Tomorrow, I will be participating in my fourth, annual Tough Mudder. I will be slogging through mud, climbing, running, jumping, swinging, and probably falling all over Loudon, NH in an effort to get me and my team mates to the finish line. This is all while I am rapidly approaching my 55th birthday. So, why am I doing this?
Tough Mudder has become my excuse for trying to stay fit. It has become a way for me to challenge myself to keep trying new things and even do some things that might be risky for me. I need challenges in my life, as does everyone.
This is something we need to really be conscious of as educators. Students do not need grades. They really do not need worksheets or easy to do and correct assignments. They need challenges. They should be going into classes every day wondering what will happen in those classes rather than knowing what the routines will be in each. We grow best when we face a variety of challenges, physically, mentally and spiritually. So, I ask each time I go in to a class to observe how well the teacher is challenging their students and how well the teacher is addressing/pulling back the least engaged student in the class.
By challenge, I do not mean making things hard on students or making their brains explode. By challenge I mean getting them engaged and really thinking about what they are learning so that they do learn. Making things hard often does little more than turn more students off. I would like to think that students worked extremely hard for me, but they did so because they were engaged and willing to push themselves.
I think we also need to challenge students in more ways than just academics. Do we have enough opportunities for students in our schools to engage in problem solving activities, collaborative projects, and fast paced thinking? Something I love to do on occasion is to create an Amazing Race for students and faculty who want to participate. They create teams, choose colors and make a team name. Then, on the day of the race, they have to work with their teams to "go around the world/country" and get through the obstacles I have created for them. These may include such things as memorizing a song, doing a Bollywood dance, creating a sky scraper with balloons and tape, eating a cupcake with no hands, bouncing around a track with beach balls between their legs, solving Sudoku puzzles, or doing a Muscle Beach pose off. Through these events, students find that fitness matters, intelligence matters, but creativity, positive energy and team work matter more. Most of the time, the students and teachers who do these activities end up more involved in school and in class.
What are the challenges that are important to you? Do they energize you or drag you down?
Tough Mudder has become my excuse for trying to stay fit. It has become a way for me to challenge myself to keep trying new things and even do some things that might be risky for me. I need challenges in my life, as does everyone.
This is something we need to really be conscious of as educators. Students do not need grades. They really do not need worksheets or easy to do and correct assignments. They need challenges. They should be going into classes every day wondering what will happen in those classes rather than knowing what the routines will be in each. We grow best when we face a variety of challenges, physically, mentally and spiritually. So, I ask each time I go in to a class to observe how well the teacher is challenging their students and how well the teacher is addressing/pulling back the least engaged student in the class.
By challenge, I do not mean making things hard on students or making their brains explode. By challenge I mean getting them engaged and really thinking about what they are learning so that they do learn. Making things hard often does little more than turn more students off. I would like to think that students worked extremely hard for me, but they did so because they were engaged and willing to push themselves.
I think we also need to challenge students in more ways than just academics. Do we have enough opportunities for students in our schools to engage in problem solving activities, collaborative projects, and fast paced thinking? Something I love to do on occasion is to create an Amazing Race for students and faculty who want to participate. They create teams, choose colors and make a team name. Then, on the day of the race, they have to work with their teams to "go around the world/country" and get through the obstacles I have created for them. These may include such things as memorizing a song, doing a Bollywood dance, creating a sky scraper with balloons and tape, eating a cupcake with no hands, bouncing around a track with beach balls between their legs, solving Sudoku puzzles, or doing a Muscle Beach pose off. Through these events, students find that fitness matters, intelligence matters, but creativity, positive energy and team work matter more. Most of the time, the students and teachers who do these activities end up more involved in school and in class.
What are the challenges that are important to you? Do they energize you or drag you down?
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