Yesterday, I broke the rules. Today, I will break the rules. Tomorrow, I will break the rules.
Which rules?
You know, “those rules.”
Those rules. Those largely imagined and widely accepted, unwritten, but nonetheless binding, rules in education. Everybody knows the rules.
Of course, we don’t know the rules. But we sure pretend as if we do as they manifest themselves in things we can/can’t, should/shouldn’t do in the classroom. I talk about these things in my Disruptor Series (http://www.letschangeeducation.com/disruptor-series-stepaway180/).
You can’t give full points on retakes and corrections.
You can’t give kids 50% if they haven’t done anything.
You can’t accept late work without penalty.
You can’t expect kids to do practice if you don’t assign points.
You can’t afford to lose any instructional time.
You can’t let kids use resources on tests.
You can’t let kids grade themselves.
Sure you can. Sure you should.
I have been breaking these and other “rules” for some time now. And from the responses I have gotten from folks on Twitter and elsewhere, I am not alone. Lots of us are breaking the rules.
And as I think about my company, I wonder if they, too, are otherwise rule followers in the other areas of their lives. I am a rule follower, much to my wife’s chagrin at times. But, then, why is it so different in the context of my classroom? Why do I so freely and frequently break the norms, the rules?
Two reasons, I think. One, they don’t make sense–at least not in the rules of learning sense. They seem to be more concerned with the rules of schooling, so when they run counter to learning, I bend and break them. Two, and this is perhaps the greater influence: humans. Humans change everything. I am human. My kids are humans. And when we enter the mix, we become the mix. And thus the mix is a mess. Not a messy mess. A complex mess, which in its complexity strains the ability to adhere to rules too simple, too severe, too “schooly.”
But your work is school. No, my work is kids. The humans in the room. And when I see fit, I will bend and break the rules for them. I will not bend and break them with the rules–at least not anymore. I have in the past, and I still regret it deeply. And sadly, I thought, at the time, I had the right of it; the rules were on my side. But now, I see it differently; I see it better. And in my better, I have become a breaker and a bender.
Yesterday, I broke the rules for a kid in an otherwise hopeless situation. I made her a deal that excused all former assignments, a deal that provided a path, a deal that dealt some hope. But what about…? I don’t care about the “what abouts.” I care about kids. Each kid. In her own place. In her own time. And for the brief moment that I am in that place and time, I am obligated to her, not some restrictive rules.
Yesterday, I broke the rules. Today, I will break the rules. Tomorrow, I will break the rules. I have given into my human weakness.
Happy Wednesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Thank you again.
Thank you.
Me too Monte. Me too. And I am slowly challenging, encouraging, and at times cajoling, my peers to do the same. And when they do…I smile. Chalk one up for recognizing the humans in our classrooms.
Yes, I do a fair amount of cajoling, and lately I have done a fair amount of smiling, too. Thanks for checking and chiming in, Dan. I always appreciate you. Happy Thursday.
Thank you for sharing your rule breaking so freely… I was a former school rule follower, and gradually, I started breaking the rules, Quietly… for the exact same reasons. Mercy. Hope. Fairness. And most importantly, for my kids. And letting people know I was breaking the rules was my next step. And knowing I am not alone, after reading your post today, helps me to more freely share. Thanks, Sy.
Morning, Liz. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Yes, I think we have to share such things freely, so we know and others know we are indeed not alone. Happy Thursday, my friend.