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? :-)