had a good job and then everything just opened up for me. It was almost as if my negativity was holding me back, or I was holding myself back. Reading about how you were able to minimize distraction in class with technology is awesome because I know difficult it can be, I used to be one of the cool/bad kids. I really like how you ended your post too - "WE all learned from this experience." Thanks for the post, really inspired me!
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