Pure Genius: Next Steps

The leading minds in education seem to be agreeing on a few key areas that are also highlighted in this book: failure is meaningful, collaboration paramount, students choice ensures engagement, and 21st century learners must be creative innovators.

I LOVE IT. Finally, a direction in education that makes sense. There are some powerful implications of this vision: "The education system must do a better job of encouraging innovation--taking risks and fostering passion through learning--if we want to equip our students for the real world. If we start this culture of innovation early and support students all the way through the high school years, I firmly believe that they will be better prepared for college and become true agents of change as innovators!" (Wettrick).

I go back to the three key ideas of my classroom: kindness, curiosity, and creativity.

Kindness. Empathy. Compassion. To change the world, people must see the needs of others. We must recognize the brokenness of our systems. We must hurt for those who do not have what they need. In my class we read the stories of those who we do not understand, in hopes of building bridges of appreciation.

Curiosity. Learning. Interests. People must possess the constant desire to grow and know. To watch and wonder. To yearn for discovery. To not rest until they find a way. We are constantly asking questions in my classroom; questions as to why things happen, why people react as they do, why things are they way they are.

Creativity. Imagination. Innovation. The same old problems are not being fixed by the same old "solutions." We are so "advanced," many so prosperous, and yet people all around the world are struggling with issues of illiteracy, poverty, hunger, disease, ultimately ending in hopelessness. There are raging conflicts that seem to have no middle ground. And I have to believe that many of these problems are not beyond solutions. But we have to look at things in a different way. We will be a class of creators, builders, makers, even in the digital sense and seek to make our learning relevant to the world outside these walls.

So my goal for my students is to help them see humanity for what it is, some of it awe-inspiring, some of it frustrating. I want them to stretch themselves beyond what they thought possible. To seek to understand what seems a mystery. To create in them a vision for a better life for them and the world around them; to empower them to do something; to help them to believe they can make a difference. 

The next steps are to go all in. To take risks. To live with integrity and passion. To create a vision for my classroom that is rooted in kindness, curiosity, and creativity, and everything we do points to these world-changing ideas. Won't you join me in pursuing your vision for a better world? :-)

Pure Genius: Be KIND, CURIOUS, & CREATIVE

"I am not an educational expert; rather, I am a passionate educator who wants to bring about positive and meaningful change." 

Me, too, Don Wettrick! Me, too!

"I challenge myself to pick up new skills that will make an impact on my students and feed my own curiosity."

Me, too, Don Wettrick! Me, too!

Since introducing 20Time several years ago, I've struggled with students to help them find what they are passionate about; we've dug deep to help unearth creativity; I've shaped and reshaped my project expectations trying to find the BEST practice; and I've also gotten frustrated about the stuck and stagnant mindsets of both students and the education world. Wettrick talks about in his book that "constraints lead to creativity." Well, that is definitely true. The reality of our current system is "Teachers must be innovative in their approach to teaching, learning, and designing new experiences" because the standardized tests, mandated learning standards, and politically oscillating world are not going to end anytime soon. There are so many constraints put on teachers (and students) in the educational journey, that we are going to have to get creative if we are going to develop innovative problem solvers instead of good test takers.

In the early chapters of this book, Wettrick encourages us to create a culture of creativity and
innovation, "find the key concept for your class." I realized that the three underlying emphases in my lesson plans, relationships with students, and ideas for the future, revolve around KINDNESS, CURIOSITY, and CREATIVITY (which are essentially what the signs on my door to my classroom say--what a fabulous coincidence!). I want students to be good people, really listening to others; I want them to ask questions and pursue ideas; and I want them to make the world a better place by innovatively solving problems. This also explains why I get so frustrated with standardized tests: they can't measure these fundamental ideas.

I'm only halfway through the book, but here's what I want to do in my classroom:

• Start the year in a creative and challenging way: maybe build Rube Goldberg machines the first week; watch TED Talks; something that encourages my 3 key concepts. 
• Also, starting the year with smaller 20Time projects so they understand what the process looks like before we devote an entire semester to one project. Maybe in the fall students do one 20Time Project per month, allowing them to try out different passions they have, not feeling like that have to get locked into one idea, and teaching them how to ask engaging questions, manage time, and present well. 
• Students choose the standards they are going to work on. Or they develop the expectations for what a "Mastery level" or "Exceeds Expectations" project looks like for each standards. I love the idea that they tell me how they are going to be assessed and what those standards look like. 

I'm so pumped to continue reading this book and making my classroom and my students better:

"Is education about earning a grade, or is it really about fostering learning and creative engagement? We need to put the focus on the process of creativity and development, not on earning a grade for compliance." 

YES. YES. YES. 

More places to pursue these ideas:
Daniel Pink's TED Talk "The Puzzle of Motivation"
Tina Seelig's book, inGenius
Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelly of IDEO

Problem of Pain: The End and Beginning

You guys, this book took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to get through, however, it closes in such a sweet, warm gentleness, that it was completely worth it. 

C.S. Lewis spends this whole book working through the complicated issues of pain, sin, humanity, repentance, and love. We wrestle with that age-old question of how could a Good God allow his creation to suffer? And while there is no real, simple answer, essentially Lewis concludes that it is because of our free, independent, and often arrogant soul that causes us pain, along with the cohabitation with other free, independent and often arrogant souls. Additionally, it is through pain that we recognize our need for our Creator and Savior.

However, Lewis reminds us that "Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home." His final chapter breathes sweet tellings of heaven. All the pain is nothing compared to the incredible experience heaven will be (Romans 8:18). And while he feels that "there have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else."

If indeed there is a Good God, and if indeed he is our Creator, and if indeed we recognize when our experiences give us miraculous glimpses of heaven, we can perhaps recognize that there must be some beautiful place of healing, wholeness, and union. And what an encouragement that is!