Thanks for the opportunity to learn things from these projects that we otherwise never would have known!

Amarise, Sophomore, Cheney High School

Today we will wrap up presentations for this round of learning projects, moving on to the next round, where kids will have to choose an out-of-comfort-zone, a challenge-to-a-fixed-mind-set approach for their new projects.  Of course, I expect to meet some initial resistance, but I was met with the same resistance when we first started these projects.  And the presence of resistance will not be limited to my kids, for I, too, don’t always embrace the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone.  This time I am going to challenge one of my major fixed mindsets: art.  I, with instruction from my wife the art teacher, will attempt to draw, using a photo as a guide, my grandpa’s old barn, which was torn down nearly 40 years ago.  Truly, it will be a challenge, and I will no doubt have a hard time ignoring  the fixed mindset perched on my shoulder telling me that I cannot draw, that I cannot do art.  But I am determined to prevail.  I can get better at anything that I put my mind to.  And though I can still hear whispers of doubt, I am beginning to believe it.

For two rounds of projects, I have been so pleased and proud of what my kids have produced, of what they have taught us.  I hope to be even more impressed this time as they step out of their comfort zones and stretch themselves.  And maybe, by year’s end, they will have stretched themselves into greater growth mindsets, ready to conquer the world.  And that is what I really hope.   I will like it if they leave better writers.  I will love it if they leave better learners.