This past year a group of principals in southern Maine read and discussed Suzie Boss's book, Bringing Innovation to School: Empowering Students to Thrive in a Changing World. This effort was organized by the Maine Principals' Association and the Great Schools Partnership.
Imagine my surprise when I saw this article by Suzie Boss about the power of storytelling on the Edutopia website. Her "Why Teachers Need to Be Great Storytellers" article grabbed my attention when she wrote about "what makes learning 'electric'" for students...and "how you and your students can harness storytelling to frame productive conversations about teaching and learning in your community."
I have not checked out the Sam Chaltain book, Faces of Learning: 50 Powerful Stories of Defining Momemts in Education that she recommends, but I plan to do that soon. I wonder what would happen if communities hosted "story slams" as a way for "parents, teachers, and other community members to share memories from their own personal learning journeys."
What I loved about the Boss article was a quote from a New Tech graduate. She said, "Your students graduate not just prepared, but inspired to chase their own whys." Wow!
BTW, if you haven't looked at the Edutopia website, it is chock full of inspiring articles about project-based learning (Maine is highlighted), technology integration, social and emotional learning, assessment, and integrated studies.
A blog authored by Beth Schultz, a Maine Educator, working to inspire a mindset of empowered leadership.
Corey A Leach
ReplyDeleteBonny Eagle High School: 2013.
In response to leadership and engaging students motivation to succeed and to accept the values that education has to offer.
From a graduated student/inspiring educators stand point. I believe this to be true, more and more students are becoming greedy and needing more then what they have. It starts at the home, and travels to the hallways of the school. Students need to start focusing on there education rather then complaining of the needs they don't have from the latest fashion trends. And in the classroom, as I would do, teachers should take more lecture time to share with the students that there future are based on what they do in school. And that school should be the number one factor, not the items they don't have. If teachers preached this more then a time to time basis, then secondary educated students would become more efficient with there school work! They may not get highest grades, but they will put in the hard work. And in the end, all will succeed. I have seen it and I have done it. When I feel inspired by my educators, I work harder