But how long can they drink once we’ve showed them the water?

I am not a fan of the horse-to-water proverb use in education. Never have been. It puts too much–maybe all–on the kids. It presumes that we have done all that we can, and the rest is up to them. But have we? And what does that mean? We gave them an assignment and some directions? Is that where our “leading ends? Seems it should go on. Seems since we are holding the proverbial reins, our responsibility goes beyond and continues after we show them the water. Have we ever asked ourselves why thirsty kids won’t drink? What if they need to hang out at the water hole for a little longer than we planned? Will we wait? What if they’ve drunk before, only to get a mouthful of sand as they discover the mirage they’ve been led to?

Yes, mirages. The work that’s not relevant. The lack of continued support and feedback beyond assignment and direction. The penalty points. No opportunities to redo, retake, or correct. There are many mirages in the School Realm to which we lead our kids. Kids will drink, even deeply, if we lead them to water. Heck, we may even discover that if we let loose the reins they may splash around and play in it.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Wanted to share that I will have the honor of speaking at this year’s Code Breaker Inc. Power Summit. I am humbled by this opportunity to join so many awesome voices in education. The conference information is below. Only $20 for an entire weekend.

I will be discussing the power and promise of “breaking better” by daring our differents and braving our beliefs in better. Please join us on April 24-25.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

It’s just an experience. I have come to the place where I see our work as an experience. And while that may sound overly obvious, I am not sure we all see or sell it simply as this. But here, in the 180 classroom, that’s what it’s become. It’s just an experience.

In the 180 classroom, we have a daily Learning tASK, and when the time is right, we will have a Learning Check. And though each serve a particular purpose, tASK or Check, they are still experiences from which we have an opportunity to grow. The former, the Learning tASK, is simply our daily practice. My hope here is that kids find meaning and value as we work our way through our curriculum towards the latter, the Learning Checks, which are more formal opportunities for me to engage with kids in the feedback/response process for our priority standards. And from there, by design, I tell the kids that the worst that can happen is better. And shouldn’t that be the point of all experience? Better. What else would/should there be? If kids don’t have a chance to get better, what’s the point? And that is my design decision in all that we do. How will this help kids grow?

Each experience is an opportunity towards better. And if it’s not, then we don’t do it. More, because I cannot possibly account for each kid in each experience, I give them room to decide for themselves. And that’s why I do not make our daily Learning tASKs worth points. They are asks to which they are invited to respond, but they get the freedom to find value and relevance in the ask. So, do they do the work, do they answer the ASK? Yes, they do. Not all. Of course, not all. I have not discovered some utopian universe, but a great many do the work–choose the work, and that is all I can ASK. The answer is up to them.

Happy Monday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

I have to. I have to trust kids to accept the responsibility of their learning. I can’t talk about commitment and not walk commitment. So, I give them room in their responsibility, believing that responsibility–true responsibility–isn’t something someone else delivers but something that we discover–on our own. I am not a teacher of responsibility. Life has that handled. I offer opportunity. I provide possibility. I serve support. This is at the heart of the 180 experience. This is the room I create for kids as I seek to engage with them in authentic learning.

How did we get here, indeed? An oft cited concern to giving kids “room” is that if we don’t hold them accountable with penalties and rewards (basically grades), then they won’t do; they won’t learn. And that has just not been my experience. Kids will. No, they don’t do everything, but they didn’t before either. And everything they do or don’t for us doesn’t always matter as much as we’d like to believe. And that’s why I have made our daily tASKs (daily practice) choices. Kids choose to do it. Or they choose not to do it. It’s in their hands. I have offered them an opportunity. I have provided a possibility. And I am at the ready with support. That’s the room. And now that they are in that room, next is up to them. And I just have to trust their steps.

Trust I must. And so I do. Folly? I don’t think so. Not in the end, their end. And they will know best when they get there.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Been struggling a bit of late. Don’t know if it’s the time of year or just the year itself, but I have been experiencing a bit of an idea drought, and posts aren’t coming to me as easily as they normally do. And this morning’s no exception.

Sorry. Supposed to rain today. Maybe that will help. See ya tomorrow.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“Your approach to learning is intuitive and allows for much freedom.”

I am pleased with this response from one of my kiddo’s recent “Check-In Chapters.” Please know that I am not sharing it to pat myself on the back. I am sharing it because it’s reflective of the work I have been doing to change–to better–the learning experience for my kids in the 180 Classroom. It’s finally making sense. They are finally beginning to see what I am trying to do, and that matters a great deal to me. Of course, not all are there. I still have kiddos, despite my considerable efforts, who default to worrying about their grades, clinging to experiences past to make sense of their experience. So, as such, my work remains and continues. But some are certainly there where I ‘d like them to be with their learning.

And maybe that “where” comes with a cost. Can a kid have too much freedom? Should a kid have any freedom? I don’t know. Traditional approaches seem to balk at such freedom, depending on the control of carrot-and-stick compliance to get kids to “learn.” But I believed there was a better to build around commitment, and that required a foundation of freedom. So, I have worked to create that experience for my kids, so they can find themselves in their learning. And for that to happen, they have to have some freedom.

Do I go too far? I don’t know. How far is far? How far did this young lady have to go to discover what she did? She had to go as far as she needed to. I just wanted to make sure she had the opportunity to to build her own bridge to reach her other side.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“Teachers don’t understand.”

We were talking about whether or not schools should allow retakes on Friday as part of our work with argumentation. One of the reasons that held the conversation for some time was this notion that teachers don’t understand kids’ situations. They talked. I listened. And as I listened, I learned.

Oh, it wasn’t an entirely new idea (kids have claimed this for eternity, I suppose), but it was an important idea. Because whether it’s true or not, kids feel this way. And beyond the idea of this particular topic, it got me to thinking about how small kids’ voices really are in their own experiences. They don’t get to speak often enough. And when they do, it’s not for very long, for we have more important things to get to. And that, gives me pause. What’s more important? The content is important, but is it more important? And while I am not suggesting it’s less important, I am wondering if it’s at least not equally important. But we only have so much instructional time. Yes, we only have so much time. We only ever have so much time. But maybe there’s more to the work than getting kids to understand. Maybe it’s about our understanding, too.

Yes, we believe we already know, for we were kids once. And, yes, we can already anticipate and therefore assume what they will say (we work with kids), and so, we don’t need to devote the time. But maybe in our place of “knowing,” we could know more. Maybe we don’t know as much as we believe. Maybe there are things that we can learn from them. And maybe there is just simply something to letting them speak. Maybe there’s something to their feeling like they are being heard. Maybe there’s something to our just listening. So, maybe we need to make time to listen. Seems there may be something to that.

Happy Monday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Feeling tired and uninspired this morning, and the coffee’s just not winding me up, so I am not going to force it.

Sorry. Will be back Monday morning. Have a great weekend.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.