As individuals with the power to ponder, to read,
to use language, to think and to create we also have the power to do great and
wonderful things. We usually take these
gifts for granted and really do not think of them all that much and maybe we
also do not think we are capable of great and wonderful things.
In some small innocent unplanned ways and sometimes
in very planned ways some people do accomplish great and wonderful things. I am not saying say that our lives are
designed and destined to accomplish great and wonderful things; but we do have
such capacity.
Sometimes a great and wonderful thing can be
nothing more that providing a blanket and a cup of soup to someone who needs
them. Sometimes a great and
wonderful thing can be finding a cure for a hideous disease. Sometimes a great and wonderful thing
is to smile at someone who needs a smile and sometimes a great and wonderful
thing is making every possible effort for each student in our classes to experience
success.
Why do some of us do great and wonderful
things and others not do great and wonderful things? As educators do we provide our students the joys that come
with the power to ponder, to read, to use language, to think, to create? If we do this than we can and are capable
of doing great and wonderful things.
Imagine not being to read? Most of us have been reading a long
time and it is hard to imagine not being able to engage in all the graces that
come with reading. Did people who
lived once upon a time know how to read?
Did they accomplish great and wonderful things by knowing or not knowing
how to read?
How will children and adults decades and
centuries from now look back to once upon a time? How do we guarantee them that there will be future once upon
a times?
From my basic and humble knowledge of agriculture I
know that the function of a seed of is to reproduce itself to make more plants
like itself. With the correct amount of light, water and nutrients, whatever
seed is planted, in theory, should grow a plant much like itself. Although we all know this does not
always happened but frequently it does.
Some foods we enjoy eating today and we may take for granted are gifts from
the past, because once upon a time someone planted such seeds.
Are educators much like, the once upon a
time, Johnny Appleseed? John Chapman, AKA as, Johnny Appleseed had a dream and plan
for the land of America to be brimming and blossoming and blooming full of
apple trees so that no one would be hungry. He created apple orchards throughout the mid west (at least
this is what I learned as a young student going to elementary school in Ohio). He planted apple seeds in Ohio, Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, and even Pennsylvania.
Who knows if some of the very seeds he planted may still be the fruit bearing
trees today where we get our apples.
Johnny Appleseed as a kind, generous and determined
pioneer man did great and wonderful things by planting apple seeds so we could
eat an apple today. Imagine had he
not had such a goal – we may not be eating apples to day.
Do we, as educators, have the same determination
that John Chapman Appleseed had, once upon a time, to ensure that our students
today have the power to ponder, to read, to use
language, to think, to create? How
will children and adults decades and centuries from now look back to our once
upon a time? How do we plant the
seeds on inquiry, wonder, and invention?
So tell me, what is your plan to plant pedagogical
seeds to ensure that children now and in future generations, regardless of
their neighborhoods, will be able to read, to think, to create and to ponder, and
to guarantee them their futures with a once upon a time? How will you be like Johnny Appleseed? What seeds will you plant in your
classroom?
Johnny wanted those who were to live in
future not to be without food.
What great and wonderful seeds will you be
planting now for those who will look back to us as “once upon a time” ?
10 comments:
Many years ago I travelled through northwestern India with my sister. We spent our time mainly in Rajasthan, in the dessert, but during our last week abroad we travelled north by bus into the steppes of the Himalayas. I remember astonishing views of rivers the color of jade falling from the mountains, and terrible cliffs; we travelled alongside monks and nuns and plain Indian folk, all of us jamming together on one side of the bus—the mountain side—thinking (hoping) that our weight would keep the vehicle from careening down into the gorge below. But what I remember most about that part of our trip is apples.
It was February, and the weather in Northern India was much like what I had left behind in Western Michigan, where I had been living at the time in an old farmhouse on 80 acres of pasture and orchards. As our bus wound its way through the mountainous terrain halfway around the world I was astonished to find something besides the weather I thought I had left behind: apples. Not one or two for sale in a market, but orchards full of them! Had I stopped to give it some thought I don’t think I would have been as surprised as I was at the time; humans grow food everywhere they live, and though the people of Northern India were quite different than the people of Western Michigan, we all ate, and we all grew what we could, where we could. In the North of India, where winter and summer came just like it did back home, people grew apples—just like they did back home.
You asked, “What seeds will you plant in your classroom?” Here is one; what you know of your neighborhood, what you find that makes your home yours, another may know of their neighborhood, or make into their home—halfway around the world. We are all different, we are all unique; and so we all have at least one thing in common. If I can teach my students to look for themselves in the faces of strangers, I will have planted the seed of a mighty tree—maybe even an orchard full of them.
I think the best way to ensure that children in my classroom will be able to ponder, read, think, and create is to create an environment that is full of wonder and possibility. Students in my classroom will be valued and their contributions will be appreciated because they bring so many diverse backgrounds and experiences with them. Not setting limits on their imaginations will help them develop new ways to solve problems and ignite their creativity. My role in the classroom will be to plan fun and interesting units and lessons so my students can show what they know and learn skills organically while doing meaningful work. Allowing multiple kinds of projects and readings for students to choose from based on their interests and skills will help ensure that their voice is heard and their opinions matter.
I think that some of the best ‘seeds’ I can plant for my students are to know they are valued and loved in my classroom. When students know they are of worth (to someone, especially someone they see as an authority figure who somewhat controls their present life), it builds a confidence in them that can be unstoppable. Why would a student feel that passing on information about their own time is worth passing if they do not feel like they are important? If they see themselves merely as reporters rather than active participants, the ‘story’ of our times becomes less clear and important to them. Details seem less important and can be lost when the reporter is an uninvolved, dispassionate observer. Reporting is even an inaccurate word; reporting the times isn’t done because there is no commitment to telling a future story.
I think teaching our children to adequately (or better yet, fully with great detail) verbally express themselves is a powerful way to keep the once upon a time hope for today. Our communications have changed tremendously over the past fifty years. Our written languages have not changed as much, but the way in which we use words has changed a lot. I suspect we will always have written languages similar to the ones we use today. We rely so heavily on electronic recording and transmission of our ideas and works today. You can call me paranoid but I wonder what would happen, how will we survive, should the proverbial plug be pulled and we have to revert back to former ways of communicating? I think it is important to student confidence and our continued history to be able to tell a good story using words, inflections and expressions. I truly believe in our classrooms we have the power to help even the shyest of students to learn to confidently stand in front of others and tell a story, deliver a report or offer an opinion. This is a skill and process that can begin in preschool and mature with the individual.
I plan to help my students to relate every subject we cover to the ‘real’ world outside of our classroom and in their lives. So many times students will ask a teacher, “Why do we have to study this?” I used to ask myself and teachers that in my K through 12 days. When the answer was, “We have to teach it” or “It will make sense one day”, I was often disappointed. Clear connections to relevant subjects really help students feel what they are doing is not just exercises in futility. If they are inspired to learn because the subjects ‘makes sense’ in a context of relevance, they may be more inclined to continue this idea and show future generations the way were lived and were and help future people to know and understand their new reality in time.
I want to create an environment in my classroom where students feel safe to share their ideas, ask questions, take risks, and make mistakes. I’m not exactly sure how that fits in with the metaphor of planting pedagogical seeds, but I know that learning is a process. To ensure that my students will be able to read, to think, to create and to ponder, I have several elements that I can implement in my classroom.
In order to become better readers, individuals need to read a lot and not just for class assignments (although this should also be an important aspect of a class). I intend to establish a classroom library and promote the idea of reading for pleasure. Reading for pleasure is not something I can assign to students or grade. Instead, I will make high-interest, current reading material readily accessible to my students, and make it a regular practice to share with my students what I am reading. In addition, reading should take place with other forms of writing, not just novels. Therefore, I want to commit a specific time each week to share interesting and relevant articles I have read online, in the newspaper, and in magazines. Then in turn, I will ask students to do the same. As my students become better readers, they will also improve their critical thinking skills.
My role as the teacher is not to stand at the front of the classroom and act as if I have all the answers. Students have valuable insights to contribute to the class. Their learning is more meaningful if it comes through their own exploration and evaluation of their ideas. A classroom ought to be a place where learners can take risks because growth does not occur through maintain a status quo. For students with different learning styles and different strengths, I will ensure that my students will have multiple outlets to share their ideas—through writing, discussions, art, technology, and more. Thinking, creating, pondering do come out of rote memorization but of meaningful experiences, and I hope to provide a classroom environment where students feel free to do so.
Rather than I being like Johnny Appleseed, I want to instill in my students a drive to help others, to spread kindness, like Johnny Appleseed. The first step is to let my students know that their ideas matter and that they are capable of making a difference in the lives of others.
I believe that we as educators need to be determined to ensure that our students will have the power to ponder, read, speak many languages, think, and create. As Johnny Appleseed demonstrated by planting a seed in the ground to grow apple trees then created orchards, so we too must plant seeds in our students so that they can grow and prosper in class and the world around them. We as educators need to inspire our students so that they can accomplish great and wonderful things. Our children are naturally curious about the world around them and we as educators need to hone their skills in asking further questions, taking initiative in researching, and either coming up with solutions or coming upon even more ponders.
How do we accomplish inquiry, wonder, and invention, when not all students are on the same page about attending/learning in school? One of the challenges we face as educators is to make the curriculum fun, but also incorporating the common core standards. I think that when teachers create lessons that are of interest and meaningful to the students, they will be more receptive, enticed, and motivated to learn. I think that they key to creating a learning environment that students will want to come to, is creating a classroom that allows for questions, creativity, and thinking. The seeds of pondering and determination should be planted in all students minds so that they can realize that learning can be fun, yet educational.
Once upon a time…. we will look back and hopefully see that a progressive education full of critical thinking and engaging activities will be a stepping stone in the right direction that lead our students to create and achieve great and wonderful things.wsC
It wasn’t until I took this class that I have truly sat down and pondered questions. As a young adult I could remember sitting in class and day dreaming about the Backstreet Boys or Usher. Then I would come back to the lesson and listen to the teacher. Now that I think about it what would my young adult experience have been like if my teachers allowed some time in class to just sit back and ponder, no expectations involved. I think I would have become a more creative and critical thinker. So hopefully I will become the teacher who encourages students to just take a few moments and think. I can also ask students to share their thoughts which can in turn inspire thoughts in other students.
When I think about Johnny Appleseed, one of the ideas I take from his story is his ability to do something for the future without an immediately measurable outcome. Like the planter of any seed, Appleseed needed to take a giant leap of faith that a small kernel in the vast earth could years from then be something much more than that. It's the ability to have faith in what could be even if you may not see the eventual outcome that allows us to be teachers. Because I think that as much as we are driven by immediate returns--the daily successes we can see in children who are thriving or overcoming or moving forward in discernible ways--it is equally, and perhaps more, important to be driven by the notion that we are helping to nurture a future that might not be so readily or obviously connected to the present we deal with every day.
I suppose the pedagogical seeds I am pondering right now are related to whole-child education. We are given the time to work with children who themselves are like seeds slowly taking root in the world. We can support their growth by understanding that our ultimate hope is that they will grow into someone who flourishes and plants new seeds themselves. To think that way is to think expansively about the project of being a teacher--and I think that's important. It's not about a single tree--but about legions of trees. It's not about one single season but about a lifetime's worth of growth from seed to sapling to something strong and resilient capable of meeting challenges and also bearing fruit. We, as teachers, are simply one part of a process that is much bigger than us. So we should always put our time spent with students into the context of the big picture of what we can do to foster a lifetime's worth of growth!
Whitney,
I could not agree more! If I was sitting in class daydreaming about Jurassic Park, and you were thinking about how beautiful of a man Usher is: WHAT WAS OUR TEACHER DOING? Yes, maybe she was saying something about history or math, but was she teaching it to robots or to people with thoughts and concerns of their own?
How easy would it be to include originality into math or history lessons? As a human being I have so many interests, interactions, experience, and knowledge on so many things. Why shouldn’t I share that through class lessons? When a student asks a question worth pondering, I should ponder their thoughts with them. Then I will prove that I am not a robot; instead I am a relatable human being who is interesting and interested in learning.
My favorite teacher used teachable moments. When students have questions (good, thought provoking questions that maybe other students also have) why wouldn’t I answer it if time permits? At least now students can be side tracked with provoking thoughts, they are acknowledged with having their own thoughts, and are treated with respect through our listening and encouragement.
Thank you for that Whitney!
-Kalen
I think both Whitney and Kalen hit upon something vital to our being the kinds of teachers we want to be and that is truly listening and responding to our students. I know we can't stop our teaching and following the curriculum for every stray thought that pops out of our young adolescent's heads, nor should we if the thoughts are simply outbursts or random. I think the skill we need to develop and focus on is to learn to hear the students sincerity, though they sometimes present their thoughts in a goofy or mumbled way. Giving them credit and letting them give us clues to guide us as we plan for them is vital. We all appreciate being given respect and feeling we've been heard, even if we are disagreed with in the end. I think we've done a solid job of this in our MLE classes. We do not always agree, but we pick our points to defend and try to see things from the others' viewpoints. I feel like I have learned from everyone in the room and that Dr. Mee does take into account our interests. I think if we can do that for our students, it will give them a vested interest in what we as teachers are saying and doing. I also think it keeps the job of teaching interesting to us. I am coming to this profession at mid-life, but I do not want to be ten years down the road and operating on autopilot. I want to stay connected to current trends and issues and make sure my student’s lives outside the classroom are addressed in our classroom.
Response to: “I also want you to learn” from http://sonatamathematique.wordpress.com
This is great, funny, and insightful that you understand your students this well. It is not ‘understood’ what your curriculum’s intentions are; this is not a ‘given’. Taking the time to show your students what you really want to do is vital.
What I would love to suggest is to restate these purposes as often as possible, not just on your syllabus. If you post these in the classroom that would be great, but maybe focus on one each day or each week; read it aloud with your goals, purpose, or instructions on each day’s work. If these are your true intentions, it is a great idea to reiterate them early and often.
Also, I LOVE the idea of letting your students take you on the journey of learning, because you’re right; I teach, you learn is exhausting after a while. By giving the students the right to ponder will invite them to be more of a participative member in the learning process.
The pressure to ‘know’ is a very stressful part of teaching math. It is frustrating to not know. The worst part of taking standardized tests when I was in grammar school (as early as 2nd or 3rd grade) was thinking that I was supposed to know all the answers, and anything less was embarrassing. Don’t give up and don’t be afraid to be wrong, as long as your effort is your best. Giving the opportunity for partial credit based on creative effort or showing that you learned something thus far must be part of the grading process.
Last, as I am a teacher candidate, everyone emphasizes to connect math to the world around students. Make it interactive and relevant, they say. Sure, that is a great idea, but how? I have barely a few ideas on how to do this, such as introducing fascinating jobs that involve math. How can you make math more relatable to students? Thank you for your blog post as it is inspirational, clever, and helpful!
Post a Comment