Now this is the chapter I've been waiting to get to read! I feel like these innovators are much more relatable as they span the socio-economic, cultural, and age ranges a little more. Especially with Jamien at the end of the chapter and his love of shoes. I found it a more realistic look at the struggles an innovator must endure at times, especially with the situation of a bankrupt company. I wonder when, or if, these innovators ever feel they've finally "arrived" at a particular moment of success where they are settled in what they are doing. It doesn't seem like they're ever really finished with their work, which I find a testament to the whole "process vs. product" argument. This chapter seems to really showcase a variety of situations and stories that I felt like I could see happening to students I've known through my career. Connecting again with Jamien's story, we did a shoe project the past two years called "If the Shoe Fits" and we studied the economics of how shoes are made by producers and end up in stores for consumers. If we ever revive this project, I would definitely make some adjustments, but there were some students who really latched on to the whole design idea of the project. They created their projects to portray their own likes and interests. I had students bringing in shoes made out of Legos, seashells, rainbow bracelet bands, you name it. It was so cool to see their creativity unleashed! I especially loved Wagner's reflection at the end of this chapter where he talks about how he was struck by their lack of arrogance or pretense. Even during Jodie Wu's section, others saw her as a quieter force that did not use her giftedness to boast about her accomplishments. It makes me think about students in my classroom who are grossly underestimated because they don't quite fit the typical A+ success story.
My class last year was pretty wild with many behavior issues, but they were wonderfully creative with very outside-of-the-box thinking. I did my best to cultivate their thinking as a positive in our classroom. I'm wishing I had them back in my classroom this year and the following years so I could help channel that energy into more purposeful play. They loved building things and especially shined during our project time, but now it's been a struggle for some of them in 2nd grade as they are seen as out-of-control. I've kept up with one in particular as his teacher was worried he needed to be referred to special education. I continued to be an advocate for his creativity and encouraged her to see him differently. He may need help with his math and writing, but I didn't want her to dismiss him so quickly. I think his year is going much better now, but I feel this responsibility to keep vouching for him because I can see so much potential. I just hope his free thinking doesn't get squashed as he continues on through school!
This week, we jumpstart our diversity project and I'm a little excited, nervous, and anxious. I know that there will be room for growth and I just hope my grade level doesn't give up on it once they realize how much extra work is needed. There is a lot of front loading and preparation that will be going into each lesson, so hopefully everyone will see the value of teaching in this format. Reading this book is making me feel an urgency to transform everything in my classroom and my school. How often we forget the simplicity of writing those meaningful lessons that reach students on a deeper and personal (like David's fight against malaria) level. I feel like the traditional classroom is starting to look so archaic and to be frank, boring. I have to remind myself, also, to be patient and not expect everything to change overnight. This class has really helped me pace myself and continue to reflect, reflect, reflect!
Amanda - Thank you for your honest, reflective post. You have brought up a lot of great points here. First, I wish as educators, we were quicker to point out our students' strengthens than we generally are. The way you described your former student - the one who was the active, out of the box thinker - I am grateful for your advocacy and your stance to help others see him as more than a academic or behavioral problem. We have countless stories of kids who do not fit the norm, who rise above the structure of our traditional system and find great success. We need to consider how to personalize and support our students individual and collective needs.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am grateful that you are able to see that inquiry-based practices are not something we simply do, it's a way of thinking. Because of this change in your perspective, you can see that we do not necessary have to change everything we've previously done. In many cases what we need to do is simply reframe or reorganize the way we deliver the instruction we provide. Taking the shoe unit you referenced and simply tweaking it can provide more student choice and control, more student reflection, and more content integration. But as you've also stated, lasting, enduring change will occur when change is incremental and intentional...in the same way we attempt to scaffold learning experiences for our students.