Worth it!

 Michael Wesch begins his Ted Talk describing his college classroom set up as a place used for dumping information into peoples heads.  He teaches college courses and really gets into the feelings that people have when taking classes. The feelings that I have had, taking many classes. Feelings about just getting by, sneaking past their education or education as a vaccine, I have it and I am done. 

He had me at this point. I have been going to school continuously since 2011. I started at CCRI and got my associates, then I transferred to RIC for my undergrad in Elementary/Special Education . I finished RIC December 2019 and got a job where I was told that my 3 certifications were not enough and I would need to go back and get certified in TESOL.... So in the spring semester of 2020 I went back to RIC for my Masters... During the last 10 years there are 7 classes that I took and felt something more than "I am just getting by".

Sorry but these points hit home for me in so many ways.....

Bring it back to my 18 year old... He is BRILLIANT ( I am not just saying that because I am his mom 😏)... Got into Classical High School and half way through junior year... a pandemic hit. He nearly failed junior year and I am still not sure how he did not fail senior year. All he talked about was how unimportant the classes were to him. Why did he need to learn about British literature or write papers for gym class. What was that going to do for him in his life.  The teachers were burnt and disconnected... the students were disconnected and nothing about his classes felt important. He did get it together JUST enough to graduate but I do not think that he learned anything this year. 





Hearing teachers say that some people aren't cut out for school is fairly common and I have heard it about my son, who just does not know why he should go to school. He doesn't know what he will gain from it or how it will help him find out who he is, what he is going to do or if he is going to make it. As I said before this kid is INTELLIGENT but that is meaningless without all of those other questions being answered... BUT he is cut out for learning, it is more a matter of finding a meaningful path.







Watching George continuously fall down and get back up was a great visual for what learning should really be. We have this  fear of failure in our school system. This you get 1 shot to do it right or else kind of attitude BUT that is not realistic and does not encourage students to take the risks needed to genuinely learn instead the memorize and "get by" because it becomes a means to an end...

George fails more times than he succeeds.. eventually he gets it and takes his success to the next level, going form a step to a chair to jump. That is what we should be encouraging our students to do. Fail until you get it and then keep going! 

"We are more than our score. Learning is more than can be scored"





At the end when Wesch describes how he changed his class using scaffolding, not yet and worth it to motivate his students to keep pushing,  to work together and to gain something more than an understanding for the content is so much more than just getting by. He is giving them life skills and experiences that they can take with them during other challenges that life will eventually throw at them!









Comments

  1. Jeanette's Blog 2021June 29, 2021 at 10:02 PM

    There have been so many times that I questioned the work I have been asked to do in school. I wondered how it would relate to anything I needed to know when I graduated and worked in the "real world." So much of education is done to students and not with them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. mightymacrostudentJune 30, 2021 at 8:36 AM

    Great post, Crystal! The graphics caught my eye and brining in your personal experiences made it real and highlighted the importance of, like baby George, getting back up and figuring out a way to keep on going and learning for a better you and better life you will be proud of. Not just "sneaking by."

    ReplyDelete
  3. LesleyJune 30, 2021 at 11:46 AM

    So moving... thanks for making the personal connections here!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elsie Enid AquinoJune 30, 2021 at 3:36 PM

    Crystal, I enjoyed reading your post! I like your quote: "Fail until you get it and then keep going!". I think this is something great we all should use with our students. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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