SCHOOL HACKING

This 13 year-old kid has learned how to hack his schooling. What I mean by that is that he has learned how to take the essential classes, Math, reading, science, etc. and has turned them into his own interests so that he can succeed in school. His passion is skiing and so he has figured out how to connect the subjects to skiing to promote his interest. As teachers we need to learn how to do this with our own students. One thing that he said that has stuck with me is that we need to stop asking students what they want to BE when they grow up, instead we need to ask what they want to Do when they grow up. You see there is a difference. The difference is that by asking someone what they want to BE you can get answers such as happy. However, by asking someone what they want to DO when they grow up you get answers like his such as business owner. After watching this it really got me thinking just how much we need to change the way that we teach our students. I love how he already as an internship. I think that by the time a student has reached a certain age, junior or senior in high school, they should become more involved in the field that they want to go into. For me I helped coached the junior high FFA quiz bowl team in my school. I knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I was a junior and senior in high school I was a teacher’s aide for first and second grade reading, along with 4th grade P.E. by being a teacher’s aide I knew that I was going into the correct field. I knew what to expect for kids this age level. I can also say that by doing this I better prepared for college. As a teacher, I want to “hack” my own students’ learning.

http://budtheteacher.com/blog/2012/05/24/centering-on-essential-lenses/

While reading this it got me thinking about how we need to keep our students creative juices flowing.  In the article it states “Students learn more and better and fuller and richer when they are making something to demonstrate their learning. In my Ag class my junior or senior year of high school we learned about plumbing but we didn’t just read about it.  We learned how to do a plumbing square and if we had leaks we had to figure out where the leaks are coming from and how to fix it. I wished that more of my classes did hands-on learning instead of just read the textbook and do a worksheet. By involving our students in their learning they are more likely to remember the content. I can still remember some of the class discussions that I had throughout school. The reason for this? Because my teachers INVOLVED me in my learning. We need to start doing the same.