A few things this week moved me in this week’s reading. The first was the idea of downward spiral talk. I’ve had several dreams and ideas over the years, and unfortunately have learned not to share these with many of my friends and family. There are some I can share these thoughts and ideas with, but I’ve become a bit jaded when it comes to sharing with those who are dream stompers.
When it comes to dreams, passion is usually what ignites them. I identified with two stories in the last chapter for this week, the first was about Roz at the service station. When motivated by a dream, we can ask for something we normally couldn’t ask for. The other story was about a failing school and a dream to introduce music to the students there.
Every educator should be able to identify with a story about using our passion to reach students. Often I think that there is a fear that if one is too passionate we will alienate some students. While this may be true, we should be more concerned about alienating a greater number by lacking passion. It’s so easy to think it’s the kids who are unmotivated instead of that we may not be the teachers we wish to be. So educators need to reflect and think whether or not we are doing everything in our power to motivate all our students. While I truly believe it is unrealistic to think we will be able to hook every single kid every single time, I do think we should at least try. If we do our best bang up job, we can at least say we gave it our all.
Now if only I had that mindset and energy to follow through every day I teach! But I can work on it…..(to be continued!)
I love how honest you are here. Many are feeling the same way, but stay silent. I think the decision on who you are going to share your dreams with is a process that we all have to face. Mainly the process becomes very disappointing because we want the people we care about to share in our passion, but we have to come to the relization that WE are the only ones that can make what WE want to happen...happen. I wouldn't view your new outlook as being jaded, just evoled =0 )
ReplyDeleteTherese,
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of wonderful comments for this week’s reading. I too was touched by the stories in these chapters. Dreams are what propels us to strive to be our best. They are a motivational force in our lives. Without dreams, what do we strive for? Everyone has a dream, whether it’s small or large, everyone has one.
You spoke about passion as an educator. As part of my action research, I interviewed different people in the education field and asked what they were looking for in teachers. Each person mentioned passion. Administrators are looking for teachers who are passionate about what they teach. They want someone who is not afraid of being enthusiastic and sharing that passion with the students. You make a great correlation between passion and motivation. If the students do not see that you as the teacher are passionate and excited about what you are teaching, then why would they need to be motivated. When students know that you care they want to do better and meet your enthusiasm.
You are right that we cannot hook every student every time, but what is the harm in trying. A lot of time teachers blame the students for being unmotivated, but in reality it is probably something that the teacher could be doing. I know that I would not want to listen to a lecture about a topic that the teacher did not care about. Why care? It takes a lot of effort to be a positive, enthusiastic person all the time, but that’s what we need to do to reach our students. I have heard it said that teaching is performing. I think that’s true for any subject matter. You may agree that your lesson is the most boring subject matter on the planet, but the kids need to learn it, so act like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Everything is for the students, right.
Alicia
Therese,
ReplyDeleteI too was struck by the story of Eastlea, and how one educator's passion and belief in children had such a profound impact.
As a music teacher, it is inspiring to read a story of someone using music to captivate and motivate students, but I think the real lesson here is that if you believe in them, kids are capable of just about anything.
The thing I loved the most about this story was Ben's letter to the children after his first visit. He knew, and the kids did too I'm sure, that their behavior had not been perfect. But instead of expressing frustration, he congratulated them on the things that they did do well. And he asked them to "give some thought" as to how they could improve it (implying in this message that he expected it, and knew that they would and could do it).
I love that--it reminded me that there are multiple ways to frame any question, request, or reaction and that if people know that you can see the best in them, they will usually give you their best.