Today I collected to me both my favorite assignment as well as the most important assignment. My students handed in their gratitude visit. In one of my classes a student asked me did any of this years assignments bring tears to my eyes which brought up a rant by me about the importance of mental well being in our school house.
If the goal for school is to prepare you for the world after high school, should we not be giving you the tools to make you a happy person. It would seem to me that being happy is more important than being smart. Yet, you never hear our leaders talking about making our students better men or women but rather much more about increasing test scores. One of the things that always impresses me as a parent about the private school sales pitch is their concern about making my children better people which is important to me.
When I reflect back on notes I get from students who have went on to the next level, what they really enjoyed three good things or gratitude assignments. The chance to reflect on the prior day or the chance to reflect on people who have really made a difference in our life. Whenever I read these assignments many of them start with I do not often express my emotions. My question is why not? One of my favorite psychologist told me, "that the most reflective people need to reflect more" That reflection is a great way to make a successful journey.
When I listen to the talk in the hallways, you can constantly hear students complaining about teachers, other students, and parents. Rarely if ever do you hear "wow, my mom is an amazing women, or man that teacher realty cares about me"
It has been shown that great organizations have four positives (at least) to every negative. Imagine the type of creative and intellectual energy we could generate in our building if we were more positive about the things that are good. Not phony positive but truly focused on the good things that are going on.
I am blessed to teach so many students who I know will make the world a better place. Never before have I learned more from students than I have this year. Each day I am amazed by their generosity of their time to make our school and their friends the best that they can be.
So what do you think, do we as teachers get caught too much on our curriculum that we often miss the more important message?
In my experience, while some teachers don't really talk about real life, the good ones take time to relate what they teach to realistic applications. For example, in French we often study songs or stories with deep philosophical inquiries, further enriched by discussions about current events such as the recent Paris attacks. Though, for the most part, I do believe the primary goal of school- to help people become more enriched and mature- gets lost quite easily when the the system prioritizes standardized examinations. I also feel like good teachers are very relatable. The ones that I talk about and compliment in the hallways are very often ones who are very open to students. One of the things I hate is when a teacher is condescending or seems very lofty when speaking to students. Another thing I detest is faking positivity. I think being positive is important, but equally as important is how often/when you do it. If you're constantly complimenting others, it becomes normal and inconsequential. If it's paced out amongst criticism, it may be more meaningful. Lastly, if faked, I think it is less than useless, as I believe it furthers dishonesty and discourages openness and sharing of one's true thoughts. Hope that all makes sense.
ReplyDeleteKen, I agree that the positive comments need to be made honestly. That it is a problem if I give you a fake compliment. I think however, that the ratio of four good things to one negative is one that we all could shoot for. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
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