Original Post by Anne Alsup
Recently I had the opportunity to be introduced to the World of Warcraft during a class on Gaming Strategies and Motivation. My guides for the excursion into this alternate reality were my two youngest sons, Stephen and Andrew. We had some interesting adventures and I spent way more time than I thought I would in this strange land. Many of the quests would take hours and I would go to bed dreaming that I was running through a field, trying to find my corpse so I could bring my lifeless body back to life. I would leave my house in the morning and I started thinking of everything in my life as part of the game. Following the same road, noting landmarks along the way, entering the building where I work, walking down the corridor, opening doors like I was on some quest. As I read the book, "The Art of Possibility" by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander and came to the first chapter, it didn't take much to convince this reader that it is all created.
Who makes the rules anyway and what were they thinking? Seriously, if we never colored outside the lines, where would we be? If we define ourselves by our perceptions of what our administrators, legislators, students or their parents think of us; where would we be? Given the current state of affairs in education, I'd much rather step into a "universe of possibilities" where I can have some control over my perception of the reality. If teachers are going to inspire their students, they need to have some inspiration. Budget cuts, meetings, more reports, standardized testing, learning gains and AYP, do not count as inspiration. If we are going introduce our students to the world of possibilities, we need to make sure that we are acquainted with the terrain.
I would love to give my students an A and differentiate my instruction to better meet the needs of my students, but the system that I work in doesn't support that goal. It is wrong to tell a student to seize the universe of possibilities and invent his own path to success, when there is a big bad test at the end of the year that is going to determine whether he passes or fails. We simply need more options in our system to allow students more control over their future and the opportunity to experience the universe of possibility. We need to re-think the rules and create some new possibilities.
Who makes the rules anyway and what were they thinking? Seriously, if we never colored outside the lines, where would we be? If we define ourselves by our perceptions of what our administrators, legislators, students or their parents think of us; where would we be? Given the current state of affairs in education, I'd much rather step into a "universe of possibilities" where I can have some control over my perception of the reality. If teachers are going to inspire their students, they need to have some inspiration. Budget cuts, meetings, more reports, standardized testing, learning gains and AYP, do not count as inspiration. If we are going introduce our students to the world of possibilities, we need to make sure that we are acquainted with the terrain.
I would love to give my students an A and differentiate my instruction to better meet the needs of my students, but the system that I work in doesn't support that goal. It is wrong to tell a student to seize the universe of possibilities and invent his own path to success, when there is a big bad test at the end of the year that is going to determine whether he passes or fails. We simply need more options in our system to allow students more control over their future and the opportunity to experience the universe of possibility. We need to re-think the rules and create some new possibilities.
My Reply
Anne, great post. I too have thought about the sections in our reading where the A is given and the emphasis is on the accomplishment and goals met along the way. As you said what a great concept that would greatly help our students’ education however I would be willing to bet there is no school system in our country that would support this revolutionary idea. Society has become too dependent on the results produced by national standardized tests and curriculum with scripted pacing guides. What would happen if teacher were allowed to do what they are good at…teaching? The possibilities are endless.
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