Igniting Awe in Learning

Photo Source: Flickr, Eric E Castro  I learned the other day that ending a text message with a period can be interpreted as insincere. Such a simple, innocuous dot now carries more hidden messages than it was ever intended to convey. Likewise, the messages we think we're sending in our classrooms may not be the messages received by students. Consider these... Time WILL pass, will YOU? Does this imply a nurturing, supportive environment that believes ALL students deserve every opportunity to be successful? I'm not so sure. Students not paying attention in class? Lock up devices. Does this show trust? Relationship building? I wonder if the teacher's device is locked up during meetings as well. Or how about this sign I saw in a classroom:  "Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise." A companion sign read, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Does this mean we don't value collaboration? Team work? I wonder how...

Write about your summer vacation. How many of you wrote on that topic, or something very similar, when you were in school? How many of you wrote about it many, many times? Honestly, I can't remember a first day of school that did not include a summer vacation activity. Now take a moment and ask yourself, what does this focus on summer vacation say about the culture of learning at your school, or in your classroom? More specifically: How does this make students feel who don't have awesome summer stories to share? What about those who depend on school for basic safety and needs like the free lunch program? Where is the joy of learning if everyone is counting down to leave school? Mark Church, co-author of Making Learning Visible , presented at Harvard's Project Zero four questions we must consider when looking at the learning transcript. These questions are critical if we are to empower all students to reach their genius potential.  As Ron Ritchhart,...