Why does baby George keep getting back up?

 

Dr. Wesch is an anthropologist who offers a heartwarming story of what he believes learning is. Ultimately, as he describes in his Ted Talk, he wants to offer his students the opportunities to develop what it takes for them to get through the “dark nights of the soul” in their life. I was profoundly moved by his frustration with the status quo in the college atmosphere of teaching and learning and used the opportunity to learn what people really were wanting answers to that were being ignored. I connect with the three questions that came out of his research and relate to this in my own classroom teaching and learning experience. I believe my 7th graders are more invested if they can connect with what we are learning and begin to wonder and access answers and possibilities to, Who am I, as part of our learning and exploring together.

I often feel that math as a subject matter provides so much opportunity to dig deep into ourselves and decide how we will show up when life gets hard. Yes, math is the metaphor for life here. Do we give up? Do we reach for support? Do we work in a group and try to understand? Do we practice until we get it right once or practice until we can’t get it wrong? 7th grade math is really applicable to “real-world” circumstances as we are no longer buying 143 cantaloupes, however, calculating tax and tip aren’t really the topics of interest until these children get jobs and start paying for things themselves which doesn’t happen for a couple of years from when they are learning it. I dream of being able to teach 7th grade math in a way that not only develops the soul for fiercely moving through challenging times AND ALSO interests them enough to be self motivated to challenge themselves by doing something they love like baby George learning to fall down the steps with a big smile on his face.

I am really intrigued by a grading system that will support this as Wesch invites us to consider. The current grading system at the school I work at would elicit similar questions that his college students asked….How long does this need to be? Can I retake it? What exactly do you want me to write about? All of this points to a grading system that is not giving space for the learner to be curious, explore, or valuing courageous action as it is not reflected in the grading scale. Dr. Wesch believes learning should be something people love, want to be challenged by and provide opportunity for connection and acts of courage. I agree with him completely. I see that he has stepped out of his comfort zone by building animations and drawing to describe his ideas, he dug deep to know his own “why” for teaching and learning and I want to do the same. I know math class can be different from what we are offering in the US and I believe that that begins with me, the teacher in the classroom as Robinson suggests, and knowing my personal “why”.