Wk 1 Lucee Tangwall’s Reading Blog
Recently, I read the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. As I read that book, my worldview was wrecked and challenged by some of the things he discussed. I began to look for connections to my own life as well as to my job as a middle school teacher; brainstorming led to dreaming and formulating plans of implementing Miller’s ideas into my own practices.
For years I have struggled with the apathetic approaches my students have toward Math. With reasons unbeknownst to me, the majority of my students have little desire for learning. How do I, as one teacher, lead the unwilling? How do I convince students that learning 7th grade Math matters in the great scheme of life? Miller suggested that each person is a character in a bigger story; each life has meaning and purpose, and it is in that realization that a person begins to really live (Miller, 2009). Upon reading this book, I have spent much time brainstorming ways in which I can provide a role for my students to play in a bigger story that will give them purpose and meaning to what they do.
Surprise met me as I read the chapter “Giving an A” in The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander; the validation offered to my newfound passion was profound and encouraging.
Starting from the conviction that adolescents are looking for
an arena in which to make an authentic contribution to
the family and to the community, the first thing we would
notice is how few meaningful roles are available for young
people to fill. Then we might see how, in the absence of a
purpose greater than themselves, adolescents retreat to the
sidelines as though their existence were inconsequential.
(p. 40)
Once again, I go back to my brainstorming. How can I foster a “meaningful role” for my students within the math classroom? On a larger spectrum, how can my school foster a “meaningful role” for all students that goes beyond the classroom? I have some ideas, but details are yet to be formed.
Miller, D. (2009). A million miles in a thousand years. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Zander, B., & Zander, R. S. (2000). The art of possibility:
Transforming professional and personal life. New York: Penguin
Books.
Sources: Lucee Tangwall’s Wk 1 Reading Blog. URL: http://web.me.com/ltangwall/Media_Asset_Creation_Blog/Week_1_Blog/Entries/2010/4/3_Reading_Blog.html
Retrieved on: April 3, 2010
Wk 1 Comment to Lucee Tangwall – Reading Blog
Lucee-I enjoyed your thoughts. I am teaching elementary school Drama and love it. I taught 2 years of high school English and Drama, and went back to elementary because of the exact things you’re talking about. Younger children can find the joy in learning more than high school and especially 7th grade students. I feel like religion plays a big part in students seeing the bigger picture, but you can’t foster that. I have always felt that the arts can give children so much joy and build their self-esteem; that is what I would recommend. Get them interested in music or art or drama or dance. Let them feel the joy of creating a work with others. That’s an important and vital part of education, I feel. Of course, math is too! It’s not an easy question you pose!
Karlene
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