“You are all fricking brilliant! I am so impressed by and have so enjoyed your discussion these past two days. You rock. Thank you.”

And I was. And I am. I am proud of my kids’ discussions on voice and listening the last few days. They truly are wiser than their ages. They inspire me and give me hope. And I want to help that hope. I want to help find them find their voices so they may be the generation who not only speaks but listens. We need a generation like that. Here is what I offered them yesterday at the end of their discussion, at the beginning of our work.

 

Change the world? Why not? Is that not the hope we should have for each class of kids as they make their way through the system? What else would I want for them? Is it only my job to help them pass the state assessment in April? Is that the measure? Is that the mark? Is that all? I find little hope and inspiration in that. And I imagine my kids would find even less. So, I choose not that mark, not that end. I see something bigger and better in my young charges. I see a heap of hope. And I will not let that be diminished by the insanity of standardization. I will see it rise up in the humanity of humanization. Humans. Hope.

Okay, off my soapbox. But I believe this stuff. And I believe my kids believe I believe this stuff. It is the why in our work. So we will go on believing.

Gonna listen today. Gonna see if we can find a voice in three texts. Gonna see if we can separate noise from voice. Yesterday, Juliane synthesized our work comparing it to the famous, “If a tree falls in the forest…” He suggested, “If a person speaks in a roomful of people, and no one listens, has he said anything?” Whoa. Still thinking about that one. Well, in truth, I have been thinking about it all along, for it has really been my goal from the outset, which I tried to communicate in my message above. We don’t have a voice until people listen to us. I feel like the world is one large roomful of people with too many people talking, too many people saying nothing, because no one is listening. And so the world is full of noise. So much noise. I think I can change that. I truly think I can help my kids learn to speak so that when they do, people will listen. I believe that.

So, when I put the three texts in front of my kids today. I will first ask them to hear the words, asking them where and if there were places where they listened and why. The first is a poem I met yesterday in a meeting. The latter two are quick little arguments I wrote up about our Access Time here at CHS. We have not talked about argument or rhetoric yet. I want to see what the kids pick up with their ears before I formally introduce those elements.

From here, I will begin the process of formally introducing argumentation and rhetoric. And from here, it is my hope that my kids build the skills to become the voices in the room.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will…

…begin with Smiles and Frowns.

…listen for voices.

…reflect in our Journey Journals.

…end with a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.